(Gerry Furth-Sides) Just in time for National Soup month a “Spoonful of Comfort” is delivered to our door. Imagine opening your gate and finding this thoughtfully designed, sturdily wrapped package at your feet. Inside are carefully cooked and packaged homemade soup, rolls, cookies and a beautiful ladle. www.spoonfulofcomfort.com/
National Soup Month fittingly arrives with January’s colder weather. The commemorative might be relatively new but the dish is ancient. Soup has been traced as far back as 6000 B.C. to Greece. Hippopotamus was the first known meat used for soups. Greeks sold soup in their market places and streets – perhaps the first known “fast food!”
These days, soup can be purchased by the packet, bowl, can, cup, etc. One innovation is home delivery, which tastes like a gift of a talented chef in your kitchen. It’s perfect as a practical “get well” sentiment, as the founders originally intended, or as a pre-house warming gift or “care package” to a college students.
The cookies inside are as bold and big as the graphics on the box. Along with cookies in the basic package of carefully packed boxes are:
- 64-oz. jar of homemade-style soup (4-6 generous servings)
- 1/2 dozen back rolls (just chewy and dense enough, dotted with rosemary)
- 1/2 dozen cookies
- A ladle “to serve up the smiles”
- Personalized note card
- Colorful, custom packaging that’s a treat in itself (editor’s note: we agree!)
We “got into these cookies” right away, “for research.” The oatmeal raisin were over-sized and with the tiny bit gooey-as-in-raw dough made every bite perfection. We could not figure out what made the chocolate chip so good until we looked at the ingredients and saw molasses and wheat flour.
“Spoonful of Comfort” adds a fresh twist upon this old-fashioned favorite, proven scientifically to be healing, with seasoned, roasted chicken, fresh thyme and parsley, and “oodles of noodles.”
The hearty chicken soup tastes as though it was made from scratch. It ranks well above what we’ve tasted in highly touted delis.
Oh my goodness! When an LA TIMES writer asked what made the soup so delicious we saw: heavy whipping cream, butternut and hubbard squash, pumpkin puree, brown sugar and maple syrup. All you need is a pumpkin ice cream and this would make a wonderful sundae topping.
Chicken Noodle Soup with Rosemary-dotted Rolls and Oatmeal Cookies. Photo courtesy of Spoonful of Comfort)
“Spoonful of Comfort” is beautifully seasoned but not at all salty. There is absolutely no salty aftertaste and no thirst after eating it… a true test.
The big chunks of succulent white-meat chicken turn a bowl of soup into a total meal. The bottle serves 4-6 generously ($10 for the complete meal). So after our first servings, we added a couple of vegetables to the soup for a bit variety — and enjoyed it thoroughly each time. Here you see it with peas.
We were able to take the butternut squash from box to freezer because of the sophisticated packing, which includes dry ice. The soup is prepared and sent out for delivery the same day.
(Butternut Squash Soup (photo courtesy of Spoonful of Comfort)
Butternut Squash Soup features holiday spices, cream and high grade maple syrup. 
Refined, Gingersnaps with a crunch . A thumbprint cookie flat top surface makes them even more appealing.
(Tomato Basil Soup photo courtesy of Spoonful of Comfort)
We shared the Tomato Basil Soup with discriminating (to say the least) food writers. It drew the same compliments from their family: “Delicious! We enjoyed it from first to last drop.” The secret: basil pesto, rich asiago and parmesan cheeses.
(Photo courtesy of Spoonful of Comfort)
Soup historically was actually just a broth before they began adding legumes, such as lentil and beans, then other ingredients, to make it more interesting. The broth was initially used to pour over or as a dip for bread. The bread was called sop, which turned into the word we have all become familiar with, “soup”.
National Soup month is observed in the US. It’s a natural “international” since most countries and ethnicities all have their favorite/famous bowl of soup. Warm soup is a sure-fire remedy for people feeling “under the weather” or just to take the chill off a cold day. Cold soup, like a spiced-up Mexican gazpacho or a cool Russian beet comes to mind does the opposite. Soup is really is a dish that knows no season.
Editor’s note: We saw the Spoonful of Comfort owners on Shark Tank. They “did not get a deal.” Why? We want to know.
Directed By Gustavo Ron and written by Francisco Zeegers and Ron, My Bakery in Brooklyn ( 100 minutes) has all the ambitions of an Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
(Gerry Furth-Sides) Animals and dining at a restaurant. KEDI makes you wonder why cats everywhere don’t hop up to join guest at an outdoor table of a restaurant or make friends in the street as you pass them in the street. It is such a natural feeling, and so much in contrast to the main talk about the feline population in the US which centers on over-population and little else.
KEDI (kitty) Ceyda Torun’s debut documentary film about the cats of Istanbul opens on a series of sequences that take your breath away even on a small computer screen.
“There’s a mystery, an unpredictability about both cats and Istanbul,” says Torun, “each of which is deeply intertwined for thousands of years.
It is very different from Mexican chorizo because it is more like hard salami — and so can be served as you would meat on any charcuterie board without cooking. Each salami is slightly different in terms of spices and texture.
Outside in the magical garden dining area, founder-owner Juana Gimeno Farone, and her daughter, Mari Carmen introduce a table of tapas highlighting the products. In Spain the small, perfect salty bites are served with complementary wines and beers.
Faraone’s son-in-law, amiable Iranian (!) Alex Motamedi, operates the business with his wife. He is passionate and detailed about explaining the Spanish meats, cheeses, wines, olive oils and assorted conservas of vegetables and fish on floor-to-ceiling shelves in the compact little store adjacent to the plant.
For the richest raspberry macaroons, Bottega Louie 
These days we’re referring to the French macaron, not the candy-kiss-shaped coconut meringue cookies, though are made of egg whites and almond paste and got their biggest boost both originated in Italy. But leave it to the French. Their more fragile version with a crispy outer shell and pillowy- soft yet chewy inside is inordinately tricky to prepare and .
When Sanders grew, he introduced ice-cream, sodas and baked goods. … and the nation’s first ice cream soda. I remember the marble counter, the paper water cup holders that came to a point at the bottom and their pewter holders. It was really a glimpse into the past. The hot fudge was hot “fudge” and their yellow cakes with buttercream frosting, made with real butter, and ground almond around the sides were not only perfect to celebrate birthdays but for breakfast the next day as well.
The combination of balanced flavors and the slight sweetness of the cream, mole and plantains were enough to make a complete meal without dessert. But our waiter also had his favorite to share: butter cake with custard and grilled strawberries.
These days (above) a festive brunch dish may be poached egg, peas and Tonnino tuna – a few dots of hit chile sauce on the plate punch it up even more. It is the definition of sophistication and convenience.
Tonnino Tuna Ventresca is considered the best and finest tuna cut in the market. It is sourced in the wild and contains only the freshest slices of underbelly. Hand-filleted, dipped in pure olive oil and with a singular, silky appearance, taste and texture, it can be go from jar to plate in a multitude of recipes, from a delicate niçoise salad to a good, old-fashioned sandwich.
With gourmet quality that did not go unrecognized, Tonnino Tuna Ventresca was presented with the Superior Taste Award in August of 2014. An achievement granted by a jury of 120 international chefs and sommeliers, the Superior Taste Award is given to food and beverage products that hold a high standard of excellence. Each product is blindly reviewed and scored on its overall feeling of hedonic pleasure and sensory analysis. \
Gerry Furth-Sides 
Barbara Hansen 
Chef-owner Alain Cohen 
Roberta Deen 
Jose Martinez 
Nivedita Basu 