Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
The allure of comfort food
This afternoon, I took my son to the doctor’s office to get his flu shots, and afterward we went out to lunch at Tahoe Joe’s. I’ve been gaining weight for the holidays, a lot more than I usually do around Christmas, so I tried to order something skimpy. Soup and salad.
The soup was cream of mushroom, and it diverged but little from the Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom of my childhood. I’m sure I haven’t had this since I was single-digits, and oh boy did it take me back. I had vivid memories of our old home, of the bowl, of the way I would let it cool so that a skin would form on top, and then I’d spoon off the skin (my favorite part) and wait for another skin to form. I remember how the mushrooms were those tiny little cubes. The mushrooms today were actual slices, but other than that, the flavor was identical.
I remembered the black-and-white TV in our den that we’d watch while eating lunch. Remember having to walk up to the TV to change channels? Remember adjusting the rabbit ears?
I used to have Saltines with my soup. Today, no Saltines. I missed them.
Meanwhile, part of me realized that this soup was really vile and that I’d rather be eating any other type of soup. I had hoped for “real” cream of mushroom, you know, the kind of stuff I would make were I to make it at all, but instead the restaurant went for the old familiar. Which was cool in a way, but ultimately yucky.
I didn’t finish it, but I came awfully close.
D.
I never cared for soup, but I do recall enjoying the Cream of Mushroom and Cream of Celery from Campbell’s.
Tahoe Joe’s sounds better than what you ordered.
Holiday time is a weight-gaining time of the year. Did it stop me from the totally yum-o chicken quesadilla, chips and guacamole I just consumed? Hell no.
Well, you have more discipline than I do all through the year. I’m quite sure you’ll outlive your two little brothers. (Hmm. Is that a good thing?)
I think my two brothers needed cholesterol/acid reflux/BP meds long before I needed it…long life is only good if you’ve got all your marbles to enjoy it.