Posted tagged ‘messy foods’

“I believe in red meat. I’ve often said: red meat and gin.”

September 29, 2015

It seems I get later and later but for good reasons. This morning it was a long library board meeting to choose officers. The length of the meeting had little to do with the election of unopposed officers. No, it was mimosas and pastries and conversation which kept us late.

I’m running out of adjectives to describe this gorgeous weather. It is in the mid-70’s and sunny with a breeze strong enough to swing the chimes. Tomorrow they’ll be downpours and over 3 inches of rain according to the weatherman. Not a single person is complaining. We need the rain, and we have had our share, more than our share, of beautiful fall days.

Where I grew up, we called it tonic. Down here they call it soda. By either name, we seldom had any in the house when I was a kid, ginger ale maybe for an occasional highball, my parents’ favorite drink when I was young, but nothing else. We drank milk, a combination of white milk and chocolate milk, both delivered by the milkman. My mother used to drink Tab until Diet Coke came along. My father was always a milk drinker. He loved a cold glass of milk with his Hydrox cookies or his Pilot crackers topped with butter. He’d be devastated now as both his favorites are no longer made. He’d probably start eating Saltines but never Oreos, maybe Newman-O’s which remind me of Hydrox. My dad was most particular about his snacks.

We called my mother the seagull because of what she ate. Leftovers were her favorite breakfast, and sometimes she ate them cold in a sandwich, including hot dogs cut in half and down the middle. She’d rummage in the fridge, pullout the covered dishes and build herself a sandwich. Cucumbers were a favorite topping. She was also a mayonnaise fan far more than a mustard fan. My mother liberally applied the condiment. Even with toast the butter was slathered. Grilled cheese, according to her, was best at its messiest.

I eat all sorts of foods and will try almost anything when I’m traveling. I think that’s the seagull in me.

“Last night I dreamt I ate a ten pound marshmallow. When I woke up the pillow was gone.”

June 10, 2014

If ever there was day to rejoice, it is today. The toothache is gone. The tooth was pulled yesterday afternoon. The oral surgeon, my former student, decided not to wait. He numbed the area, and after a tug, the tooth was a memory.

Today I went to an early meeting and came home and took a nap, the reason for the lateness of my musings. I wonder, though, if three and a half hours still rates as a nap.

I got three phone calls. One was last night from the surgeon and today I got calls from the Care Center and my dentist’s office. All wanted to know how I was doing. I like that.

It rained today, and the day is still damp and chilly. I shut all the windows to keep the house warm and turned on lights to keep the darkness at bay. I am in my stay at home clothes, and that’s exactly what I intend to do.

The other night I made myself a peanut butter and Marshmallow Fluff sandwich. When I was young, it was a snack stand-by. We usually ran out of cookies quickly, but we always had bread to make a sandwich. I preferred marshmallow over jelly because marshmallow never slid out of the bread. Jelly did. It was always grape jelly which came out of the jar in globs and usually ended up on my shirt. The other problem with jelly was it made the bread squishy and the middle of the sandwich sink. There was, however, an upside. My mother bought Welch’s because you got a glass out of the deal.

My niece’s almost two-year old son had a rite of passage a few weeks back. He had his first fluffernutter. It was on his fingers and his cheeks, and he devoured every piece of it. My brother-in-law chronicled the event with pictures. They don’t have Fluff in Colorado so when any of us visit we bring a few jars. It goes quickly. Even my nephew who’s over thirty has a sandwich or two.

White bread is the best for a fluffernutter. I’ve tried it with wheat, and it isn’t the same. Wonder bread was our childhood bread of choice, but you really need a sturdier bread so the marshmallow can be spread without making holes. My sandwiches even now seem to overflow just a bit when you add the top slice of bread. I still get marshmallow on my fingers. I lick it off.