Those 70ish Girls

There is something I have been thinking a lot about, lately. In fact, I can’t get it out of my mind.

It’s food.

Not all food. Just the food I ate when I was a kid. Sometimes I crave things like a BLT sandwich. While on our trip, I saw them on the menu at a small cafe and ordered one. They asked me if I wanted it toasted. I thought they were kidding. Who would eat a BLT on anything but toast? I told them to be sure to put lots of mayo on it as well. It was delicious.

I also crave Grandpa Sanderson’s fried cornmeal mush with syrup on it. We always ate it when we were at the Nemo, SD cabin or when we came back to Grandma’s and Grandpa’s house after a long day of fishing.

I don’t miss minced ham sandwiches. Some people call it bologna. When he was little, my brother, called it new meat. I guess because it’s pink. He said we ate a lot of it. All I know is that I have never liked it.

Most of you know that I grew up in a small town. We ate breakfast, dinner, and supper. Our big meal was at noon. That was dinner. Supper was usually leftovers or sandwiches. When I was 11, I went to California where Billy was going to college. Several of our aunts and uncles lived there as well. One day my aunt made homemade spaghetti sauce. It simmered on the stove all morning. I sat down at noon to eat what I thought was going to be mouth watering spaghetti and she placed a minced ham sandwich in front of me. “I thought we were having spaghetti for dinner,” I complained. “We are,” she said. “This is lunch.”

When Mom made a tossed salad, she put a little Wesson oil on it. I had no idea there was any other way to eat it until I was in high school and someone introduced me to French dressing.

I miss Mom’s pot roast. She baked it in one of those oblong, egg-shaped, blue speckled pans. My cousin, Mark, sent me one that he found in his parent’s attic. It’s just the right size for a pork loin roast.

The only pizza we had was made from a boxed Chef Boyardee kit. The parmesesan cheese in it smelled so bad, Billy left the house when Mom made it.

We ate a lot of tuna and noodle casseroles with crushed potatoes chips on top. Sometimes, Mom made what she called a boiled dinner. She boiled cabbage with a ring of sausage bologna. We also ate a lot of Swanson TV dinners and chicken pot pies.

Mom made great chocolate chip cookies and chocolate cake, but we only had dessert on special occasions or when Mom got the urge to bake.

I have never liked Oreos. Mom took them to a PTA meeting once and it really embarrassed me. All the other moms made homemade cookies. Don’t ever feed me a minced ham sandwich with Oreos for dessert.

My very favorite meal was fried pheasant and corn on the cob, with mashed potatoes and gravy. We sometimes had strawberry shortcake made with Bisquick and thawed frozen strawberries. As dry as that bisquick cake was, when the juice from the strawberries soaked in, it became a soggy mess. Though better than oreos, it is not something I crave.

If we’re talking about sweets, the thing I loved and still crave, is a Bing candy bar. That rich cherry mash covered with chocolate and finely chopped nuts is the best!

Tomorrow will be day 1 of my diet. I’m pretty sure the extra pounds will still be there.

What foods from your past do you crave?