Are you wondering where I’ve gone? Most of the action is over on the soup blog.

And when I’m not there I’m running around trying to wrap up work on the next edition of the Soup & Bread Cookbook, to be published in November by Evanston-based  Agate Publishing. It’s a hybrid: part cookbook, part social history of soup as community-building tool, pairing recipes from the last three years of Soup & Bread with stories about *other people’s soup schemes.* Like this. And this.

The scope of the book stretches from contemporary soup-based projects like those above to encompass soup kitchens, community meals, chili cook-offs, crazy art projects, and just about anything else I can cram into the, uh, pot.

Now, there’s a sound case to be made against sharing your work in progress, but I’m willing to take the risk. Because if the examples above get your stock simmering, you can lay claim to membership in the exclusive club that is our target market — and you also might be able to help. Do you know of such a project or tradition? Some homespun soup circle; some enterprising soup visionary? Please let me know (um, soon) at soupnbread10 (at) gmail (dot) com. Thanks so much!

OK, back to work.