My wife has been in Texas the past couple weeks, first to help out her dad, and then for some medical testing. She was home briefly for a weekend in between her two trips, just long enough to cook up a huge pot of Avgolemono soup.

Avgolemono is a Greek sort of chicken soup, one that features eggs and lemon and rice. It’s quite delicious, and she left a kettle of it in the fridge for us to reheat.

…and then I forgot about it.

The boys ended up being subjected to my cooking for several days, including one night of my own chicken soup, before I discovered the Avgolemono.

“Hey guys,” I said. “It’s Avgolemono soup! Let’s have this tonight.”

They groaned. “Not another chicken noodle soup.”

“No,” I said. “It’s Momma’s Avgolemono.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!” I scooped out three bowls and put them in the microwave.

“It’s not that yours was really bad,” one of the boys said.

“It’s just the brand you used,” the other explained. “It wasn’t good.”

“Yeah, yeah. This is Avgolemono. Now, set the table. We need spoons and drinks.”

“Are you sure it’s not your chicken noodle soup?”

“Yes!”

The microwave dinged. I lifted the bowls out, took the Saran wrap off the top, and realized that I’d made a mistake. When Avgolemono soup sits, the rice absorbs the liquid, and the liquid that doesn’t get soaked up gets thicker. The result is something that doesn’t look much like soup. You can solve the problem by adding some water when you reheat the soup, but I’d forgotten to do that.

I put the bowls down on the table, and the boys eyed them suspiciously.

“This isn’t Avgolemono soup,” one said.

“Yes, it – ” I started.

“It’s gloppy,” the other interrupted.

I sighed. “I just didn’t put in any – ”

“Look! The spoon stands up on its own.”

“Are you two done yet?” I asked.

“Is that rice? I think that might be rice.”

“Just put it in your mouth!” I yelled.

They both looked at me, then started laughing.

“Really, Daddy?”

“Just put it in your mouth?”

“Like this,” I said, loading up my spoon with Avgolemono glop and shoving it into my mouth.

Sheesh.