The Yellow Bowl

Reflections

I arrived at my dad’s apartment before my sister. As I looked around at the progress we had made so far, I noticed the yellow bowl sitting on the kitchen counter with all the other dishes my sister had left the day before as she emptied the cupboards. I quickly grabbed the yellow bowl, put it in a bag and placed it in a pile of things that I would take home with me.

When my sister arrived, I showed her the bowl and told her I would like to have it. “Of course,” she laughed, “the popcorn bowl.” To the naked eye it appears empty but, in my heart, and I’m sure those of my sisters, this bowl is full of memories.

Several years ago my husband and I were in an antique store and I saw an identical yellow bowl. It was the largest in a set of four bowls, each a different size and color. I considered buying the set, because I had fond memories of that yellow bowl and I knew it had many uses, but I decided to pass at that time. I’ve read that the set is 1940’s era Pyrex, and I believe this bowl was passed down from my grandfather, who was the cook in my dad’s family. I wonder what happened to the rest of the set.

After calling it the “popcorn bowl” my sister recalled how as little girls the three of us (I think this was before our youngest sister was born or old enough to watch TV) would sit in front of the TV on Sunday nights watching the Wonderful World of Disney movie. The yellow bowl was filled with buttered popcorn (it was really margarine as butter was a luxury our family couldn’t afford) and the one sitting in the middle would hold the bowl while we all grabbed handfuls of popcorn from the bowl. Sometimes two of us would have smaller bowls to refill from the yellow bowl, either way I’m sure we all got our fill of popcorn.

When I saw the yellow bowl my first thought was of mom’s homemade potato salad – a summertime favorite. When I make potato salad, I often wonder what mom would think about me using Hellmann’s Mayonnaise for the dressing instead of the Miricle Whip that she always used. When we were growing up Miricle Whip was a staple in our house, and it wasn’t until I was in my 30’s that I discovered my love for Hellmann’s.

The yellow bowl took me back through Thanksgiving over the years. Every year that bowl held the stuffing after it was scooped out of the turkey. When we were really young my sisters and I would be up early on Thanksgiving morning to help make the stuffing. There would be three or four loaves of soft, white, Wonder Bread, and our job was to break the bread into small pieces and put them in a large pan. Mom would get out the meat grinder and clamp it to the table and we might get to turn the crank while she ground up the celery, onions, and giblets that would be mixed with the bread. Grinding the celery and onions could be a fun job until the onion juices made our eyes tear up. Grinding the raw giblets was kind of gross, so I think mom usually did them. We would then watch parades on TV (the Hudson’s Thanksgiving Parade out of Detroit and maybe the Macey’s Thanksgiving Parade out of New York) while Mom finished preparing the meal.

Again, I wonder if mom would be disappointed to know that I opt for a stove top, stuffing mix from a box on Thanksgiving rather than go through all the work of making homemade stuffing.

Tuna-noodle casserole is another meal that comes to mind when I see that bowl. We had tuna casserole most Fridays during lent and various other times throughout the year. It was probably one of the first recipes I learned to cook, as a preteen. Start by cooking up one bag of egg noodles. While that is cooking, coat the inside of the yellow bowl (casserole dish) with a thin layer of butter (margarine). When the noodles are cooked and drained put them in the yellow bowl (casserole dish). Add two cans of tuna fish (drained) and two cans of cream of mushroom soup. Mixed it all together then crush up several handfuls of saltine crackers and sprinkled the crumbs on top. Set the oven at 350 degrees F and bake it for about an hour. I haven’t made this in decades and don’t think I will be making it since my husband doesn’t like it.

The yellow bowl was so versatile; mom used it for a mixing bowl for things like cakes or cookies, a serving bowl for stuffing, potato salad and much more, and a casserole dish. No wonder It holds so many memories.

I doubt that it has been used in the past 12+ years. Dad lived alone and didn’t do much cooking. It likely has just been sitting in the cupboard where my sister found it. I was wondering why he hadn’t given it to me or one of my sisters, but then I realized that perhaps it held even more memories for him.

18 thoughts on “The Yellow Bowl”

  1. Pingback: For Fun | one_local_gal

  3. We had a similar bowl. It was an old crock bowl. Made for the same things. Popcorn, potato salad and such! I have that bowl at the lake house now.
    Thank you for the fond memories! Merry Christmas!

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  4. Oh, Ruth! I have the same yellow bowl and two of the three nesting ones! My memories are wonderful as well. I have never had the third one—the red bowl. But you know, my bestest friend gave me that one just this year for Christmas. To find all four is a real find (and a rather pricy one too!) Your post made me smile! Merry Christmas to you and your dear family. 🎄

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  5. Tears!! It’s crazy to me that a bowl can bring you to tears. I don’t remember eating popcorn and watching The Wonderful World of Disney with you. But I do remember making the stuffing. LOL Mom used Stove Top too. I don’t remember using that bowl for tuna noodle casserole. That bowl was used for lots of things over the years.

    Merry Christmas!! Love you!!!

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  6. When I saw the title of this blog, I was ready to shed some tears. But instead it filled my heart with the most wonderful memories. Honestly until J told me you wanted to keep it, I hadn’t thought of the yellow bowl in years. Thank you for blessing of good memories this Christmas Eve morning. Love you lots ! Merry Christmas to you all.

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  7. This was such a heart-warming story about the yellow bowl Ruth. Having never had siblings, I never got to experience sitting with my sisters digging into the bowl of freshly popped corn while watching the Wonderful World of Disney movie (which I also watched Sunday nights). That was quite an ordeal to make stuffing at your house when you were growing up. My mom did that as well and finally relented to using Stove Top Stuffing a few years before she passed away. Whatever is easier – go for it. One bowl held a lifetime of memories for you … something to treasure even more after your father’s passing. I am not much of a cook, but I will forever keep the turquoise Melamac mixing bowl, still stained with red, from all the candy-cane cookie red dough Mom used to “braid” the ropes of red and white every Christmas for cookies for me “her baby”. Sometimes the simplest things from our past give us the most-precious memories of all.

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  8. I enjoyed reading about the big yellow bowl. I wanted to comment on mayonnaise. I have a recipe for potato salad that was given to me by my husband’s godfather. He had gotten the recipe from a relative who owned a deli in New York. It calls for Hellman’s mayonnaise, and that’s what sparked my love of Hellman’s.

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  9. I have that same yellow bowl. We also had them when I was growing up but I’m not sure what happened to those. When my husband’s grandmother passed away we were cleaning her house and I came across an entire set of the nesting bowls. I have three, red, green and the largest is yellow. I just used mine and I love it. I was thinking about what you said about eating the popcorn. My brothers and sisters and I did the same thing. The person in the middle always held the bowl. Ahhh such wonderful memories. Thank you for sharing.

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