WHEN I KNEW THE WHOLE WORLD HAD CHANGED FOREVER

My husband has a monthly poker party and I prepare a different menu each month: one month is Italian, another Mexican, another the Indoor Picnic and another one is Soup and Sandwiches. One of my brothers is known as "The Soup Nazi" because he likes Seinfeld and also because he makes a great variety of delicious soups and breads. The Soup Nazi suggested that we should have a variety of soups and he suggested that everybody could bring a different soup. The Soup Nazi, of course, had to outshine everyone else as he brought his famous "Caldo Gallego". The only other entries were beans and vegetable soup.

The testosterone level is usually high at these get-togethers, and the women must find other activities to pursue after dinner and that month I had invited a woman to teach us wreath-making. I knew that the world had changed forever when I heard my deer-hunting brother and my sports-minded nephew discussing cookware! Pointing out the three large pots on the kitchen stove, my brother said, "Well, I prefer the Bellgique over the Circulon." My nephew admitted that he had "pot envy" because his cookware was Farberware!. My other brother, dipping bread in his bowl of soup, said, "What next, boys, flower arranging or poker?"