msdanielle – just another ego blog site

So yesterday I met up with my friends Gary and Derek at Gary’s local Souplantation. I don’t know how many Souplantation locations there are, or if they’re even in other states (and right now, I’m too lazy to look it up), but it’s a soup and salad joint. It’s one of those “you either love it or hate it” kind of places. Grab a tray, two plates, a bowl, and just go to town.

Well, during one of our regular trips to “Soups” (as we call it), Gary brought up his friend Dylan of EatDrinknBeMerry, who held his first annual Iron Chef: Souplantation competition. Basically, try to create some crazy creative plates using whatever you find at the counters. We thought, “Hmmm… Wonder what would happen if we battled each other. Let’s try it!”

And so Souplantation Wars was spawned. Yes, we know it’s completely childish, but who doesn’t like to play with their food? Gary likes to think that his creations can beat mine. Survey says “Neeeeeeeeeehhhhh!!!”

Yesterday, with camera in hand, I was ready to document Souplantation Wars for the very first time. The usual routine is that we finish our food first, and proceed with battling post-meal. As you can see from the picture, Gary doesn’t mess around. Neither does Derek, and for a vegetarian he eats a lot. I did a pretty good job too, mowing down a huge plate of salad, a bowl of house kettle chili, and finishing it off with some pizza and garlic foccaccia. Yummmmm….

Now for the battle. There aren’t really any rules, but because we don’t want to waste the food, we try to make the plates edible. They’re not always 100% edible, but we’ve made the effort before to actually eat the plates we knew were nasty, and yea, they were nasty. Anyway, this time we went for desserts. Here are the results:

Derek’s Fruit Tart Puff
I think Derek made a challenging effort this time, creating a sort of hybrid fruit tart, cream puff thing. At the very least, it looked edible! I wasn’t totally convinced of its greatness, but Gary made the comment, “That actually looks really good!” What do you think?

Gary’s Dessert: Shrek’s House
Gary went for the creativity factor. I had to admit I was impressed with the final product, a mini version of Shrek’s house, complete with pepperoncini chimney and chocolate entryway. He emphasized the poor weather conditions with falling “snow” which you can’t really see in the picture. Nice final touch, though.

Danielle’s Ode to Sona
My creation was inspired by a dessert sampling I had at Sona in Beverly Hills. The petite desserts are about as big as your pinky finger, embodying a range of powerful flavors, and including meticulous detail. Not that Sona would ever serve cornbread slathered in honey butter, or hire me as their pastry chef, but I think I should get mad points for plating. Wouldn’t you agree?

In the end, we all had to eat the stuff we made. Mine wasn’t that bad but I stayed away from the chocolate cookie crumbles I added on top for effect. Ugh….

Now, it’s your turn to vote! Tell us who gets props for the best creation. Votes are based on plating, creativity, and overall aesthetics (NOT edible-ness). Egos are on the line here, folks. But don’t hold back. Gary can take harsh critiques really well jk

And if you think you’re good enough to win this war, post your own Souplantation Wars battle pictures and link back to this blog post. I’ll link you back. This will be on-going, so pitch in at any time. Who’s ready for war?!

[If you enjoy reading MsDanielle.com, please feel free to subscribe via RSS or get free email updates.]

Check out these related articles:

• Voting Begins Tomorrow for On The Lot
• R2D2 4 USPS
• Flashback Friday Volume 3
• The Challenges of Bringing SEO In-House