Last night we had some friends over for our first ever Soup Off! The idea for the Soup Off came a few weeks ago when we were together with our friends. Somehow the topic of soup came up and we discovered that we all had an unusual love for soups. We agreed that the very best soups are made from scratch. So we created the Soup Off, which is a basically a potluck dinner where each person or couple brings a homemade soup. In this particular case, we decided to make the recipe theme vegetarian.

It was a really fun time, and a treat to try everyone’s creation. With 8 people attending, we had a total of 6 homemade soups. Thomas’ Tuscan White Bean and Kale Soup from this cookbook took home the unofficial first place prize. We also made our go to Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup recipe from America’s Test Kitchen. In case you and your friends have a Soup Off, or you just want to make great soup for your family, here are some resources that can help out as we move into the heart of Soup Season. By the way, Williams-Sonoma has special pricing right now on Le Creuset Favorites.