When In Doubt, Throw It Out!

I had to chuckle reading T’s post about her visit here. Yes, there was a Scrabble tournament, if you will, at my house. I did lose, which was no fun, but being an advocate of good sportsmanship, I still was able to laugh and enjoy the game. Every once in a while I would blurt out, “I quit!” (Have you ever played with a sore loser? It is amazing, at times, how even grown people can get ugly or weird when they are losing.) When T is losing we tell her to “Try Harder!”, which I’m sure she hates. Still, you can’t tell me that someone who knows the answer to every question couldn’t be more aggressive. Oh well, we’ll get her next time. Oh yeah!

As I read T’s post I thought for sure that she would tell the part where I almost poisoned her. Funny, because in past posts she has said such nice things about me as a hostess, it makes me want to meet myself.

It’s true, on Saturday we went to our LC conference, where much to our surprise she is nominated for Vice President and wins the election. She was surprised and taken back but I knew she was perfectly suited for it. Prior to the elections she had to go up front and give a report. I saw it then. We knew we needed a new VP. No, I wasn’t the one who nominated her, but when she was nominated I just said a little prayer. We always want to do the will of God, no matter where we are or what we are doing. Whether we are called upon to do small things or great things, we always have that prayer in our heart that if the Lord wants to use us for some good, we want to be open to it and available to Him. And if per chance we are called upon by some fluke and taken by surprise, we pray, Lord, if this isn’t your will, don’t let it happen. Well, sure enough, it happened.

So after a day of enjoyable events and service, we returned to my house only to find that it was supper time and no one was around. So I said, Well, it’s just us, we’ll go ahead and eat. This is where the little snafu comes in.

I have to go back one day to tell you what happened. I knew I was having company that weekend. The temperatures have gotten colder and I thought, what a perfect time to have a big pot of soup. (I can make good chicken noodle soup. So did my mother and my grandmother, with a very simple list of ingredients.) So I went to the store, not just any grocery store but one known for having good meat. I purchased two chickens cut up. This was going to be one big pot of soup. I cooked the chicken for a few hours, deboned it, strained the broth…it was lovely. I could imagine how we would all enjoy it over and over again during the weekend. I didn’t finish with it until 9 p.m. Friday evening. It was boiling hot and I had to let it cool. At 11 p.m. I carried it downstairs to put it in the frig, but the frig was full. I set the soup on the counter and began to rearrange the contents of the frig as to accommodate this large pot of soup. I had to remove some things and put them in the upstairs frig. Well, when I went upstairs, I forgot about the soup. I went to bed and awakened at 8 a.m. I wanted to cook the noodles and then add them to the cold soup (so they wouldn’t get mushy) only to discover that I had let the soup sit out all night. I was sick. I froze just staring at that large pot of soup that I labored over. My mind was racing with thoughts. My first thought was, there is no way I am throwing that soup out...I worked so hard...I bought special chicken...It was going to be so delicious. I made up my mind…we are eating this soup, and I put it in the frig and T and I left for our meeting.

Fast forward, we return from the meeting, like I said, no one is home and we are going to eat this soup. (I have to say in my own defense that I never take chances like this, and especially not with company) A command decision has been made and the wheels are in motion and I'm ladeling the soup into two bowls. An expression my grandmother used to say came to mind, “When in doubt, throw it out.” I decide to call my mother and tell her what has happened and finish the story with, I’M SERVING IT! She says, okay.

The soup is hot and the table is set. T and I sit down, ask a blessing on the food, and begin to eat. It doesn’t take long to get to the bottom of the bowl, say five minutes, and the phone rings and it’s my mother. She says, I wouldn’t serve the soup. It’s not worth it if someone gets sick. I glance at T’s bowl , and hesitate. She sees this and says, What? I say, Nothing. She says, No, what? I say in a higher voice, Nothing. She knows and commands me to explain (I sit down to break the news). Well, I say, it’s the soup. I left it sit out all night and my mom called to say we shouldn’t eat it. We look at our bowls as though we had just consumed the poisoned apple. T said, If it’s bad, I’ll be sick within a half an hour; sensitive stomach. To ward off any sense of doom or dread, I say, Well, I am having another bowl. I refill my bowl and just get ready to sit down and eat and my husband walks in the door and says, “What’s that off smell!” I cry out, “IT’S THE SOUP!!”
Thankfully, T didn’t get sick, to which she claims is a real honest to goodness miracle. I, on the other hand, had to stay close to the bathroom the next day. (Retribution for good hostess, gone bad)

So, the joke was that weekend, that there was an assassination attempt on the VP. Funny!

No more questionable food served at my house. I promise. When in doubt…throw it OUT!