Feeling spookier

Did you guys feel the first signs of Fall this weekend? Slight offshore breeze, softer lighting, more movement in the air, tarantula sightings?? All signs that spooky season is fast approaching.

I have been put on a waiting list for…. SQUASH!! Jessica from pepper creek farms grew just a handful of candy roaster squash this year and the local chefs are lining up for it!! It’s a cross between a sweet potato and a butternut and it’s huge and fun to work with and absolutely delicious. I’m apparently second on the list, just under “six test kitchen” in SLO. So when you see candy roaster squash soup on the menu in the next few weeks, come try it out for yourself!!

Here’s what you will find at the soup booth this week:

Monday in Baywood, Thursday In Morro Bay and Friday in Cambria :

1. TEMPEH CHILI

2. CURRY CAULIFLOWER

I look forward to seeing you guys and don’t forget your jars!

Bait Ball

The ocean went from red tide to absolutely alive with birds, dolphins, whales and ahem…even a few sightings of the landlord 🦈! I did my best not to paddle out into where the fish were schooling but alas, they came to me so I let them have it. My husband went surfing on Friday evening in San Simeon and he said a huge black shadow appeared alongside of him and “hung out”. He said the water was too murky to see what it was but it was big enough to scare him out of the water (and the waves were fun so that’s saying something!). Anywhoo, wildlife is all part of the experience!!

So, shifting to soup, I want to give a huuuuuge thank you to Joe from True Earth market for finding me some fresh, organic corn for this week’s soup. Also thanks to long time soup customer, John Madera, for giving me the heads up that True Earth had good corn! If you’ve never been to True Earth Market in Cambria, go check it out!!! They even have an amazing cafe!

Here’s what you will find at the soup booth this week:

Monday in Baywood, Thursday in Morro Bay and Friday in Cambria

1. CORN CHOWDER

2. BLACK EYED PEA WITH BARLEY, HEIRLOOM TOMATO AND SHIITAKES

I look forward to seeing you guys and don’t forget your jars!

Switcheroo

I kinda knew things were gonna get messed up in the soup prediction situation last week 😂. For those who came for Pozole only to be greeted with Minestrone last week (or the other way around) DON’T LOOSE HOPE!! Things will get straightened out this week !! Then, by next week, we’ll be back on track to run things the usual way!!

Here’s what you will find at the soup booth this week ( pay special attention to the day you are coming 😊)

Monday in Baywood: Minestrone Gnocchi and Split Pea

Thursday in Morro Bay: Minestrone Gnocchi and Split Pea

Friday in Cambria: Pozole and Split Pea

Thanks for bearing with me!!

I look forward to seeing you guys and don’t forget your jars! Also, in case any of you guys live in Santa Barbara county and are reading this, Harvestly is now delivering my soup ( and all their other local products) to Santa Barbara county!!! Tell your friends!! ❤️

Hip Hip Jorge!!!

I just wanted to give farmer Jorge ( who would never read this blog) a huuuuge thank you for supplying me with THREE HUNDRED POUNDS of heirloom tomatoes so that I could supply you with Tomato Bisque last week!! You can find Jorge and his magic tomatoes at farmers markets in Morro Bay, Los Osos and Templeton. He also grows the most delicious figs and melons!

Due to a worker shortage at my wholesaler, UNFI, my order was a little scattered last week so I’m gonna be “winging it” more than usual as far as predicting what the soups will be. As I do so often, I will be calling upon the local farmers to sort me out of this mix up and thankfully, it’s summertime and local, fresh ingredients are abundant!!

So here’s what I think will be at the soup booth this week:

Monday in Baywood, Thursday in Morro Bay and Friday in Cambria

1. Pozole ( a Mexican stew with hominy, marinated Jackfruit and a Caramelized onion red chili broth)

2. Mung Bean with Wild Rice, Shiitake Mushrooms and Dill

UPDATE!! Minestrone Gnocchi rather than Pozole 💜

I look forward to seeing you guys and don’t forget your jars!

Red Ocean!!

I take my parents dog, George, for runs at the cove and he starts off clean… I return him the opposite of that

Has anyone noticed that the ocean has been red this week? It’s kinda crazy looking!! It’s caused by something called “red tide” which is not a tide at all but an algae bloom which turns the water murky and red. The algae blooms for all kinds of reasons but mostly it’s because they get a sudden dose of fertilizer. The fertilizer can come from agricultural run off or a naturally occurring upwelling ( more likely this time of year considering hardly any of our creeks are running to the ocean right now). Regardless of what caused it, it’s nasty and toxic and the waves have been so perfect and it’s ruining everything!! I’ve seen a few surfers in it and they are braver than I!! Hopefully it will clear up in a few days and it will once again be pleasant to get in the ocean. Thank goodness for mountain bike trails!!

Anyways, I’m so exited to fiiiiinally be making tomato bisque!!! Jorge has been working hard to acquire the 300 lbs of tomatoes necessary to run the bisque for the week and I can’t wait to have a grilled cheese and tomato soup dinner!!

Here’s what you will find at the soup booth this week

Monday in Baywood, Thursday in Morro Bay and Friday in Cambria

1. Heirloom Tomato Bisque

2. Coconut Curried Lentil

I look forward to seeing you guys and don’t forget your jars!

