The phrase "middle of the bowl" refers to being in a situation where you are not in a particularly good or bad position. It means that you are in the middle, neither winning nor losing, like being in the center of a bowl. Full definition
Already, there is insufficient pipeline capacity to pump it back from the middle of the bowl to the edges. (canadianbusiness.com)
However, that configuration is ill - suited to an era when the fastest - growing crude oil supply is coming from the middle of the bowl, from U.S. oil producers using new extraction techniques and the Canadian oilsands. (canadianbusiness.com)
Sprinkle the ice water onto the crumbly dough and, with your hands, punch the dough from the sides to the middle of the bowl to form a ball. (bluebirdgrainfarms.com)