Hungry Hippo Soup

I originally had the idea for this bread roll hippopotamus back in 2006. I was working on some cookbook designs for the Sedgwick County Zoo, but the project never got past the concept stage.

Fast forward nine years... and my hippo is finally emerging from his soupy slumber. Some ideas just take a while to surface, I guess.

Bea and I had a great time making these last weekend. She made the babies, and I made the moms. It was like working with Playdoh. But better, because we actually got to eat them when we were done. 

Our hippos are wading in a bowl of tomato bisque soup. But you can choose whatever kind you like. I think they'd look pretty hilarious in a bowl of chili too.

You can find my simple, step-by-step instructions for bread roll hippos at Handmade Charlotte.

Soup's on!

Winter took a long time to arrive here in Kansas. But we've had some mighty good "soup days" lately. (Actually, I love soup any day of the year.... especially Tanya's Soup Kitchen!)

Here's some fun, octopus and penguin-shaped bread bowls I created to make your soup day even more super. The complete tutorials are available at SheKnows. 

Bonus: no bread-baking skills necessary! You can easily make these with a package of frozen Rhodes Rolls from the grocery store. I did make a dark pumpernickel rye dough for the penguin bowl, but even that wasn't difficult. Just throw all the ingredients in the bread machine and let it do all the kneading and rising for you. The rest is just shape & bake.