Welcome to Recipe Cards, which is hopefully a series combining sports cards and food. This is the first entry, hence the "hopefully," but seeing as I have a bunch of cards and a bunch of recipes... let's just get started!
I know far more about Ontario provincial politics and Toronto cycling infrastructure than has any business occupying space in my brain, thanks to the fact that I covered the NHL in the 2010s, followed a ton of hockey folks on Twitter, and still have a bunch on my timeline. I don’t care about the Maple Leafs, who will win a Cup someday, in this universe or the next, but I care about the people I’ve crossed paths with.
Whatever brain space I sacrifice, I’ve obviously stripped from others who have zero interest in Eric Adams' kakistocrartic New York mayoralty, nor even the Knicks, if they’re more into hockey as a winter pastime.
There’s a correct tendency to think of Twitter as a cesspool, before and since its rocket launch into a Brewsters Millions scenario. You’re probably thinking of a Trump tweet right now. Despite it being so much haters and losers, it’s also where we watch sports, because it’s the only platform able to handle the toxicity of three hours watching your favorite team shit down its leg on national television. So we put up with the rest.
And then sometimes the rest includes bringing a giant tin of cheese into your life.
I don’t have a big-time college football team that I root for, so my Twitter experience with the sport is kind of like going into a sports bar, and the one that I hang out at has a Washington State flag up in the corner for some reason. The Wazzu flag is on College GameDay every week after all, but that’s not why. I simply happen to have wound up following more Cougs fans than an average person probably would’ve. Maybe there’s a shared vibe with the Mets? I dunno, that’s to explore another day. I always liked Drew Bledsoe.
I found in my card collection another Wazzu alum, Keith Millard's 1989 Topps card, the year that he was winning NFL Defensive Player of the Year for the Vikings. I remembered the name, but not that he was DPOY-level good, and the reason is the knee injury in 1990 that wrecked his career.
Millard made it back for one more full season, in 1993, with a so-so Eagles team. In the opener, he had a sack as Philly smacked around the Phoenix Cardinals, and Jim Nantz and Randy Cross had the call on CBS. I added some of Millard's career highlights to the original game footage.
I’ve been aware that in addition to football players, Wazzu produces its own cheese, Cougar Gold, whose praises are sung throughout the Pacific Northwest. When I bought mine, even Washington fans were in my mentions to sing its praises. What sparked me to buy it was when I learned that there was a Cougar Gold vending machine, and that in January 2024, the machine was out of stock. And then I learned that you can buy Cougar Gold straight from the university.
I made a family mac and cheese dinner, ate plenty of cheese-and-crackers, enjoyed quesadillas… and still have a quarter of a tin of cheese left, a week later. They have a 20-tin limit, per customer, per flavor, per month, and with seven flavors, that means you’re “limited” to 140 enormous cans of cheese. Keep in mind that limits are put in place when limits are believed to be necessary, so somebody is out there trying to get their hands on at least 141 monthly cheese vats, and Wazzu has to tell them no.
Whoever you are, you glorious glutton, you have impeccable taste. The cheese really is that good, and I’m glad for all those nights I spent following Pac-12 After Dark online.
The last of the inaugural tin? My mom’s cheese soup recipe. I'll be making it today for the Super Bowl.
Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove finely minced garlic
- ½ pound cheddar cheese, crumbled – Cougar Gold shines as a crumbling cheese
- ½ pound Stilton cheese, crumbled
- ⅓ cup flour
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup milk
- ⅓ cup dry white wine
- 1 bay leaf
- salt & pepper, to taste
- baguette, optional
Directions
- Heat the butter in a saucepan and add the onion and garlic. Cook until soft.
- Add the cheese. Sprinkle in the flour, stirring. Continue cooking for two minutes, stirring. Remove from heat.
- Gradually stir in the chicken broth, cream, and wine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the bay leaf. Slowly bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes.
- Stir in the milk. Serve with slices of the baguette.
Keith Millard's 1989 Topps card: