January is (unofficially, but mostly agreed upon in the United States as) National Soup Month. I am glad I learned this. I was really stewing over what to write about. But nothing comforts the heart and warms the stomach like a nice bowl of soup.

Why do I care about National Soup Month?

Soup is a college staple food. It's so easy. You pour it into a bowl and heat it up. It's less effort than ramen, and that's saying something. It's not a cheap as ramen, but canned soups are still pretty inexpensive most places and they keep for a long time without being refrigerated.

So, why is January National Soup Month?

Well, soup has been around a long time. People making early containers in the form of pottery definitely encouraged the use of liquid foods like soup to maximize the efficiency of the space inside. The container keeps the food relatively safe from animals and disease, and they can be moved around fairly easily. This storage idea was apparently a big turning point in human history because people could keep their food safe and didn't have to worry about finding it as it was needed. So communities form and houses get built and humanity is forever changed. All because of soup and other container-based foods like it. (Shoutout to my Design Awareness class from this past fall semester)

I knew that Campbell's was a huge soup company, but I was never really sure why. Apparently, near the turn of the twentieth century, chemist Dr. John T. Dorrance consensed soup so it could be sold in small cans. This was a revolution in soup, a revolution in packaged food as a whole, and in 1897, it made the company he worked for famous. And the rest is history.

How will I be celebrating National Soup Month?

By eating soup, of course.

My favorite type of soup that's perfect for in the dorm is potato soup. It's really easy. Some diced potatoes, some milk, some spices and lots of cheese to taste. I really like cheese, so I put a lot in and it almost becomes a cheese-potato soup.

Here's a recipe if you want to make some.

The really nice thing about articles like this and my hummingbird food guide is that they're for you to see all the fun foods and hobbies I'm interested in and I get the recipes written down so I can make them again later.

So everybody wins.