When inspiration eludes, turn to comfort

Every day I scour the internet to find stories I think will interest EYB Members. Some days there are so many interesting articles that I have a hard time choosing just one. Other days I flit from website to website looking for inspiration but nothing seems fitting. Today was one of those days, not only with regard to finding an article to share with you, but a more general case of the doldrums. I tried making a strawberry rhubarb galette with disastrous results, the first total baking failure I’ve had in years. I attempted to arrange plants in a planter box that sits on my front porch since that usually lifts my spirits, but after moving plants this way and that without satisfaction, I gave up.

When dinner time rolled around, I scanned my pantry for ideas. It is almost absurdly well-stocked because even before the pandemic hit, I liked to have a plethora of ingredients on hand so that when a recipe caught my eye I could start making it right away. Yet nothing there provided inspiration either. But we had to eat, and this time there was no escape by piling into the car and heading out to our favorite Mexican joint. So I turned to the one thing I can always count on: tomato soup and a GRCH (grilled cheese sandwich).

I call this sandwich a GRCH (pronounced ‘gurch’) because that is how it was written on the tickets during my brief stint as a short order cook. I always liked making GRCHes because they were easy and nearly impossible to mess up. They pair naturally with tomato soup, and this combination of two ordinary foods is like a warm hug and a high five rolled into one.

There was nothing fancy about our meal – I didn’t make any novel tweaks to the soup or use a special cheese. Yet when my teeth sank through the crisp bread and into the gooey cheddar, the problems of the day faded into the background. The sandwich was perfect. By the time the meal was over, my day didn’t seem quite as bad. A meal of tomato soup and grilled cheese isn’t a magic potion – it did not miraculously arrange my plants or fix my galette. But eating it sure made me feel better, and I hope it always will.

Photo of Grilled cheese and fresh tomato soup from Food52 by Caroline Wright