In case you were wondering, the “Chicken and Broccoli” Banquet pot pie has, like, one bite-sized broccoli stem, cut up into littler pieces. The luscious little florets? Who knows what happened to them, but they are not in the pot pie.

Nevertheless, I would like to formally thank the pot pie, which saved me this evening when I was in a must-eat-can’t-eat fit, pacing the kitchen trying to find something—anything—that seemed appealing, or even edible. I opened the freezer even though I knew there was no hope there, and there it was, the pot pie, appealing and salty, hot food in half an hour, reminiscent of childhood when my parents would have their one night a week when they ate dinner by themselves after we kids went to bed, and so we would get to have something delicious by ourselves: Kraft macaroni and cheese, Campbell’s chicken noodle soup, Banquet pot pies—those were our favorites. And tonight the little pot pie was called into service again, and it was good, and the fit has been extinguished, and I can get on with the evening.