Let’s have another look at that cover, shall we?

“The book is a sweet little compilation of last year’s Soup and Bread series put on by Martha Bayne over at The Hideout [and] a significant document on the importance of food and community. It isn’t glitzy, nor are there any celebrity chef endorsements. It’s a super-local (is there any bar more local than The Hideout?) source of lore about and recipes for real food (what is more real than soup or bread?). It’s a book of genuine people from all angles of life sharing food and recipes with each other in an effort to help more others yet. As put forth by Martha, Soup and Bread is “an ‘everybody wins’ type of project”. And the cookbook is a beautifully designed, thoughtful extension of that.” [Thanks Hugh.]

Welcome, readers of The Kitchn. If you’re curious to find out more of what this cookbook project is all about, you can skip the boring distro info below and click here for the straight dope.

More distribution news

What a week — I feel like I have done nothing but drive around and sell cookbooks out of the back of the car. I suppose there are worse ways to pass the time but, man. I’m tired.

We had a great time at the Hideout Holiday Sale on Tuesday, where we had not just books and prints for sale, but also spiffy new Soup and Bread aprons featuring some bright orange tomatoes ($10). If you missed that sale, there’s another one for all you procrastinators, NEXT Tuesday, 12/22, from 6 to 9 PM.

Sheila and I will also be selling our wares at Schuba’s Indie Arts Market THIS Saturday, 12/19, from 10 AM to 4 PM. And  – in further trans-rock-club pollination — on the same day our newly-deputized sales rep Vera will have a stash of books under her table at the inaugural Empty Bottle Farmer’s Market.

On Sunday 12/20, from 1-3 PM, I’ll be hanging out, selling books, and chatting up people about soup at Green Grocer Chicago.

And tonight and tomorrow (12/17 & 18) either I or Sheila or both of us will be hijacking a corner of the merch table at the Hideout Holiday Panto for our own nefarious cookbook-selling deeds.

If for some reason, you prefer to do your Soup and Bread-related shopping without having to endure being badgered to sign the mailing list or get on the soup schedule (not that I blame you) you can also now purchase cookbooks at the awesome Quimby’s Bookstore and, moving at last beyond greater Wicker Park/Bucktown, at Women and Children First.

And that is all.

If you are interested in making soup in 2010, don’t forget to write to me at soupnbread10 [at] gmail [dot] com. Badger badger badger.

Miscellaneous updates, Saturday night edition

Thanks again to all who have written in to inquire about purchasing copies of the book. The fact that the majority of our PayPal sales so far have come from people who are not related to me is quite heartening. To answer the most common question: YES! We still have cookbooks for sale. We have many, many cookbooks for sale. So, send those orders on over and we’ll get them out to you stat.

Should you prefer to pick up your copy in person (and avoid that $2 shipping fee), the book is now for sale behind the bar at the Hideout. It’s also available at Chicago’s Downtown Farmstand (the Department of Cultural Affairs’ grocery devoted to local, sustainable, and artisanal food products), and at Renegade Handmade, in Wicker Park, and Swim Cafe, on Chicago Avenue across from Eckhart Park. As of tomorrow (Sunday) we should have a few copies at Green Grocer Chicago as well.

If you have written to me inquiring about making soup, please be patient. I’m trying to fill orders as fast as possible as well as keep a bunch of other life-management plates spinning. I’ll hopefully be getting back to would-be soup cooks sometime next week.

Lastly, big thanks to Hugh Amano, Soup and Bread participant and proprietor of the most excellent Food on the Dole, for a really lovely writeup about our book. It is, of course, always nice to be appreciated, but it’s doubly swell when the appreciator seems to really get the big picture. And Hugh definitely does.

Building community, or whatever

Wow — a big, warm bowl of thanks to Helen Rosner, at Grub Street Chicago, for posting this extensive  interview, which was conducted via telephone at 9:30 AM yesterday, about 4 minutes after I crawled out of bed and only 2 inches into my first cup of coffee. I am amazed I sound as coherent as I do.

It’s kind of appropriate that you went with bread and soup as the theme for a hunger fundraiser, since they’re both inexpensive to make and very nutritious.

There was definitely a conscious connection there – there’s definitely the soup kitchen connotation there. I do feel very corny and earnest about Soup and Bread. It’s been actually very very fun and fulfilling as a project for me, just as a way of building community, or whatever.

OK never mind. I take that back.

Hot off the presses

Sheila, Paul, and I thank EVERYONE who braved the blizzard to come out to our cookbook party last night. It was a blast. And, what with the snowstorm and the sheet ice on the roads, a true sign that that soup season is upon us.

Here’s a shot of our merch table, starring Sheila’s giant peacock tablecloth.

Alana’s prints of Paul’s art sold like hotcakes at the low, low one-night-only price of $5 a pop. We’ll have more of them at the Hideout Holiday Sale on Tuesday, at their regular retail price of $10 each. Collect them all!

Here, Guy Massey and Kristin Basta do some holiday shopping. Their recipe for Vegetarian Leek Soup (with, um, bacon?) is on page 86.

David Wilcox surveys the wares, trying to decide. Do I want the pumpkin? Or the mushrooms?

