Favorite Foods through the Years
/Foods are often linked to particular time periods in our lives - and the associations last a lifetime. For me they are all positive associations that come flooding into my consciousness when I buy the foods and when I eat them. Here are a few examples from my life:
Pork chops. When I was in early elementary school, my favorite meat was pork chops fixed by my grandmother. She always fixed extra for me because I ate 2 or 3 as part of my meal. Now I buy thin sliced, boneless pork chops - and am still trying to recapture the way my grandmother make her pork chops taste.
Watermelon, cantaloupe and corn-on-the-cob - picked fresh from the garden. These were from the gardens of both my grandparents from my earliest memories through late elementary school. The watermelon, cantaloupe and corn-on-the-cob overwhelmed my senses completely; I don’t really remember what else we ate. Now I buy them from a local farmers market or the produce section of the grocery store. On occasions, the taste approaches that in my memory.
Fried fish. From late elementary school through my early 20s, I consistently selected deep fried white fish when I went to a cafeteria. I never got anything else. It wasn’t that I didn’t like other foods at the cafeteria (usually a Furr’s or Luby’s), but I never even considered getting anything else. I haven’t been to a cafeteria for years but I think I would get deep fried white fish now if they had it.
Texas toast. Do you remember those toasted inch thick pieces of white bread, slathered with garlic butter? They were big in the 70s at steak places. I think I enjoyed the toast almost more than the steak! I rarely eat food like that anymore….but I still remember celebrating a monthly or quarterly anniversary of my wedding at a place that served Texas toast.
Red velvet cake. I like the look of the cake more than the taste most of the time. Somehow the bakery versions never taste quite as good as the cake my Mother made from scratch….but I still try to find a good one almost once a year.
Fajitas. I liked fajitas from the first time I had them in the late 70s at a table on the patio of a restaurant in San Antonio. I still like them now although I expect a higher quality of meat (and maybe meat other beef) and I have them with salad rather than tortillas.
Dark chocolate. I started using two squares of dark chocolate as a reward for taking my vitamins in the morning a few years ago. Now I use it as a reward for being within my ideal weight range first thing in the morning (which happens most mornings). I’m pretty sure that it will never get old.
Celebrate your favorite foods through the years of your life today!
