Best of the Blogs: Cold Soup Recipes, Debt Ceiling Debate

It was a busy week in blogging at Birmingham Patch, with contributions on everything from tips on simplifying your life and creating gourmet cold soups, to a report on the latest addition to Birmingham's store of community art.

 President Joe Bauman writes about the latest piece of community artwork, the Birmingham Montage. Sponsored by the chamber and various other cultural institutions around town, the work is housed at the Art & Frame Station and spotlights various aspects of the Birmingham community:

The Birmingham Montage highlights many of the longstanding businesses that serve the area, as well as highlights local landmarks and pays homage to historical figures and local celebrities.

Chef Jim Bologne, executive chef at the at the , shares his favorite recipes for warm-weather soups, or soups better served cold, in his latest blog post.

Soups can be a healthy way to fill the belly, but we don’t always feel like having a bowl of hot soup on a 90-degree day.

Simply your life week (Aug. 1-7) may be over, but home organization blogger Jennifer Heard shares plenty of tips you can use to help keep things organized when the kids head back to school. Among her six tips:

Establish a family calendar, if you haven’t already, and place it in a location everyone can see. If your kids are old enough to use the Internet independently, establish a family Google calendar, where you can keep and then print the family schedule.

Blogger Clinton Baller shares his frustration with Congress with a link to a New York Times article about the recent stalemate between the federal government and the Federal Aviation Administration.

This is what we can now expect from Congress: "Dozens of airport inspectors have been asked by the F.A.A. to work without pay and to charge their government travel expenses to their personal credit cards to keep airports operating safely..."

Business blogger Lori Williams reflects on a summer of goal-setting and the steps she took to achieve them. The secret is in three words, Williams says: intentions, boundaries and space. She then invites readers to share their own secrets to success:

I hope you are also having an awesome summer and taking time to have fun, while also being productive. Tell me what’s working for you, or what challenges you are facing this summer. I look forward to hearing about your goals and your journey in achieving them.