Dear Sour Cream

Dear Sour Cream,

Before I really start into this letter, I need to tell you something, Sour Cream - I had a Hell of a time trying to find an even somewhat decent picture of you to attach to this letter. A Hell of a time. And I found that quite surprising, considering how good you usually look to me. Must be a camera-shy thing.

Anyway, in my mission to get back to my properly-acknowledging ways, I have realized that I do my best work when appreciating food-related items. There's something about the glory of food - and how much I enjoy it - that just brings out my best writing. Not to say that this particular letter will come out that way . . . but it just might.

So why are you on my mind today, Sour Cream? Well - because of lunch, of course. Today was a planning day at school (as we begin our last trimester), and our science teacher brought in fix'ins for some chicken soft tacos. And it was pretty fantastic, really. REAL roasted chicken. Some cooked beans. Cheese. Diced onions. Tomato salsa. Lettuce. Guacamole. And - the key - you, Sour Cream. I mean - it would have been some great food no matter what with a spread like that, but none of it could have been as wonderful as it ended up being with you.

I don't know where my love of you came from, really, but I just love having you on my food. These days, I practically can't eat any (Americanized) Mexican food without a healthy portion of you on top. And I mean a HEALTHY portion in the sense of an ass-load, as opposed to less you because of your fattiness. There's just something about your creamy almost-coldness, combined with the other flavours in a burrito or other such food-item . . . It's just perfect. I could very well just wrap a large portion of you in a corn tortilla and eat it with nothing else, and I would probably enjoy it. I really would.

But it doesn't just stop there - oh no. Your beauty and delightfulness is not constrained to (the American version of) Mexican food. There is another area of food-joy in which you rules: breakfast. Yup - breakfast. This year I've started getting a side of you to go with whatever savoury breakfast foods I happen to order at a restaurant, and it always works out well. I've never really been a big potato guy, but now - with a little bit of you - I find myself greedily putting down every bit of potato with my breakfast. I regularly order various versions of breakfast hash - simply because of the wonderful taste you provides. When you isn't available? I order something else, entirely.

And I imagine that there are so many more uses for you, Sour Cream. I imagine that you can probably go well with almost any savoury food out there. Right now I'm picturing flicking a spoonful of you onto a grilled steak. Mixing you into Thanksgiving stuffing. Putting you on toast. Trying to bring back SOME sort of appreciation for tomato-based soups by throwing you in to create a creaminess that such weak soups cannot provide on their own. I think it could be amazing.

And now that I think about it - it's not just savoury foods. I remember enjoying a delicious you coffee cake at a coffee shop near my house. In fact - they advertise their you coffee cake on a big sign out front. It may very well be you that keeps that particular coffee shop afloat. And when I was looking for pictures of you, I got all sorts of images of sugar-y sweets (as the first images, too). So it seems that your greatness is not confined solely to the salty world.

Which doesn't surprise me, of course. Because you are wonderful. And wonderful food-items such as yourself can't surprise me by being universally wonderful. Makes me think that I could become incredibly rich if I decided to open a restaurant that promised generous amounts of you in every dish. I can't be the only one who would be excited about that - can I? There's only one way to find out, I suppose.

I expect I know the answer to that rhetorical question, though - because you is that incredible. And for that, I thank you. I thank you for livening up so many bland after-school meals. For changing food-for-hunger's-sake into something to look forward to. I will always appreciate that. Always.

Thank you.

Just Now Wondering What's Up with Creme Fraiche,
CVT

*I proved myself wrong on this one. Hardly an inspired letter, even if it WAS about food. Maybe it's because I'm full right now.