Musical Interlude with Soup

Yesterday, my parents sponsored their annual "Soup Off," timed this year to coincide with the "holiday" visit — finally! — of my brother and his family from Denver. Soup Day is an opportunity for my mother to invite but not cook: she supplied bread and dessert, and the rest of us arrived with big pots. More than one person remarked that his normal driving skills were muffled by the need to keep the pot upright. More than one of us used a bungee cord to keep the lid on the All-Clad. My, but we're an enterprising bunch.

I made French Onion using roasted vegetable stock — turns out we had more than one vegetarian in attendance. We also had Thai Chicken, Lentil, Borscht, Sausage and Bean, Tomato, and a big pot of Jambalaya. Somebody tried to start a debate as to whether or not Jambalaya could be classified as a soup, but the debate fizzled out. We were more interested in eating than arguing.

The group at my end of the room favored the chicken and orzo in a lemony broth: Kelsey said it was called "Chilly Willy" or something, and man, I love the Internet. Now we have the recipe for Chilly Willy's Avocado Soup. Try it with a dollop of sour cream on top!

My brother Tim made me a mix CD titled, "Songs of Change (and Change is Good)." It's sort of the soundtrack to this blog, and here's the song list:

Nothing Lies Still Long Pell Mell
Once In A Lifetime Talking Heads
7/4 (Shoreline) Broken Social Scene
1000 Pounds Superchunk
The Race Is On Again Yo La Tengo
You're Just A Baby Belle & Sebastian
Some Days Are Better Than Others U2
Strobo Acceleration Stereolab
Painter In Your Pocket Destroyer
Happy The Rolling Stones
Black And White Town Doves
Palmcorder Yajna The Mountain Goats
Shelter From The Storm Bob Dylan
River Girls Tanya Donelly
Black And Blue Tilly & The Wall
Passenger Seat Death Cab For Cutie
Walk Into The Sea Low
I Believe R.E.M.
Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want The Smiths
If I Had A Boat Lyle Lovett

"Trust in your calling, make sure your calling's true
Think of others, the others think of you
Silly rule golden words make, practice, practice makes perfect,
Perfect is a fault, and fault lines change"
R.E.M., "I Believe"