Soup Club #??: Tomato Blends, Bread Wins, and Missing Members?

Ok, so today was an official Soup Club meeting. It’s been a while. We’ve had a few bonus soups in the meantime, and I’ll be honest — I might be a little sick of blogging about soup. Well, maybe.

Tam was up today, following her last official score of 7.48 for that Slow Cooker Dill Pickle Soup masterpiece. There was a nice vibe in the air this morning, like there always is when we know a new soup is coming. Tam’s got a reputation for making her Soup Club day feel like a four-course meal. You never know what’s coming out of that kitchen, but you can bet it’s not just soup.

Today’s creation: a blended tomato soup. Official name? Unknown. Ingredient list? Classified. Recipe? Missing in action. We do, however, have photo evidence of husband Ed in full soup-prep mode, so my guess is Ed made the soup while Tam handled the bread. Team effort.

Now, full disclosure — tomato soup and I have never been good friends. Same goes for blended soups. This was both. Expectations: low. But one of the best things about Soup Club is that you get to try things you’d never make or order on your own. Sometimes you’re surprised, sometimes you confirm why you avoid tomato soup. As it turns out, I was pleasantly surprised. I came in strong with a 7.9. If there had been a few carrot chunks floating in there for texture, I’d be north of 8.0 for sure.

Then the scores started rolling in.

• Andy: 9.2

• Conlan: 9.2 (either they copied each other or share the same soup soul)

• Kevin: 8.4 (also not a tomato soup guy, so that’s high praise)

That puts Tam’s blended tomato creation at a very respectable 8.675 average. Nicely done.

Now, let’s talk about the bread. Rumor has it the bread scored straight 10s across the board. I think that means Tam might be officially drafted into Soup Club as our first “Bread Division” member.

As for the rest of the crew: Felton smiled big for the group photo, then conveniently disappeared when it was time to score. Classic move. TGMB (yes, The Grand Master B) was pretty quiet today. Probably for the best. We could all use a little break from his commentary.

All in all, this was a solid Soup Club day with good soup, better bread(so I’m told), and great conversation behind closed doors. We had high hopes that Adam and Marco would join us this week, but that was... unclear. Marco was spotted grabbing some Soup Club food but didn’t officially participate. So, kinda joined? Maybe? Adam is still a Soup Club mystery man. He lurks. He sneaks. He’ll appear one day, I’m sure.

And newbie Mike was a no-show. He claimed a last-minute meeting popped up. Must have been souper important to miss Soup Club.

So today we celebrate Tam (and Ed) for pulling off a solid 8.675 with a blended tomato soup. The bread stole the spotlight, TGMB behaved himself, and the rest of us left full and happy.

Next week’s goal: get Adam and Marco to show up and Mike to reschedule whatever “meeting” keeps getting in the way of soup. Conlan, you’re up!