A few years ago, I had the idea that it would be nice to cook once in a while with women I enjoy. Our kitchen at home is too small, but our church has a spacious, reasonably well-equipped kitchen. It's that kind of church kitchen with too many of some things and a scarcity of some other things. Today we cooked, and made a list of needs; cookie sheets, steel utility bowls, a knife sharpener for example.
I named our group "Soup Sistahs", said with a mock Boston accent. We tried it out a couple of times last winter, and are now meeting monthly in the New North Church kitchen. Today, we used Sara Moulton's Creamy Root Vegetable Soup with Everything Pita Crisps from her book "Home Cooking 101". I worked with one other "sistah" today. We chopped carrots, parsnips, turnip, garlic, onions, and potatoes... then used the immersion blender to puree half the mixture before adding the rest of the vegetables. While the vegetables were cooking, we made Everything Pita Crisps, with a mixture of dried onion, garlic, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and salt. They are delicious and delicious crumbled on top of the soup I added a some pulled chicken to half the soup so we can offer a vegetarian and non-vegetarian option. 
The idea of the Soup Sistahs is connection. I connect with women as we cook. Then we pack the soup, label it, and make it available to the congregation the next day. People can take it with them to give to a friend or neighbor who may need a meal, increasing the connection. Thanks for looking today. Reach out, make a connection.
