Minestrone on the Thronie: Three Bowls for Me, Three Scoops for Nathan
Jeff
9/1/20264 min read
Welp, this Soup Club meeting was certainly one for the books. One that will not soon be forgotten...at least by some of us.
It's been a couple weeks since our last meeting when Marketing Mike souped for us, so we were all hungry. I woke up this morning and Soup Club was the first thing I thought about, like most Tuesdays. Well...second thing…Maybe top five?
Before we get into this week's festivities, I need to give a shout-out to fellow souper Marco. Marco took home some extra stuff from the office last week and souped up an interesting loaded baked potato creation he likes to call "The Spudfather." Great flavor, but not really my cup of tea. I mean soup. He fed around a dozen people yesterday and the Campbell's Crew™ absolutely loved it. His recipe can now proudly be found on our Partners page.
But today belonged to Adam…I have to say, Adam has come a long way since joining Soup Club. He has a certain special way of describing and judging everyone else's soups, and he genuinely seems to enjoy both the soup and the atmosphere. But the question remained...How does Adam soup?
Thinking back, it seems like we've had way too much drama surrounding our recent meetings. People going "on break." People "retiring" before their first soup even gets cold. People scheduling sales presentations during Soup Club. People sneaking unhealthy ingredients into recipes. It's been a lot.
I was in the office early this morning and Adam joined me around 6:30am. Unlike the last few times Adam souped, he actually had a smile on his face. The soup was already made. He was confident. He was prepared. And he genuinely seemed excited for the meeting.
At 6:30am, we thought we were going to have a full crew, with Andy being the only maybe…Seriously...when does this so-called "break" end?
Bottom line, Adam and I actually talked about how there was ZERO DRAMA leading into today's meeting…and it felt great!
Then a few little issues started popping up…
Marketing Mike had a meeting and couldn't attend. All good. We're just happy he was eventually found after our last meeting.
Josephine had to split at the last minute. Something involving a car and/or doctor…We understand.
Then Adam and Nathan got stuck on a call and ended up being a few minutes late…We can handle that.
No traditional Soup Club line picture today because, well...there was no line.
Eventually we all sat down to an excellent minestrone that Adam likes to call..."Minestrone on the Thronie." Makes absolutely no sense…yet somehow makes complete sense at the same time.
The room was unusually quiet, even with Kevin there, because there was simply too much spoon clanking against bowls. Usually a very good sign for the soup maker.
Then I pulled up the recipe and we did what we do best...Scrutinize the soup!
Me: "Nice, Adam! No processed food ingredients! Well, except for the olive oil. Whatchu use that for?"
Adam: "I didn't use very much. Just a little to sweat the vegetables. I watched YouTube videos on sweating versus sautéing...and I didn't use olive oil. I used avocado oil."
Nathan: "Conlan, take me to the hospital!"
...and that was that.
Turns out Nathan isn't just allergic to strawberries. He's also allergic to avocados. Which would, obviously, include oil made from...Avocados.
So much for our drama-free Soup Club meeting…We did manage to get some scores while there was some scurrying around the room.
Soup Club Feedback:
Kevin: Started at a 9.5 without hot sauce and bumped it all the way to a 10.0 with hot sauce. In the interest of full disclosure, Kevin did NOT use our sponsor's Habanero Harman sauce. He used his own homemade sauce. We checked the sponsor agreement and determined this is allowed.
Conlan: Conlan was loving it and was totally prepared to give Adam a 9.0. However, "since you almost killed my friend," he reduced the score to an 8.99. Makes sense.
Tam: Loved the chunks and thought it had exactly the right spice profile. 9.8!
Nathan: We think he panted out something resembling "ten out of ten" on his way out, but that didn't seem to make much sense. So we checked his ballot, which we often have to do for other reasons, and it clearly read: "10/10 if I could eat it." There you have it. Nathan gives it a 10.0.
Jeff: Me? I'm not a huge minestrone fan. It's okay, I suppose, but there's usually something I'd rather eat. Not today…this soup was very, very good indeed. I'm actually eating my third bowl as I type this, despite promising myself this morning that I was only having one bowl of soup today. Easy 10.0 for me!
Josephine: N/A
Marketing Mike: N/A
Andy: On Break
Soup Club Average: 9.758*
Nothing but positive Soup Club vibes moving forward! We need a big next meeting. Lots of people. Lots of smiles. No drama. Kinda like the early days when it was just me, Andy, Conlan, and Noah sitting around eating soup.
Next week is another no-meeting week with Labor Day on Monday. The week after that will be Josephine's sophomore soup. She's certainly proving to have an interesting palate, so we can't wait to see what she comes up with. Oh, and apparently she fixed her immersion blender. So at least it shouldn't be watery!
*Score includes a 10/10 from a member who technically couldn't eat the soup. We're comfortable with our accounting practices.
