I’ve just been given an idea from who-knows-where but I suspect it’s my snowed-in and hungry circumstance.

Here we all were last week, wrapped in blankets of white, hoping the power wouldn’t go out leaving us cold, in the dark and unable to cook food.

In my home, we were feeling somewhat prepared as there were two yummy homemade soups in the freezer that could heat up over a house-warming wood-burning stove, should necessity play out that way.

We have the soups because we spent two days making them in large batches, using backed-up items from our weekly CSA share. Then we spent another two days eating the soups, yet still couldn’t polish them off; hence they await consumption from the freezer.

They turned out quite delicious: a creamy wild mushroom soup with leeks, carrots and white wine and a Smoky Thai Sweet Potato soup that’s vegan and gluten-free with cilantro and coconut milk.

I love that there are soups in the freezer and realize they shouldn’t be up there too long for fear of frostbite. After a week of “eating on them,” I wouldn’t be in a hurry to choose those particular soups anytime soon.

I have friends in homes, as caterers and in restaurants known for their soups and I wished I had some of their creations in my freezer instead. So, I suppose it may have been them who have just given me the idea for a Soup Swap.

I thought, “Wouldn’t it be fun in the chill of winter for a Soup Swap with people who enjoy preparing and eating hearty soup as much as I do?”

It could be organized or loose. We could gather in a private home to discuss and swap soup that will warm our hearts and stomachs through the winter. Each person would bring three separate quarts of their favorite soup or something completely local and seasonal or “the CSA soup” as we call it in our home. Then everyone would take home three quarts of various soups chosen from among those brought by others.

We could welcome egalitarian soup slingers or request vegetarian or vegan soups or soups with slow ingredients: good, clean, fair products.

Soups may include meat or be vegetarian or vegan. Mark the soups as to ingredients and type of soup. We could consider a variety of delicious specialty soups, like an Italian Wedding Soup, a lovely Chicken and Rice Soup to cure winter colds, and Abondigas Soup made from pasture-raised beef.

The event could charge $5/person to donate to Thermal Belt Outreach Ministry, our local food pantry, or another organization. I’ve seen full-on soup fundraisers that bring in thousands of dollars for special causes. Soup-A-Bowl fundraisers. No totalitarian soup slingers allowed.

Book Soup. Talk Soup. Chicken Soup for the Soul. Bankrupt Soup. Swap Soup. Occupy Soup for your Bowl.

Soup is ancient. Soup is genius.

Soup makes me want to be a better person.