Not Perfect, But It Was Hot: My First Soup Club Soup

Well, the day has finally come. My very first soup for Soup Club! It’s been a fun journey since coming on board as a Soup Club member, and today I finally got a chance to earn my keep.

Originally, I was scheduled to bring soup on Tuesday. Much to my surprise, the date got moved up by one day to accommodate Mr. Yavello. No problem, I thought. Flexibility is part of adulthood. Of course, the irony is that Andy didn’t even show up because he had a stye. Eye guess sometimes that’s just the way the soup topper crumbles. No hard feelings Andy.

Anyways, Saturday was grocery day, and instead of strolling calmly through the aisles with a coffee in hand, I brought my two-year-old son along for the adventure. Despite a toddler potentially being a ticking time bomb while out in public, he and I came up with a system that worked for both of us. While I picked out the freshest and most pristine vegetables and ingredients, my son played with a produce bag and 2 green twist ties. It really is the little things in life.

Sunday was soup day. I spent several hours chopping and cooking, which sounds leisurely until you factor in the reality that I was also caring for a toddler and a baby. At one point during prep and chopping (actually, most points) I had my daughter strapped to my chest in a baby carrier.

While the soup was simmering, there was no chance to relax. I had to put my son down for his nap, timing it carefully around adding ingredients and stirring intervals. Even when he was down, I had to keep one eye on the soup, and one eye on his baby monitor. Thankfully for me, unlike Andy both my eyes were fully functional.

By the time the soup was finished, I felt like I had run a Ludington 5k entirely inside my kitchen. I packed it up proud, not because it was perfect, but because it existed at all.

Then came Soup Club. Overall, the feedback was… polite. The soup was “okay.” Some members mentioned the lack of quantity. Others noted it could have used more seasoning. And honestly? Fair. They weren’t wrong, and I appreciated the candidness.

Kevin kicked off scoring giving the soup a 6.2. He bumped it up to a 6.9 with hot sauce, and I assume that’s because he was able to scorch his taste buds enough with his 300,000 Scoville Level hot sauce to incinerate out the taste of cauliflower and beets, two ingredients he is not fond of. Then came Conlan (the reigning Soup Score champion) and Tam who hit me with a 7 and 7.5, respectively. Solid scores, especially from two vets for a first-timer, but certainly room for improvement. Finally was Jeff, who came in surprisingly with a score of 7.9! Not a bad score at all, especially from a guy who just a few hours before had a look of horror on his face when he saw the quantity of soup (or lack thereof) that I had brought.

Total average came out to 7.2. Not great, but not terrible, and a solid showing for a rookie like myself. Conlan even hit me with the, “keep up the good work, kid”, a trademarked Andy Robinson (aRob) quote, as he left the office for the day.

All in all, I’d say my soup was a success. Was there room for improvement? 100%. Would I season it more next time? Absolutely. Make more? Without question. But I’ll always remember this first soup as a milestone, not in culinary excellence, but in perseverance. And that’s an ingredient worth counting.