Listening to sound recordings of oral histories, one often stumbles on incidental content they don't expect. For instance, while writing a biography of Congressman Walter H. Judd, Lee Edwards interviewed Judd several times, including at Judd's home. In one interview, Edwards praised Judd's wife's tomato soup, saying, “Miriam, I thought that tomato soup was supposed to be bland.” She had added milk, water, sugar, salt, and pepper to the Townhouse soup she got from Safeway to come up with her delicious (and nonbland) concoction. Thus, in addition to admiring her fortitude in escaping the Japanese invasion of China, we should appreciate Miriam Judd’s abilities as an improvisational chef.