Shed update

A few of you have checked in on my shed project and regret to inform you that my husband and I are not, in fact, master carpenters. Reinforcements have been called in and I’m happy to say we’re back on track as of this weekend with the help of a kind professional. (It helped that the waves were bad so we were able to focus). The mason jars will have a house by the time the rain comes!

Speaking of mason jars, they are making a slow comeback but I’ve been able to get my stockpile back to where I like it. I’ve also restocked on extra lids ( metal ones aaaand the fancy ones) so if you need replacements, just ask, they’re in the truck. ( $1 for the traditional ones, $2 ( or 2 for $3) for the fancy ones). *Please note that the fancy lids do not work on the knock off brand jars ( thanks for letting us know, Bart) *

Here’s what you will find at the soup booth this week:

Monday in Baywood, Thursday in Morro Bay and Friday in Cambria:

1. RED LENTIL WITH CARAMELIZED ONION, LEMON AND MINT ( soup booth Brian grew the mint!!)

2. CREAMY ROASTED ZUCCHINI ( thank you Mark of the Joselyn center for getting the convection oven fixed so I can get the roasty goodness!!)

I look forward to seeing you guys and don’t forget your jars!!

Coconuts!

It’s finally here!!! I was able to order AND receive three cases of organic coconut milk ( I use Thai Kitchen Brand cause it’s the tastiest!! ) soooooo FINALLY I’m making coconut lemongrass soup, the first batch in 16 months!!

A big huge thank you to Michelle from Stepladder Ranch for letting me “prune” her kaffir lime trees to make this soup, the fresh kaffir limes make all the difference!!

Alsoooo, ok, I know I keep changing my mind on this one but I assure you, it’s just cause we are trying to navigate what is the simplest way to go about it. LETS KEEP THE LIDS ON THE JARS when you hand them over to be filled. Hahahaha, seriously, so sorry to keep making you guys relearn things. I love you so much and I’m so thankful for how accommodating you have all been.

Here’s what you will find at the soup booth this week

Monday in Baywood, Thursday in Morro Bay and Friday in Cambria

1. COCONUT LEMONGRASS

2. TUSCAN WHITE BEAN

I look forward to seeing you guys and don’t forget your jars!

Mostly water

For the past 48 hours I have definitely been in the ocean more than the land. I’m totally ok with that! I attended a funeral at sea for my husband’s grandfather down south on Friday. The boat launched from Marina del Rey and went all the way to Malibu along the coast. It was a very unique perspective of that particular coastline and took 7 hours round trip. Once home I went surfing and then took George swimming. I’m ready to have my feet on the ground and cook soup!!

Here’s what you will find at the soup booth this week

Did you all meet Nadine?

Monday in Baywood, Thursday in Morro Bay and Friday in Cambria

1. MIKE’S VEGETABLE BARLEY

2. CHIPOTLE BLACK BEAN (not too spicy)

I look forward to seeing you guys and don’t forget your jars!

Puffins!!!

Thank you all for asking about Brian’s Iceland trip!! For those of you who don’t know, soup booth Brian is a professional photographer focusing primarily on nature and street art photography. He even published a book on street art around the world called “Can Crafted” which is now available at Volumes of Pleasure bookstore in Los Osos.

It makes me so happy to hear him talk about traveling again because it is his passion ( other than soup ladleing , of course) and now that he has a partner in his life to join his adventures, his trips are even better. He was kind enough to send me some of his photos to share with you guys, so here you go!!!

And, here’s what you will find at the soup booth this week ( please note Friday’s absence, I’m attending a funeral that day).

Monday in Baywood and Thursday in Morro Bay:

1. CORN CHOWDER

2. LENTIL VEGETABLE ( just a classic savory lentil soup, no curry 😊)

FRIDAY CAMBRIA: No soup this week, see you all next week or at other markets!!

I look forward to seeing you guys and don’t forget your jars!

When life gives you Fava Beans

So every month I place an order with a company called UNFI. I source things like organic raw cashews, organic beans, organic grains and organic spices through them and have been working with them for almost twenty years!! This whole time I’ve had the same delivery driver, David. David is one of the best people I know and does a tremendous job for the company. ( think… grocery wholesaler during a global food production shortage and pandemic and still keeps a positive attitude, hero status!) Anyways, rarely does David make a mistake but last week my delivery came in with a bag of Fava Beans that was supposed to be black lentils. I could get reimbursed but it could potentially make David look bad if I report it so I’ve decided to see how I can use them. I’ve never worked with them dried before so I’m going to slow cook them tonight and if all goes well, I’ll add them to the minestrone instead of Kidney Beans this week. I’ve purchased a tin of of Kidney Beans as a back up plan just in case things don’t go well so, guess we’ll all get to learn about Fava Beans this week!

Here’s what you will find at the soup booth this week:

Monday in Baywood, Thursday in Morro Bay and Friday in Cambria

1. SPLIT PEA ( the green kind)

2. HEIRLOOM TOMATO MINESTRONE GNOCCHI

I look forward to seeing you guys and don’t forget your jars!