My husband loves to laugh at me because we will be driving someplace and I will just blurt out “I remember that place. I went to dinner with ______ there and had a great _____.” (Fill in the 2nd blank with some dish) I can’t remember what I had for dinner 2 nights ago but if it is from my youth it just comes to me out of nowhere. We have usually eaten or are not hungry so we don’t stop there and as you might expect, until I happen to go by it again I will forget about it. The worst situation for me is when I cannot stop thinking about that dish and end up craving it but don’t have the time to go back.
Food cravings for me, like most people, are tied to emotional or physical events that happened in my life. It stinks when it doesn’t come from seeing a place but just a particular food hitting my brain and making my tastebuds go off. Recently I had this craving for deviled eggs come out of nowhere. All I could think about was a cold egg white filled with the deliciously creamy yolk mixture that is just the right size to fit in my mouth in one bite. I actually got out of my chair, when to my refrigeration to figure out if I had the ingredients. I just thinking of the items I need and realize I have what I need….except the most critical item. No eggs! Now at this point, I have to decide if my craving is severe enough that I have to go to the grocery store and as you would expect I decided that I could just wait until the next time I go and make them then. (Side note: In some places, they are referred to as “mimosa eggs,” “stuffed eggs,” “dressed eggs” or “salad eggs” because some people are offended by the word devil. Honestly, I like the idea of calling them “mimosa eggs” because it sounds like it would be a good reason to have a mimosa while enjoying them.)
It amazes me how the taste of something can be so closely tied to a person in my life. There was a dish my Nana used to make me called “Baked Corn”. It is basically what others call corn custard. Other members of my family have tried to make it using her recipe but it never tastes like the one she used to make. There is just something about the way she prepared it for me because she knew it was my favorite that made her’s so unique. The same with Blackberry Jelly. My Granny used to make it, with the seeds, and now I cannot eat it unless it has the seeds (which by the way I cannot find in the grocery store). If I happen to find it somewhere at a farmers market with the seeds I am still disappointed because it is missing that special something she put in. I am pretty sure I know the key ingredient both are missing and that is the love of a grandparent for their grandchild.
I know in my mind I should have learned to make these dishes and countless others but I just didn’t think about it because that would mean that I had to face the fact that my grandparents wouldn’t be around forever. Now I look at my granddaughters and realize that they don’t have the special dish that they can relate to me as their Nana. I guess it is time to start pulling out the cookbooks and testing dishes out for them. I know it will mean that I have to be in the kitchen and knowing me I will make a mess but luckily my husband usually cleans up behind me because as you all know…I don’t mop!
(Follow up: I finally got groceries and guess what I forgot…the eggs!! Oh well I guess I will just have to keep craving them until Easter.)
My Wonderful Friends:
If you have any suggestions for dishes or go through similar feeling about certain foods let me know. It would be great to know I am not the only one! Also, please share my Facebook or Web page. I would love to share my stories with even more people around the globe.
