12th annual dawn of soup!

And guess how many wonderful women had turned out for it?

Go ahead, take a wild chance at the number...

never mind, I can't take the suspense!

There were twelve of us!!!

That's Dawn at the head of the table, naturally.

Then, going clockwise, that's Elaine (down from Chicago, as usual!); Jennifer; a space for her daughter, Dora, who took the photo; Cindy, a newbie with cool glasses; me; Arlet, who came from Tybee; Sheryl, one of the chef-testants tonight; Susan, a familiar friend; Lisa, a new friend and a chef-testant; then Debbie, the mother of Cara, who is Dawn's niece and a chef-testant tonight.

Woohoo!!!

Right place, right time!!!

I had missed the party last year because of the weather.

Not this time!

The weather was so nice we even opened up the dining room windows!

 

That means I was right there for the game of making soup by using chopsticks to pick up the ingredients.

That was so much fun!

I was on the 'blue' team and was tasked with picking up 33 pieces of digitali pasta.

I ended up with 75 of those teensy bits!

(smile!)

We all got a can of soup as a participation prize.

Mine is cream of potato!

And I was right there for the game of "What would you do?"

The question for me was "the bread is down to only one roll. You want it. Do you ask the others first if they want it or just take it?"

I answered that I'd take it!!!

Hahahaha!

Like there would ever be a dearth of bread or salad at these events...

never hap'nin', captain!

Then I was right there for the "what's under your dining room chair?" game...

and fortunate enough to have an orange card!!!

That made me the winner of this book by Kevin Hart!

"I Can't Make This Up: Life Lessons" may even be part of the birthday16 package for one of my Alabama nephews in March.

Shhhh... don't tell him yet...

'cause I just may have to read it first...

you know, to make sure it's appropriate...

so it will be a "used" book (inside joke for stepdad Frank!)!

(smile!)

Plus, I was right there to sample those four delectable creations and serve as a tasting judge.

This was my favorite: Lasagna Soup, served with the tiny pasta bowties and the spritz of parmesan added right before serving.

This was my favorite soup!!!

It was also the only one cooked by someone there!

Lisa's "Sausage and Lentil" was prepared by her husband, as was Cara's "Herira Moroccan".

Sheryl, herself, cooked this entry.

Her daughter, Briana, also made a soup - 

"Green Chile Chicken Enchilada" - 

but she wasn't there.

So, in my book, the only true winner had to be Sheryl, and that's how I voted.

The others made the daughter's soup the big winner.

(smile!)

Not that it truly mattered who won, right?

All four took home goody bags.

Heck, we all did!

It was just nice that this time I was right there to receive it in person!

I'm not sure what to do with the mermaid facial mask, but I bet my first niece would like to have it!

Those packages of flower seeds?

Those will be fun for the four little blondes, methinks!

Maybe I'll separate them into little jars for each girl, so they can be surprised when the plants grow and bloom... yes, that sounds like a very nice spring project!

I'll let Dawn know...

she loves those kinds of kid things!

What a wonderful night it's been!

Thanks, Dawn...

and i thank You, God, for the lovely weather!