Zoe Zolbrod and Angela Bowman trekked all the way from Evanston to get their hands on some fresh books.

Rob Miller and Katie Tuten are shocked — SHOCKED — by the Senate Soup.

And (blurry) Sheila surveys her domain.

We had a great time last night … at least until the locks on our car froze shut. We hope to see you one of these Tuesdays at the Holiday Sale — where, in addition to cookbooks and prints, you can pick up work by artists Sarah Bortt, Helen Tsatsos, Marvin Tate, Laurie Freivogel, Mark DeBernardi, and others. Soup mavens Sheila, Vera, and Anastasia will be selling knitted goods, bartender Andrea will have handmade clothes on hand, Alana will be selling posters, and … I’m sure there’s something I am forgetting but, in other words, One Stop Shopping.

More cookbook news coming soon.

A quick apology

Several would-be cookbook purchasers have pointed out that, as currently set up, our PayPal account only allows purchases of one cookbook at a time. This is … not ideal. But I’ve been staring at it for a while here and cannot figure out how to fix it. My brain just doesn’t want to go there right now.

I will keep working on this, but in the meantime, if anyone out there does want to purchase multiple copies of the book, please just shoot me an email and we’ll figure something out.

And, if there are any PayPal experts with some time on their hands lurking around the Soup and Bread blogosphere … call me.

We made a cookbook

Finally: The Soup and Bread Cookbook FAQ

1. When is the cookbook coming out?

Mark your calendars for the Soup and Bread Cookbook Release Party, Wednesday December 9, from 5 to 8 PM, at the Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia. There will be NO SOUP at the party, but we’ll be filling the crock pots up with hot spiked cider to keep you warm. Cookbooks will be available for purchase at $20 a pop — as will silkscreened prints of some of Paul Dolan’s fantastic illustrations (see pumpkin, above, and tomatoes and carrots below). Prints are 6 x 8 inches, hand-screened in editions of 50 by Alana Bailey.

2. Can you tell me more about this here cookbook?

Certainly. It’s 126 pages long, and 5 x 7 inches in size, with spiral binding and a beautiful letterpress cover printed by our friends at Rohner Letterpress. It’s designed by Sheila Sachs, with two-color illustrations by Paul Dolan. Inside are 52 delicious soup recipes and another 8 ideas for breads, rolls, and miscellaneous baked goods. All recipes come from the 2009 run of Soup and Bread at the Hideout. A portion of the proceeds from sales of the cookbook and the prints will be donated to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

3. What if I can’t come to the party?

Cookbooks and prints will also be available at the Hideout Holiday Sale, taking place from 6 to 9 PM on Tuesday, December 15, and Tuesday, December 22, at (surprise!) the Hideout.

4. What if I can’t come anywhere near the Hideout?

We are hoping to have books available on consignment at a few select locations around town. Details still being worked out on this, but some likely candidates include Renegade Handmade, Quimby’s, Swim Cafe, and Green Grocer Chicago. (Yes I know, those are all in West Town. Like I said … workin’ on it!) Stay tuned for more on this.

5. What if I can’t come anywhere near Chicago?

Books are also available via that attractive PayPal button to your right. Please note that we’ve had to tack on an additional $2 for shipping.

EDITED TO ADD: If no PayPal button is visible to the right, that’s probably because you’ve come to this page via a permalink to this particular post. Please click on the blog header to go to the home page, where there will be technology available to sell you books.

6. I donated $50 or more to the Kickstarter campaign and/or I have a recipe in the book. How do I get my copy of the book?

Cookbook contributors and Kickstarter donors can pick up their complimentary copies (and receive further effusive thanks) at the party on the 9th or on the 15th and 22nd during the Holiday Sale. If you can’t make it please let me know at soupnbread10 [at] gmail [dot] com and we’ll work something out.

7. I am not sure but I think you owe me a book. How do I find out?

Ask! Send me a note at soupnbread10 [at] gmail [dot] com. I have kept a list, miraculously enough.

8. Last, but certainly not least, how do I get to make soup in 2010?

That’s terrific! We’ll have a sign-up sheet available at the party and at the sale, or just shoot me a line at the gmail address above.

Thanks everybody — hope to see you on the 9th.

We give thanks …

… for the fact that the cookbook is AT THE PRINTER(S).

It is so cute. Seriously. I just want to curl up in bed and snuggle with it.

More information to come, soon, including more than you ever wanted to know about how you can acquire your own li’l piece of Soup and Bread ‘09.

In the meantime, here’s one last tease:

Down to the wire

[Cross posting from the Kickstarter page for our beautiful cookbook ....]

OK, so the book is looking HOT.

But our bank account is not.

Happily, we did hit our Kickstarter goal at some point last week. Hooray! And a big, early, wet and sloppy thank you to everyone who helped get us to that $3,000 goal.

But it turns out that in order to do this up right we’re going to need a bit more than 3 grand. A big bit. So, I am channelling my inner pledge drive host and sending out one last shameless plea to remind the wafflers, procrastinators, and just generally forgetful out there that you have just FIVE DAYS LEFT to get your pledge in and secure your place in soup history.

Operators are standing by.

And above, to stimulate your imagination, is another beautiful layout. Check out those sexy sausages!

Yours, in soup and bread,

Martha