Last Friday, during halftime of the Gonzaga basketball game, I was flipping through television programs and came across the Food Network: a channel I refuse to watch ever again. After several minutes of observing the host create an effortless and delicious dish of crème brulee. I sat there with a craving for the dessert – but with none of the ingredients.
Have you ever heard of the story of Stone Soup? The kid’s story about soldiers returning to their homeland from the Napoleonic Wars who are in search of food in the midst of winter and face the grim reality that they don’t have food or a place to stay? The soldiers developed a plan to deceive the residents of a town by making “stone soup.” Without any initial ingredients except for a stone, the crafty soldiers convince the villagers, one by one, to find ingredients to add to the community pot.
Arriving at Spokane Public Radio today, I was reminded to the Stone Soup tale. During the winter on Wednesdays, the lobby is filled with the aroma of cooking soup, instigated by Verne, who grabs left over ingredients from the station’s cupboards, and many of the staff who bring in ingredients to add. By the time Verne is done with his broadcast at noon and he has made the announcement on the intercom that the soup is complete; almost every chair in the lobby is filled with staff, volunteers, and guests partaking in the cuisine. After several hours slaving away at my internship duties today, the soup acted as a comforting motivator, especially on a cold day. Today’s soup was, Italian Wedding Soup, a blend of beef and vegetables and was delicious. You could of thought Verne may have worked for the Food Network at one time…
Unlike during Friday’s basketball game, it was great this morning to be nourished with soup at the ready. It is no wonder that college students consume so much instant noodles. In the future, I will have to employ the “Stone Soup Strategy” on my friends and family, except next time it might be crème brulee.
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