Gettin' my MN on.

As I mentioned in my last entry, Amie's father, Doug, recently spent some time with us. And, when I say, "some time", I mean three months. Yes, you read correctly. Three months. Despite what you might be thinking, all-in-all, his visit was very nice. I had a buddy pretty much through the last half of college football season. Even though Doug pulls for the Big 10 (which, if you're a regular on this blog, you know is really the Big 11. Idiots), he's pretty fair company when a game is on.

Anyway, having Doug here for so long (so long...) meant that we felt obliged to accommodate his gustatory peculiarities. So it was that throughout his visit our pantry was stocked with Velveeta, smoked sausage links, Hickory Farms' summer sausage and Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup.

And, if you're wondering, no, we had no lutefisk (but you can read about lutefisk here).

Now that he's returned to the Great White North, we've been trying to use up these leftover staples. This evening, a culinary truth was made evident to me. Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup is the Midwestern equivalent of the South's penchant for okra. Both products are defining staples - binding polymers, if you will - of the fabric of their region's heritage.

If you see, smell or taste okra in a dish, you know you're eating Southern. It recalls an African heritage, and is the backbone of all good stews, gumbos and the like. Similarly, Cream of Mushroom Soup recalls Nordic ice fisherman, chugging down Grain Belt beer, and heating up something in time for the Gophers/Vikings/Twins/Timberwolves regular weekly loss to whomever they are playing.

Tonight we prepared a tuna noodle hot dish. Real comfort food. Too bad the temperature here in San Luis Obispo was in the low high 70s. How I miss winter!