On Sunday mornings all I want to do is get up late, read the paper, drink my coffee, and eat copious amounts of cantaloupe. But, oh the effort. You have to chop it in half, remove the seeds, cut it up – or if you are fancy – make little balls. Oh, I need a nap just thinking about it. So this morning I was staring at the cantaloupe I bought, pondering paying someone to do all the labor, when I thought – gosh, wouldn’t it be awesome if someone would make cantaloupe soup? That way I could have a cool and refreshing soup on a hot day where the heat index is over 100 (Um, hi, do we live in Florida? Are you kidding me with this weather???). Maybe this person could throw in some funky stuff like ginger, cinnamon, oh… and maybe some coconut milk! And mint!! That’s like summer in a bowl. Gosh darn it – who could do such a thing? Then I got up and looked in the mirror and said – Soupergirl! Could you make such a soup? And the mirror responded – yes, yes I can. Only if you get help with your dual personality issues. And I said – DEAL! Because I love me some cantaloupe soup.

Let’s face it, Johnny the Carrot was bad. Bad to the top. He and his gang, the Vitamin C Boys were always running around turning things orange. And Ricky the Peanut Butter was also always looking for trouble. He was angry because he never got over the fact that his name could not be pluralized (peanut butters? peanuts butter? Nope…). Ricky and his gang, the Protein Brothers, were always spreading themselves all over town. One night, behind the local juice bar, the gangs ran into each other. They both claimed they were on each other’s turf. Things started to heat up. Luckily, Julie the Chile and her friend Sammy the Freshly Squeezed-Lime Juice (his last name is hyphenated because his mother kept her maiden name) walked by. Johnny and Ricky both had crushes on Julie and didn’t want to look bad – so when she spoke, they listened. “Why!!???” she yelled. “Why can’t you see what a waste of time this feuding is?? Johnny – you know you are so sweet inside. And Ricky – everybody loves peanut butter! It’s the taste of childhood! I mean, if we all head over to the park and just puree together, we’d all be so much happier! Ricky, your subtle flavors will slightly offset my spiciness, and Sammy will give a little extra punch.” Well, how can you say no to an offer like that! So they headed over to the park and followed her lead. Then they broke into a synchronized dance and song. Too much? No, it is my soup and I want them to dance!