Soup & Bread Announces 2014 Dates, Themes

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Dec 12, 2013 5:15PM

Photo credit: Chuck Sudo/Chicagoist

The temperatures across Chicago are in the teens and there's snow on the ground which means we aren't far off from Soup & Bread season. Founders Martha Bayne and Sheila Sachs managed to breathe new life into the series last season by organizing each week at Hideout on themes.

This forced the people who volunteered to cook to create recipes tying in to the theme of their choice (example: this recipe for celery root and parsnip soup with dashi stock I made for Soup & Bread's "Tokyo v. Paris" night) while ensuring some weeks weren't overloaded with chili or thick stews and the vegetarians and vegans had more than a single option. From a personal standpoint it was the most challenging—and fun*mdash;time I've had in my years volunteering for Soup & Bread.

The 2014 Soup & Bread season begins Jan. 8 with a theme of "Fire v. Ice" and concludes April 16 with "The Fields," just in time for the beginning of farm season. The full list of themes is listed below; if you wish to volunteer to cook for Soup & Bread's upcoming season email Bayne at soupnbread10@gmail.com.

January 8: Fire v. Ice
January 15: Southern Comforts
January 22: The Woods
January 29: Minimalism
February 5: Mac v. Cheese
February 12: Love, Lust & Hate (This lineup is complete filled.)
February 19: The River
February 26: Maximalism
March 5: Root v. Sprouts
March 12: Daylight Savings Soup (aka "Lighten Up")
March 19: The Hills
March 26: Herbalism
April 2: Rahm(en) v. Daley
April 9: Tastes Like Chicken
April 16: The Fields