Birthday Soup: A Labor of Love

An old family friend called to wish me a happy birthday.  She asked, "What kind of cake will you have?"

And I said, "Well, I really love soup."

I could get all metaphorical and say that I love how it represents making something from nothing to warm the bellies (and hearts) of many, but I won't go there. Instead I'll say that I simply love soup because it is hot and delicious.  Plus, there's an endless number of souper puns to dish out.

For my birthday this year, I celebrated with many soups.

Soup No. 1: Hot Pot
Hot pot is like the story of stone soup come to life. I'll boil some cabbage and shrimp skins, you bring some mushrooms, we'll add some meat, and voilà! We have soup and we made it together! Don't forget the fish balls.

I don't have a picture of hot pot, so here's a picture of a fantastic birthday gift,
"Everybody Poops" in its original Japanese form. 

Soup No. 2: Pho Sho
Melodie asked what I wanted for my birthday. I said soup. So she boiled me an amazing pot of pho for 2 days, and on day 2 we feasted. It was gone instantly. We will be making this again. 

The Soup that Keeps On Souping
And then Melodie gave me the pinnacle soup gift of all, a Le Creuset enamel coated cast iron pot! This will be host to many a delicious soup I'm sure, the perfect good omen for a fantastic 27th year.  

It was a lovely birthday, truly un-pho-gettable.