More Soup... and Schaum Torte?

Did you miss our January Soup Night?
If so, you missed a great time.  We had over twenty people show up to last month's event. The soups were hot and the company was fabulous. And you can read all about it HERE.

Of course, there's no use living in the past.  We'll be having our second SOUP NIGHT gathering this weekend -- Sunday, February 28, 2010.  And we're cooking up another triad of great soups.  We don't normally reveal the soups that we'll be making ahead of time.  But, today I'll give you a hint.  This month we'll be featuring some of the good old classics.  A couple of meaty varieties, and one good old fashioned vegetarian classic.

Soup night runs from 4:30-7:30pm on Sunday night.  Of course, if you're in the mood for a little bit of dessert afterwards, you could always take a trip over to Il Mito Trattoria on 69th and North Avenue.  They'll be featuring our Chocolate Hazelnut Schaum Torte on their dessert menu from Sunday, February 28 through Saturday, March 6.

All of the net proceeds from the sale of our dessert will benefit the Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee!     Read all the ooey gooey details on the Burp! blog.

Meatloaf Appreciation Day!

And here we are -- smack dab in the middle of Meatloaf Appreciation Day! We were sad to realize that we missed the deadline to participate in Serious Eats Meatloaf Appreciation Day celebration. But, we wanted you to know that we made a meatloaf last night... in the SPIRIT of the day.

It's our favorite meatloaf -- with turkey, apples, and thyme. And, if that didn't sound good enough all by itself, it's served with a lovely shiitake mushroom gravy. Read about that very LOAF at Burp!

Another Blur of a Weekend

I thought I'd check in briefly to let those of you who are interested know that we LOVED the roasted pork we made on Friday night. I've posted the recipe over at BURP! so that you can try it out for yourself. The "melted apples" made a fantastic gravy for the roast -- which was unbelievably tender and uber flavorful. We'd make the roast again in a heartbeat (albeit using a bit less salt next time).

We had a great deal of fun on the Sprecher tour, after which we came back to our place and enjoyed our dinner "al fresco" to take advantage of the great weather (which settled into the low seventies for most of the day. Our feast included burgers (with a wide selection of toppings), green salad, potato salad, and grilled green beans. OH, yes! And "car bombs" for dessert. These beauties were slightly reminiscent of the stout floats we experimented with back in July -- but, they were actually really tasty. You can find our improvised recipe HERE.

Also had a great time with Kris & Kris on Sunday! It was nice to take the time to catch up with them and really get a good visit in.

The week looks as though it's going to be pretty busy here. And the weather is going to be just bizarre! It's in the eighties today -- and feeling downright HOT outside. Tomorrow is scheduled to be more of the same, maybe with some rain thrown in for good measure.

Where, oh where, is the fall that I so desire??!!

A Soup Slip

So, today turned out to be a real Monday.
If you had warned me upon waking that I was going to wish I had stayed in bed, I probably wouldn't have believed you. But, that shows you how much I know.

Sure, it was a bit nasty trying to get up for work. But morning always comes a bit too early for my taste (especially after a good weekend); so, that wasn't a big change. In fact, the morning was rather pleasant. The drive in to work was even better-than-average, and we found ourselves feeling quite smug for finally cracking the code regarding what time it's best to leave in the morning without hitting nasty traffic on the way across town.

Work was rattling along just fine by about noon. In fact, I'd just had a discussion with a colleague about how much I'd gotten done already!

Even better, since the weather was turning out to be quite pleasant, we decided that it might be nice to take our lunches outside for a change. I went into the other room and heated up the bowl of roasted tomato soup that I'd brought to work for lunch. Brought it back to my desk, grabbed my apple, and

WHOMP! That's when it happened.
Homemade tomato soup all the way DOWN my shirt... into the waistband of my pants!!

As shocked as I was to find myself bathing in soup, I am quite sure that the soup was also quite horrified to find itself so utterly displaced.

There were two things that made the situation VERY fortunate indeed. One is that the microwave at work is VERY old, and doesn't seem to heat up soup to a very high temperature (even when one follows the proper heating instructions). The second is that, although I managed to splash my lovely new desk calendar with soup, not a drop made it down onto the brand new carpeting on the floor of my office -- which I found pretty nifty, considering how much soup seemed to have escaped down my blouse.

The thought occurred to me that I might be able to clean up enough to remain at work. Until I caught a WHIFF of myself. Yes, the soup smelled lovely in the bowl. But it was NOT the stuff that perfumes are made of.

Today's lesson: However tasty, tomato soup is not portable.