Food for thought

It's no secret that I think about food a lot --- I like to cook; I meal plan; I pack my kids lunches daily; I pack a snack cooler for my husband; I try to bring snacks if I have a drive between work locations so I don't get tempted by fastfood; I love coupons; I LIKE TO EAT; I have a sweet tooth.

 

But, the other day, I was eating some sautéed eggplant with dinner and my brain immediately jumped into MEMORY mode. You know the kind of memory I'm talking about. The one that comes from deep within your soul and brings you back to another place in time. I started talking about how sautéed eggplant brings me back to my Granny Frances's house in Big Spring, TX; I only visited there during my childhood but I can remember her kitchen and her sautéed eggplant; and how I loved it so much. I guess I will carry a little piece of my Granny with me always.

 

And what is even more bizarre is the food memories that are BAD!!! Here are a few of mine:

1) spaghetti O's -- NOOO....didn't really ever like them but ate some; woke up puking in my sleep; to this day I can't even stand the smell of them. shudder.

2) watermelon -- I'm sure it was a super fun 4th of July. I remember running all over the neighborhood and eating loads of watermelon and Fruit Stripe gum. I swallowed all of the gum. When my body revolved that night and I woke up sick, I was ruined for life. To this day, I am a 'watermelon snob.' If it is remotely mealy and not sweet, I won't touch it. I always make my kids taste it before I will try it.

3) Orange Soda -- four traditional glucose preganancy tests were bad enough but then I had a 3hr. glucose test. UGH. Only on a rare occasion would I have wanted an orange soda; now I will never drink one ever again. Monster-type drinks are in this category too. I tried a sip once at the beach and I almost threw up right there.

4) and maybe the grossiest of all --- BAD milk. Too many bad milk cartons from random school lunches over the years I guess. I will sniff any and all milk before I attempt a sip. Scarred for life by milk.

 

Let's switch bad to the GOOD stuff before I ruin my/your day:

1) Roman Meal bread - my Grandma Parks always had it in her little house. And I was always intrigued by the orange bag and begged for a piece of her special bread. Simply delicious.

2) And popcorn balls -- this memory is close to 40yrs. old but I can remember my Grandma and Grandpa (he died when I was 4)  making popcorn balls in their kitchen. How incredibly sweet and delicious they were. And then someone in our neighbor gave homemade ones out on Halloween - the smell wafted for hours on end while they made batch after batch. Kettle corn ain't got nothing on my grandparents :)

3) coconut custard pie --another Texas specialty by my Aunt Mac -- Christmas meant Aunt Mac's pies! And chocolate silk and lemon meringue and pecan. Oh my sweet tooth. A special Christmas memory that seemed so routine at the time but means so much now.

4) Toast with butter and grape jelly --Camp Abbey summer camp. Not necessarily warm either. So yummy (out of the stainless steel bins) especially since some of the food was strange (like powdered milk).

5) Ice Cream Man - Drumstick was the ONLY choice on the rare occasion that my Mom let us get it.

and

6) Cherries and Creole Tomatoes - not eaten together but when purchased from the road-side stand in Raceland, LA they were heaven on earth.

 

I'm hoping that my children are already developing some random good food memories. Maybe corn casserole on Thanksgiving; Dad's bbq'd ribs and the smell of the smoker; and maybe even Mom's chicken salad on the beach (let's hope that's not a bad memory because of any random sand that got mixed in). And Coney Island hot dogs when we visit Mansfield, OH when visiting Grandma Hall.

 

Now that I'm hungry for creole tomatoes I guess I'll venture out to see if I can find some.