The Great Soup Club Shakeup
Jeff
5/13/20263 min read
Jeeze…I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve given this platform any attention, and there’s a lot happening in the Soup Club universe right now.
First off, Surgeon Jenn and I orchestrated a soup situation last weekend thanks to Fish Whisperer Logan, who casually handed us what felt like 20 pounds of Maitake mushrooms like some sort of woodland drug deal. The result was a mushroom, asparagus, potato, dill creation that was either an incredible soup or an extremely aggressive sauce for lake trout tails. Jury is still out. Maybe I’ll post the recipe. Maybe I won’t. Depends how emotionally stable I feel after a few more bowls.
Now onto the big news…Kevin hinted at it last week, but nobody was truly prepared.
We were all sitting there with our soup cooling off, waiting for founding member Andy to show up so we could officially start the feast. It felt like waiting for that one relative at Thanksgiving who’s somehow always 20 minutes late while everyone else stares at the mashed potatoes trying not to lose it.
Then Andy finally rolls in…late, of course…and casually drops a nuclear bomb into the room. “I’m taking a break from Soup Club.” Silence. Like…real silence. Pin-drop silence. Then he walked out. And somehow the silence got even louder. I’m still not sure what anything means anymore.
BUT…with great soup loss comes new soup opportunity.
Out with Andy, in with new member Josephine! And let’s be honest, this was inevitable. Anyone who watched Josephine consume approximately eight bowls of soup at the one-year anniversary knew she was Soup Club material. We’re all looking forward to her feedback, future soup creations, and honestly just seeing if she can maintain that same bowl-per-hour pace.
Wait…there’s more…Welcome Nathan! Yep, another new member. Apparently Nathan knows his way around a kitchen. More importantly, he also knows how to stir up drama. More on that in a bit.
Also, reminder to self: I need a proper soup photo and a Nathan and Josephine photo for the About page.
Which brings us to today…Tam’s turn. Now for the newer blog readers, Tam has developed a bit of a reputation in Soup Club for making “soups” that are…well…questionably soup-adjacent. The anniversary offering was essentially straight-up macaroni and cheese that somehow identified as soup. There was cheese. There was pasta. There was absolutely no confusion that it was mac and cheese.
So naturally, everyone…well, mostly me…was very excited to see Tam potentially follow the Soup Club bylaws and attempt something healthy – and this thing looked legit.
Tam rolled in with a vegetable curry soup featuring yellow curry powder, garam masala (still not 100% sure what that is), cremini mushrooms, eggplant, and of course…sugar. Because Tam can never fully leave the dark side.
Then came the extras. Edamame toppers. Chickpea toppers. Blueberry sourdough on the side. This is not the behavior of someone aiming for an 8.2. This is someone hunting 10s.
Soup Club Scores:
Adam: Looking completely satisfied, Adam went on a passionate little speech about needing to add hot sauce, which usually is not a great sign, then casually tossed out a perfect 10.0.
Conlan: Said he would have liked the eggplant roasted so it wasn’t as mushy and landed on what he called a “solid” 8.0.
Kevin: Came in at an 8.1 before hot sauce and an 8.6 after hot sauce. Apparently eggplant now ranks below Brussels sprouts in Kevin’s world.
Jeff: Loved every bite. The edamame stayed crunchy, the soup was excellent, and the blueberry sourdough was a huge move. Easy 10.0.
Marketing Mike: Not a fan of broccoli at all, so honestly the 8.75 was a really respectable score.
Josephine: Really liked it and landed at an 8.0.
Nathan: Nathan initially announced a 9.75. But Adam, whose sales superpower is apparently reading human deception, sensed something suspicious and immediately called him out with, “Is that what you actually wrote down?” Sure enough…Nathan had written 9.0. Controversy in his very first meeting. Love it.
Andy: “Taking a break.”
Soup Club Average: 8.9. This was a legitimately great soup, and honestly, Nathan’s attempted inflation would have pushed this thing over a 9.0. So officially we’re calling it an 8.9* with an asterisk.
And now we look ahead. Next week belongs to Conlan, and things are getting interesting. It was recently discovered that Conlan’s famous Three Sisters Soup recipe may not actually belong to Conlan at all. Apparently his friend, and now fellow Soup Club member, Nathan exposed the whole thing and revealed it was really Nathan’s recipe.
Soup Club drama at its absolute finest. So now the big question becomes: Will Conlan roll out another Nathan original? Or will he branch out and finally create something fully his own?
Stay tuned, Soup Club people. This one could get messy.
