Soup Diary (Or, An Easy Way to Boost My Post Count)

Some years back I got into the habit of always ordering soup when I went out to eat at a restaurant. Initially this was because I realized that if you did order soup, it almost always came right out away; and if you were hungry (and why else would you be in a restaurant?), it was nice to have something to dig into right away. At first, I stuck with old favorites, like chicken noodle or chicken noodle, maybe French onion. But at some point, none of those was an option and I decided to try something new. As I recall, it was a creamy mushroom soup that about knocked my socks off (I was not normally a big fan of mushrooms at all), and I realized there was a whole world of soups out there that were probably really, really good, if I'd only give them a taste. So I got into the habit of always trying something new and different if the opportunity presented itself.

Jump ahead a couple of years, and the central library in downtown Buffalo opened a coffee shop where they served not one or two, but rather three or four different soups-of-the-day. Since I was a pretty regular visitor to the library anyway, these soups soon became a staple of those visits. They are universally, and I do not exaggerate, fantastic-- apparently made fresh every day and pretty much spanning all the varieties one is likely to find in any cookbook. Maybe they were inspired by the classic Seinfeld episode about the Soup Nazi, I don't know. But while I'm here in Western New York, I've been imbibing at least twice a week, and I thought I might share the experience with my readers.

Today, I had the African Peanut Soup (an approximation of which can be seen in the picture above). It's a nice combination of salty and sweet, with peppers, rice, and onions in a semi-creamy broth, along with, of course, peanuts. There are recipes on-line, and maybe I'll try one sometime, but I have a feeling that my culinary skills are insufficient to match the quality of the bowl I enjoyed earlier today. I'll probably be back at the library early next week, and I'll let you know what I order then (what else is a blog for, but such trivial information?).