Make soup for Thanksgiving? Who does that?
No one I’ve ever shared the holiday meal with, that’s for sure. And so, when the potluck sign-up list came my way, soup was the course I claimed. Who doesn’t like the idea of a holiday game-changer?
The sign-up decision was the easy part. Instantly, I felt the anxiety experienced by every cook who’s taking food to a dinner party: Will it be special enough? Will people like it? And because it’s soup: Will they even try it?
You can look at Thanksgiving soup in two ways: as a pointless meal-opener, an obligatory hurdle that stands between you and the glorious feast. Or as a brilliant first act, a sensory jumping-off point that prepares the palate for what’s to come.
I needed that brilliant first act. I needed a masterpiece. I needed help.
Friends, chefs and the Internet came to the rescue with suggestions and recipes, and I started planning my approach. And then I made a lot of soup.