Andy Warhol uses a tomato soup can to show how fame can be condensed into fifteen minutes but create memories that take on a lifetime for a star; yet they are mostly a throwaway for the rest of the sky. To me Campbell’s soup cans’ innards served as dinner sauce bases for tired grandparents and busy parents; and quick sates for famished kids.
Grandma used Cream of Mushroom in a special tasty dish that had “chop suey meat,” green beans, water chestnuts, soy sauce, and was topped with chow mein noodles and baked. Mom used it in green bean and tuna casseroles.
As a famished kid scrounging through the refrigerator and cupboards for a quick sate, just about any flavor would do. My favorites were tomato – prepared with half milk-half water –, bean with bacon –saying it had bacon in it was generous–, cream of chicken, chicken noodle, and vegetable. All were served over a heaping pile of crackers.
happy memories
in the family cupboard
one meal at a time
Mish is today’s host of dVerse’ Haibun Monday. Mish says:
Today, I’d like you to stir some soup into your haibun. You can write about the creative process of your own concoction or the memory of someone else’s. Soup could be a small detail in a significant happening in your life, a background aroma or the main ingredient of your haibun.
If you are new to the form, your haibun should consist of no more than three tight paragraphs of non-fiction, usually written in present tense, followed by a nature-based, seasonal haiku. The haiku is a whisper or another layer, perhaps deepening the meaning of the prose.
Tao Talk 
I went through a period of using Campbell’s soup too. My favorite was probably to use it as a sauce to gratinate cod… that was a student dinner when at University.
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Ah, so you know the versatility and ease of use 🙂
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Oh my you just described my childhood! I was just thinking about the bean and bacon one yesterday and began to crave it. The Campbell soups are iconic, I suppose…haha. I am guilty of still using the mushroom in my tuna casserole. Love the way your haibun brings out different perspectives. Warmed my heart and my tummy.
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Thanks, Mish. I still use cream of mushroom for bases for dishes and sometimes like I used to as a kid.
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I think I was almost a teenager before I found out that not all soup came in cans….
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It was the standard for our times and it was so danged inexpensive! My grandma made the best split pea soup and “boiled dinner” but at home that was a rarity.
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A great haibun, Lisa. Back in the day, white saltine crackers made soup go a long way at the table! I love green bean casserole!
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Thank you, Dwight. Now that I read labels and see how much sodium are in the cans and then add the sodium of the saltines, an image of a cartoon thermometer popping its top flashes in my head lol
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Ha ha you are right about that. That is why homemade is best. You control what you put into it!
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As students we would serve sausages in a sauce made with Cream of Artichoke packet soup. We thought we were so sophisticated!
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lol!
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Green bean casseroles with the Cream of Mushroom was a staple at potluck dinners during my childhood. Brings back memories.
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Awesome, Dora!
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Nice one
Much❤love
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Thank you, Gillena.
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I still make a chicken casserole with cream of mushroom soup. And when I’m under the weather nothing but chicken rice soup and saltines will do. (K)
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❤
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You and I were on the same wave length today Lisa. Like what you did here my friend… 🙂✌🏼❤️
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Just read yours, Rob. You took yours to a whole new level. I love that Bowie song! I like how he starts it on the Hunky Dory album. The world is a sadder place without Ziggy Starman 😦
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Here we have a dry soup mix (Maggi Onion) which we mix with a tin of Nestle Reduced Cream/table cream- you MIX the dry package of soup into the reduced cream in a bowl till well blended, refrigerate for a half hour or so, open up a pack of your favourite Potato Chips/crisps- Lays or whichwhatever- dip chip into the dip and chomp – Mmmm. Calories be damned, it’s the only way to consume soup, IMHO.
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Ooh that sounds sinfully delicious, you’re right. My grandma did something similar here with Lipton Onion Soup mix and softened cream cheese. Add a little milk and blend it. YUM. Making me hungry now!
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A soupy trip thru time … quite enjoyable, Lisa!
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Thanks, Helen, and I enjoyed your soup story as well 🙂
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I love the tomato soup
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It’s yummy for sure.
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Yes and is vegetarian too.
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I love the comfort of soup! This was a lovely haibun, Lisa.
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Thanks much, Colleen. You’re right, there is something comforting about soup ❤
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Somehow, it makes things easier to deal with. 😀
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Ah lip smacking memories! I, too relished and relish still, a packet of Knorr tomato soup( even hot and sour would do) whenever I hear my stomach groan 🙂
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Veera I make my own hot and sour soup and it is mighty tasty. Yes, very fond memories of my grandma and my mom.
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I love how Warhol turned advertisements into art….or rather showed it can art.
Beef Vegetable Soup…love it.
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Yes, he was a creative innovator for sure. I think there is a connection between those instant type experiences (e.g. 15 min of fame, eating a can of soup) that hold an importance for those who experience them far beyond the moment. I used to like that too and also the beef barley. Yum making me hungry now 🙂
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LOL… I see some of those ads from the early sixties with that type of art…the space age and I love it.
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I do too. It reminds me almost of comic book art. I remember my dad brought home a whole box of comic books one time and put them out on our enclosed porch. I spent hours and hours out there reading them as a kids. They took me away and probably saved me to some degree.
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I did that also with some comic books and album covers.
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