this post is loooooong overdue. the soup exchange i speak of here was waaaaay back in january. i seem to have a problem with being timely with sharing what’s going on. probably not the smartest thing to admit to on here, but at this point in my life, it’s the truth. and this probably has to do with the fact that there is always so much going on! and that’s not me complaining. not at all. well, not totally. i’m in desperate need for a little life decluttering and packed schedules has a lot to do with this overwhelming feeling. and yes, i get overwhelmed at times especially when there’s such a backlog. i’m constantly working on being more organized and adopting a more consistent lifeflow.

anyway, i’m posting about this now because i’m in the midst of planning another exchange, of the salad variety, and wanted to share with you how much fun the good exchange is. i’m really hoping you’ll be able to make it out in few weeks time on june 6th.

the premise is simple. you come with four jars the same item and leave with four different ones. of which you can enjoy as lunches or sides at dinner through the week.

now that’s something to get excited about.

but while the premise may be simple, the gathering is much more than just an exchange of good food. it’s a gathering. an opportunity to connect with like- and unilke-minded people. it’s about people. and conversation, and getting to know to one another beyond conventional connections.

and it’s an opportunity to give back.

at the soup exchange the cause i wanted to shed light on and that everyone who came raised money for was 20x20x20.org, an organization that provides simple, yet life-changing operations to restore the sight of people with vision complications around the world. collectively we raised enough for two people to get the gift of sight. the gift of a better life.

so i’m hoping you can make it to the next exchange, but for now, take a peek at what the last one looked like. a big thanks to atifa for snapping the pics and of course to all of you who came out and spent the afternoon with me.

i co-hosted this exchange with my good friend and sister salma and am so thankful that she was able to take the time out of her busy life to do me the honour. she is a wonderful person and a whiz in the kitchen. so we were lucky enough to munch on her gourmet grilled cheeses in between courses.

each course was served hot by the feature maker it was made by. i made a tomato and red pepper based shorba, sukaina made a delicious tex-mex inspired squash soup, waheeda an inspirational goal-getter made a hearty and spicy oat based soup, and salma made one of her specialties, tom kah gai. mmm i can still taste the coconut and spice.

it’s pretty impressive when you see so much soup lined up in a row. all homemade and made with love. at least i think so.

oh hey kay!

i put thought into creating a smoothly running event and the major concern here is making sure everyone gets four different soups home without any confusion. it’s a bit like piecing together a puzzle and to make it unbiased we all go by numbers. so far this method has not failed me!

i made ice-cream sandwiches and a few of the ladies brought desserts (thanks shahana and fatima!) to sweeten things up a bit.

it was simple. delicious and heart-warming.

we took a moment to watch a video profiling a family impacted by this organization and reflected on the little big thing we just did. it felt so good. you can check it out here.

so save the date for the next one on june 6th. and keep your eye out this week for when the presale tickets drop. hope to see you there!

x