“You can do almost anything with soup stock, it’s like a strong foundation. When you have the right foundation, everything tastes good.” ~ Martin Yan
At any given time, Anselma House & Haven Houses’ 75 beds are full. That’s 75 women and children who have had the courage to leave an abusive relationship. That’s 75 women & children who have experienced hatred and pain from someone who was supposed to love and cherish them. Many left in a hurry with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Many left fearing for their lives. They all need food, clothing, protection and time to rebuild and restructure their lives. Anselma House & Haven House, women’s crisis shelters, do their best to provide just that.
A week ago I was honoured to join a group of women from Leadership Waterloo who organized a cooking event with The Soup Sisters. We were divided into smaller groups to make great big batches soups for Anselma House and Haven House. There was chicken noodle soup, hamburger soup, lentil soup and a few others. The group I was in made a delicious batch of hearty chilli.
It was such a fun night! Each of us paid $50 to cover the cost of the groceries and wine with our meal. First we were given cutting and chopping instructions and safety tips. Then we donned our aprons and grabbed our knives. We chopped, peeled, cooked, stirred and laughed the evening away. I was given the especially fun job of crushing canned tomatoes by hand! I felt like I Love Lucy in the grape stomping episode. If there had been an award for the messiest apron, I would have proudly won it. 😆
When it was all done and the big pots were full and simmering on the stoves, we sat down for a group meal. We were served a bowl of the lentil soup that one group had made, some bread and a glass of wine. After our meal we poured our big pots of soups and chilli into storage containers for the Soup Sisters to deliver to the shelters.
When we were done, we learned we had made enough soup for two weeks of meals for those 75 women and children. It was wonderful to be part of such a soul-full evening. Abuse is sadly rampant in our world and it truly was an honour to be part of the healing. Thank you to the Culinary Studio for being the host kitchen.
Click here for the photos from the February 26th event. You will notice we had one Broth Brother with us. 
If you suspect you or someone you know is in an abuse relationship, read this list of “Characteristics of Abusers” put together by Anselma House. Please know that people are available who want to help you or your friend.
Here is “The Soup Sisters Cookbook”
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