Day 16: A Favorite Food
My palate is an interesting exercise in what it means to be aboynamedstu.
I grew up in Oklahoma. Most who read all of [insert gesticulating] this know that. What you might not know is that my Mom and Dad both worked full time jobs when I was truly aboynamedstu. Mom owned the eponymous Joyce's Beauty Shop. Dad worked at the steel mill. Also. Mom cooked. Dad did (does) not. Working a full time gig and then coming home to cook ain't easy now. It wasn't easy then. Plus, my Mom, God bless her, wasn't the best cook in the world. She could make some things. Had her special things. But overall. Not great. In fact, her hijinks in the kitchen are legendary.
Example. Charley Shaw (a great childhood friend of mine who I've sadly fell out of touch with over the years—something I regret) and myself once came home from someplace or another and went to the Tinsley icebox to get a cool drink. There was nothing. Mom, being a Mom, asked us what we wanted. Charley requested Kool-Aid. Mom said, fine, and went to make it while we went off and did whatever we did back in the day. A few moments later Mom brought us two glasses of Kool-Aid (they were in those funky Cartoon collectible glasses you used to could get at McDonald's and other joints in the 1970s and early 1980s if you are old enough to dig that reference.) Charley took a long drink from his glass and then screwed up his face and said, "This doesn't taste right?"
I took a long drink to see what he meant and sure enough this Kool-Aid didn't taste right.
In fact, it didn't taste like Kool-Aid at all even though it looked like Kool-Aid.
We went into the kitchen and Charley said, "Mrs. Tinsley is this Kook-Aid? It tastes funny."
My Mom cackled (I wish I had that laugh on tape now that she's gone.) Long. Hard. While Charley and I stood there looking at her and then each other.
Finally, wiping the tears out of her eyes, she reached around and grabbed the package to show us.
It was Jello.
My Mom tried to pass off dissolved and unset Jello as Kool-Aid.
Fuck me that's funny. Then. Now. But my point is Mom did some crazy shit in the kitchen and when I was aboynamedstu we ate simple middle American type dishes. Most coming from a can. Or frozen. Hell, I probably didn't eat fresh broccoli until I was grown. Ditto with anything more exotic than say, Mexican food.
Which is why my favorite food choice is odd based on my upbringing. I don't revere the food of my youth. All those home style stick to your rib types of food that so many in Oklahoma love to eat.
Not me. In fact, I've forsaken my culture entirely and have fallen in love with the foods of Asia. Literally.
I don't just love Chinese. I love Thai,Japanese,Korean, Vietnamese and Indian (which is in Asia obviously even though you might not consider it Asian food.)
I could eat Asian food all the time, every meal. Something that drives My Lovely Bride nuts. It is my de facto go to meal. When I cook, I'd say 8 out of 10 meals will have some sort of Asian influence (I'm also a big time one pot cook and the wok rocks.) Hell, if you gave me the choice between a big breakfast of eggs and bacon versus a nice big bowl of Pho. I'm going with the Pho. I'd prefer a thai dish over BBQ. I'd rather eat a nice stir fry than Italian. If I want to go out for a nice dinner, splurge, special occasion type of thing, I don't think steak house. I think sushi. You get the point.
Looking back through the years, I can't recall (which is odd with my memory) the first time I had Asian food. I'm pretty sure it had to have been Chinese and I was probably a teenager. Maybe the 15th Street Wok for all the T Town peeps in the house. There weren't many Asian restaurants in the Oklahoma of my youth. Certainly not in Sand Springs. But things change. Today, the McDonald's in Sand Springs, Oklahoma when I was growing up is an all-you can eat Chinese joint.
Until I BLOG again...You catch a pearl and ride the dragon's wings.
I grew up in Oklahoma. Most who read all of [insert gesticulating] this know that. What you might not know is that my Mom and Dad both worked full time jobs when I was truly aboynamedstu. Mom owned the eponymous Joyce's Beauty Shop. Dad worked at the steel mill. Also. Mom cooked. Dad did (does) not. Working a full time gig and then coming home to cook ain't easy now. It wasn't easy then. Plus, my Mom, God bless her, wasn't the best cook in the world. She could make some things. Had her special things. But overall. Not great. In fact, her hijinks in the kitchen are legendary.
Example. Charley Shaw (a great childhood friend of mine who I've sadly fell out of touch with over the years—something I regret) and myself once came home from someplace or another and went to the Tinsley icebox to get a cool drink. There was nothing. Mom, being a Mom, asked us what we wanted. Charley requested Kool-Aid. Mom said, fine, and went to make it while we went off and did whatever we did back in the day. A few moments later Mom brought us two glasses of Kool-Aid (they were in those funky Cartoon collectible glasses you used to could get at McDonald's and other joints in the 1970s and early 1980s if you are old enough to dig that reference.) Charley took a long drink from his glass and then screwed up his face and said, "This doesn't taste right?"
I took a long drink to see what he meant and sure enough this Kool-Aid didn't taste right.
In fact, it didn't taste like Kool-Aid at all even though it looked like Kool-Aid.
We went into the kitchen and Charley said, "Mrs. Tinsley is this Kook-Aid? It tastes funny."
My Mom cackled (I wish I had that laugh on tape now that she's gone.) Long. Hard. While Charley and I stood there looking at her and then each other.
Finally, wiping the tears out of her eyes, she reached around and grabbed the package to show us.
It was Jello.
My Mom tried to pass off dissolved and unset Jello as Kool-Aid.
Fuck me that's funny. Then. Now. But my point is Mom did some crazy shit in the kitchen and when I was aboynamedstu we ate simple middle American type dishes. Most coming from a can. Or frozen. Hell, I probably didn't eat fresh broccoli until I was grown. Ditto with anything more exotic than say, Mexican food.
Which is why my favorite food choice is odd based on my upbringing. I don't revere the food of my youth. All those home style stick to your rib types of food that so many in Oklahoma love to eat.
Not me. In fact, I've forsaken my culture entirely and have fallen in love with the foods of Asia. Literally.
I don't just love Chinese. I love Thai,Japanese,Korean, Vietnamese and Indian (which is in Asia obviously even though you might not consider it Asian food.)
I could eat Asian food all the time, every meal. Something that drives My Lovely Bride nuts. It is my de facto go to meal. When I cook, I'd say 8 out of 10 meals will have some sort of Asian influence (I'm also a big time one pot cook and the wok rocks.) Hell, if you gave me the choice between a big breakfast of eggs and bacon versus a nice big bowl of Pho. I'm going with the Pho. I'd prefer a thai dish over BBQ. I'd rather eat a nice stir fry than Italian. If I want to go out for a nice dinner, splurge, special occasion type of thing, I don't think steak house. I think sushi. You get the point.
Looking back through the years, I can't recall (which is odd with my memory) the first time I had Asian food. I'm pretty sure it had to have been Chinese and I was probably a teenager. Maybe the 15th Street Wok for all the T Town peeps in the house. There weren't many Asian restaurants in the Oklahoma of my youth. Certainly not in Sand Springs. But things change. Today, the McDonald's in Sand Springs, Oklahoma when I was growing up is an all-you can eat Chinese joint.
Until I BLOG again...You catch a pearl and ride the dragon's wings.
Jello... that's funny:) What a great memory!
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