Good morning!
I feel like I blinked and summer was gone. Almost — it’s like 90º outside right now. But, Labor Day is the official-unofficial end of summer, no matter what the thermometer says. And y’all, I’m not sad about it.
I used to be a hardcore summer girl. Gimme the heat, gimme the sun. I have a couple of friends who passionately hate summer, preferring overcast, misty days that require a hoodie and a cup of hot cocoa. I always thought, I love you guys, but what is wrong with you. Lol.
But now … now I get it. The sun hurts my eyes. It’s too hot to even get the mail. And I generally don’t leave the house at all M-F.
So, yeah, bring on fall. I’ll miss my vegetable gardens and fresh tomatoes. I’ll miss not having to wear a coat. But that’s about it. Bring on the falling leaves and snuggly blankets. Hello, hot soup weather!
And speaking of … let’s get to the soup!
The first soup of the season! I love gnocchi, and I don’t think I use it enough. There’s been a package sitting in my pantry all summer long, and now it’s time has come. Loosely inspired by Olive Garden’s famous soup, this version has extra veggies. And a little bacon for savory goodness. It’s creamy and hearty and ready to brighten any rainy day (but not too bright tyvm 😶🌫️).
Welcome, Blue Zones Fans
There are a lot of new subscribers to the Digest this week, thanks to the new Netflix special, Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, and I just wanted to say, Hello! and thank you for visiting my little soup blog and signing up for my newsletter.
If you haven’t heard of the Blue Zones, it’s the nickname given to five regions of the world that have unusually large numbers of people living to 100: Okinawa (Japan), the Nicoya Penisula (Costa Rica), Loma Linda (California), Ikaria (Greece), and Sardinia (Italy).
Researchers have studied the Blue Zones to identify and categorize the factors that lead to those long lives, including diet, daily activities, and social circles.
I’ve been a big fan of the Blue Zones research for a long time, as the eating habits of its residents closely mirror the famous Mediterranean diet, which I follow as best I can.
Now, it’s not my thang to push diets and eating rules on others — the recipes on SoupAddict don’t limit themselves to any one way of eating — but if you’re interested in the kinds of recipes that are Blue Zones friendly, I have many on my site, including the Sardinian Longevity Minestrone that brought people to my blog this weekend. And there’s also this deliciously hearty mushroom soup, loaded with barley and veggies in an umami-rich, saucy broth:
If you subscribe to Netflix, the 4-part series might be worth checking out, if you’re interested in exploring the diets of other parts of the world.
It’s the Big 15th! 🎉
I put this section last because I realize that most don’t (and shouldn’t have to!) care about other people’s random anniversaries, but … SoupAddict turns 15 years old today! 🥳
It sort of boggles my mind that my food blog has lasted and thrived this long. When I started SoupAddict on a whim, “food blogging” wasn’t even a thing. There were a few big-name recipe blogs — Smitten Kitchen, The Pioneer Woman, 101 Cookbooks — plus AllRecipes.com.
The rest of us were just writing about our days (which people absolutely hate now, lol), and posting our dinners with terrible photographs:
which neither we nor Google even really cared about. We were just taken by the idea of a sort of public, digital diary, meeting new people, and enjoying cooking together (remember French Fridays with Dorie, anyone?).
(That’s Irish Brown Bread btw, which is actually quite tasty but was in no way appetizingly captured by my ancient point-and-shoot camera under kitchen fluorescent lighting.)
But, things change. Now food blogging is a big and complex business. Every recipe post requires hours of post-cooking work, which I won’t even get into here. And it’s all rather expensive to maintain, which is why most food bloggers run ads on our sites (e.g., when I switched to Substack from Mailchimp for sending these newsletters, I saved about $400. Per month.)
And I’ll be quite frank here that any squeamishness I’ve had about running ads has turned into deep gratitude, as I continue my sabbatical from the corporate world to fight this crazy cancer.
Anyway, enough of all that. I’m an awkward introvert and it’s difficult for me to express my appreciation without sounding ridiculously sappy.
The thing that I miss most about the old days of blogging is that community happened on our blogs, rather than social media platforms and their fickle post-throttling ways.
So, this newsletter is my most direct connection to y’all, and I want to say Thank You for choosing to spend time with SoupAddict. There are, according to Google, 600 million blogs on the interwebs, and it does not escape my notice that you’ve signed up for this newsletter — for however long; I understand the irritation of a crowded inbox — and read my soup posts, and like and share and comment and whatnot. My 1-in-600MM blog.
Thank you so very much for your part in these past 15 years. Blogging would be incredibly boring without YOU.
Until next time, friends, stay cool 🥵, stay kind 🥰, wear sunscreen 🧴, and cook up some delicious Souptember soup 🥳.
Happy anniversary! We just enjoyed another batch of your Wickedly Good Fish Taco Sauce. Thank you for sharing your delicious recipes. Best wishes in your cancer battle.