Don't Call it a Comeback...

Blogging here will resume shortly with a full recap of this last weekend's Soup or Salad Austin Food Challenge.

We had some great entries this year, including (but not limited to):
-Chris and Danny's creamy cilantro soup
-Shannon's delicious roma tomato and sweet basil soup
-Dan & Amanda's Asian-inspired chicken and mandarin orange salad over rice noodles. The wine paired with it was a great touch.
-Roxanne's awesome vegetable salad. I didn't try it, but it seemed to feature a bunch of colorful veggies.
-Rob's crazy salad featuring homemade dressing and at least 6 different types of lettuce. He needed a cue card to remember all the lettuces.
-Andy's spicy soup with lettuce spaghetti-o wraps (a favorite of his kiddos)
-My chicken, corn, and spinach tortilla soup
-Kristin's smokey white bean and andouille sausage soup...served in bread bowls

Kristin was our champion in a hotly contested kitchen battle. Her soup tasted great, and the bread bowls put her entry over the top.

There was much drama throughout the evening, especially with the now standard reading of the judges' comments. This was a great evening once again!

Based on preliminary will of the people, it looks like the next cooking challenge will be...(drum roll)...DESSERT! Stay tuned for more details and photos.

Temporarily On Hold

A close family friend is currently fighting a serious illness. I won't be updating the blog for the next few days or so.

See y'all soon.

A Good Cause

A close friend, Mark, is working to raise a contribution for the Arkansas Children's Hospital. Mark may be "Ridin' Thirty", but he actually runs in marathons. How someone can run that far voluntarily, I will never know. He will be running the Little Rock Marathon on March 4th to support the outstanding Arkansas Children's Hospital.

He has a goal of raising $7,500 in contributions before the grueling, shin-crushing marathon. $2030 has been raised to date with one month to go, so there is a lot of work left to do.

Check it out:
http://www.geocities.com/mark_larovere/?20074

Save the Date...

The Soup or Salad Food Challenge is coming on February 24th. Mark your calendars, hone your knives, and start hitting the [cook]books.

This is going to be a soup-er, puree fun event that you won't want to leaf.

So, I ask you:



OR