The time my aunt served me cold canned soup with crackers and called it lunch

It was about 8 years ago at her house in Des Moines. She pulled out a can of tomato soup, didn't heat it up, just poured it into bowls and plopped a few saltines on top. I stared at it for a solid minute before she said 'it's better cold, trust me.' I took a bite and honestly, it was kind of perfect on that hot July day. The cold soup felt more like a smoothie, and the crackers gave it a nice crunch. Now I do it sometimes when I'm alone and my family gives me the weirdest looks. Has anyone else had a moment like that where someone's odd comfort food stuck with you?

2 comments

2 Comments

lisak261mo ago

it's better cold, trust me" - yeah, that's what my friend said about his room temperature gas station sushi and I still don't trust him to this day. but hey, you found your weird soup smoothie thing, good for you.

the_tessa1mo ago

Wait, hold on, you said it was a can of tomato soup that she just opened and poured? Because that's the thing, most people think you have to heat it up or add milk, but there's a whole other way. My grandma used to serve cold tomato soup straight from the can all the time, but she'd always stir in a little bit of heavy cream to make it richer. So your aunt's version was basically a simple, uncooked version of a fancy chilled soup you'd get at a restaurant. And you're right, on a hot day it's way better than a hot bowl, and the saltines give it that perfect salty crunch. Now I'm thinking I gotta try it with the cream trick, just to see if it upgrades it even more.