I made creamed spinach today for the first time
in a very long time. The ingredients are simple,
just a package of frozen spinach and a can of
Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup.

I was alert enough to avoid the Campbell's Fat-Free
Cream of Chicken Soup and Campbell's Healthy
Request Cream of Chicken Soup (which is itself
98% fat free). I want the fat they took out
of those two in my soup. I finally found the plain
Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup.

On bringing it home, the first hint something was
different was the flip-top can. That's okay,
I don't care about packaging. But inside the
soup had an unfamiliar texture. It was kind of
like a stiff gel. That's not the soup I was
expecting. The old Campbell's Cream of Chicken
Soup had some body, but it was much more runny.
You could pour it out of the can (or maybe
the whole thing would slide out of the can
as one big cylindrical plug). This new stuff
really couldn't be removed from the can without
a spoon or some other tool.

What was much worse was that the old stuff would
become even more runny when heated. It added
the perfect texture to make creamed spinach.
This new stuff remains a thick gel even when hot.
It made a horrible creamed spinach.

When did this happen? It has an awful texture,
and the subtle flavors are either gone or
immobilized in the gel. It's dreadful stuff.
I suppose I could try the generic store brand
or something. Maybe some smaller manufacturer
wouldn't have the advanced Campbell's astrofood
technology. Either that, or I'm just not going
to make any more creamed spinach.