Soup and Smores Party 2010

A few years ago a dream was created from my love of parties and soup. I wanted to have a soup party in the fall where friends brought over their favorite pot of soup along with a batch of recipes to share. It would be a way to sample different kinds, get tons of new recipes and get to visit friends at the same time. My vision came true last night. The first annual Soup and Smores party came to fruition. With a big fire pit out back, it only made sense to add the smores. After all, what chases soup better than graham crackers with melted marshmallow and chocolate?

We had about 30 friends join us, half being kids between ages 1 year to 11 years of age. Tyler and Carson were in heaven. The kids played outside all night. Tag, swinging on the hammock, walking the trail- eating tons of smores...

The soups were incredible- the best part was the variety :Chicken Tortilla, Duck Cassoulet, Roasted Tomato Basil, Smokey Pumpkin, Butternut Squash with Sausage and Rice, 2-Alarm Vegetarian Chili, Ghoulish, and a big salad to boot. We had a topping bar from popcorn to smoked Gouda cheese and more beer and wine that you could count.

One of my favorite lines of the night was from Tyler, who had walked me down to the bottom of the driveway to see off some guests only to realize two of his friends were still on the porch when we walked back up. He spotted them and yelled, "Oh! the girls are still here!" Two seconds later- the picture below was taken.

One of my favorite nights in North Caroline so far- I love being surround by good food and friends.