In case you’ve been out of the loop, I’ve been making a soup or stew recipe every week for the Packer game. This week it was the mulligatawny soup, and it was so good! Inexpensive to make and delicious besides. Also, it made TONS of leftovers. The soup was a hit, the game was a win, but the injuries of Al Harris and Aaron Kampman have left me very sad.

They’re both out for the season. This week we’ve got the Lions (on Thanksgiving – YES!) and to be honest, I’m not sure how this one will go. Thanksgiving games tend to be somewhat unpredictable anyways, and then with our two key injuries and the Lions performance from last week… I think it could go either way. I’m going to edge toward the Packers only because Matt Stafford could possibly miss the game with his shoulder injury.

Speaking of which, have you seen the very funny video about Stafford now? Someone is spoofing his newly found he-man status after toughing it out with that shoulder only to go back in and throw the game winning hail mary touchdown. Check it out:

Oh… silly sports fans! (And yes, I count myself in that mix.)

Which reminds me, I went to see Packer legend Forrest Gregg at one of our local bookstores last week. What a story this has turned out to be! I wrote about it on my EveryJoe column, but let me tell you that this visit is truly one of my favorites in terms of Packer memories. And not for the reason you’d think.) Gregg spoke about his new book, and we all politely listened, asked questions, and laughed. You know how it is with a bookstore appearance – you want to be polite and accommodating. Gregg, now in his 70s, talked about the Lombardi years, days of old, Brett Favre, and the kinds of things players used to do that now get called for a penalty.

Before and after his appearance, he was gracious about posing with the guys in the audience. As he came to the table to sign copies, I asked if I could have a picture with him as well. He looked me in the eye and said, “Let me tell you a sad story.” Since he had been standing for an hour, I thought he was going to tell me that he needed to sit down, that he was an old football player and his knees were bad, or that he has to draw the line on pictures somewhere. Anything would have been better than what he said.

Instead he told me about Bart Starr getting sued by some woman who had a picture of them together. The only thing I remember about Starr was that an 80-some year old woman tried to extort money from him a couple years ago and had written threatening letters to him. She pleaded guilty and we haven’t heard a word about it, but at the time the woman was claiming that she had a relationship with Starr.

I’m not sure if this is what he was talking about or not. But Gregg said ever since this happened to Starr, he doesn’t pose with women. We all laughed and he sat down. Our laughs were the kind that happen when someone says something stupid and you don’t know what to say in return. The bookstore lady looked a bit taken back, and even said, “Well what if she poses with you and her husband?” Of course by this time Gregg was seated. Discussion over.

He then asked me who he should sign the book to, and I was going to be a smarty pants and say, “Well you better sign it to my husband or else I’d probably try and sue you” but I didn’t. Why bother at this point? He’s an old football player that obviously thinks he’s charming enough to pull off a sexist comment and not have anyone think better of it.

On our way home, of course, my husband and I laughed our heads off. What a dippy thing to say! I still think perhaps Gregg really did have to sit down and was just tired of taking pictures. But whatever. This story is a way better Packer memento than actually having the picture. We’re taking the picture we did snap of Gregg alone while he was giving his speech, and are making it into an ornament for our Packer tree. I’m going to write “I don’t pose with girls” underneath Gregg’s photo.

The life of a Packer fan. You never know what’s going to happen next.

But remember, the word for today is not Forrest or Packers or even chauvinist but mulligatawny!