I've been restless the last couple of days. We've been hit with the heat wave that's going across the country, and with all the rain we had last week the humidity is insane (like 100% in the mornings). Yesterday the temperature was "only" 92, but the heat index was 105. That much humidity just makes it hard to breathe.
I normally wander outside a lot - even just to sit and read on the back deck. But that's not exactly pleasant at the moment.
With outside impetus, I'll still go out. I worked at the Museum Monday and I'll be going in tomorrow. But by the time I get home I'm knackered and pretty much worthless for the rest of the day.
But I wanted to write about food today, and the foods that I miss. The way I eat now isn't quite how I used to eat a few years ago. For example - lunch today was homemade hummus with a plate of roasted sweet potato wedges, roasted cauliflower, carrots and pepper strips. Dinner was a bowl of quinoa with the rest of the roasted cauliflower, some leftover salmon, red onions and carrots that I had pickled, and a dollop of spiced yogurt. And that sort of eating is pretty typical for me.
But some things I miss.
White sandwich bread. A proper peanut butter and jelly sandwich should be made with squishy white sandwich bread. But I don't know anywhere you can buy just 2 slices of the stuff. And I could freeze a loaf, but frozen and thawed just isn't the same, and besides that's an urge that only hits every few months so it might take me a couple of years to get through a loaf. Sometime last year I visited Gill, and along with some luscious home baked goodies she put two slices of white bread in a baggie for me and I was able to have my PBJ and glass of milk and it was awesome.
Hot Doggities. This is a childhood favorite. You cut a slit in a hotdog and stuff it with cheese, then roll it in a crescent roll and bake it. Bob liked mustard as a dip; I favored a combo of ketchup and barbecue sauce. Have a side of Zappo's Voodoo potato chips. The problem with this is once you open the crescent rolls, you have to bake them. A Hot Doggity does not freeze well. I've made Hot Doggities once since I lost Bob. After eating two a day four days in a row, I was sort of over them. Sometimes I think I could make two (freeze the rest of the hot dogs) and then try to figure out something to do with the rest of the crescent dough but then it seems too complicated and I just forget about it.
Chicken wings. Drippy messy chicken wings. Chewing the meat off the bones, going through lots of napkins. They're something that you let someone else make. Thing is - they're sort of a social food. It wouldn't be the same, sitting by myself gnawing away. I've gotten used to going out to eat on my own (I do my grocery shopping after I get off work from the Museum, and have found that it's best to eat lunch before going to the store and overloading the cart). But normally when I eat, I read, and chicken wings aren't very conducive to holding the phone. I could get them to go - but that doesn't solve the problem of eating *before* I go grocery shopping.
Side Story: One place I go is a little Thai place that's in the same strip center as Aldi's. Last time I went, the owner came out to say hi (he was also being a server that day) and he said "I've seen you here before - you're a regular now." That was both cool and a little strange, as most of the time I view myself as something of an invisible ghost and it's surprising when I find that someone sees me, enough to recognize me.
Hamburger. Nice big two-handed hamburger. Ditto what I said above about social food and messy eating. I think I had a hamburger sometime in 2021, when I went to a cookout at Rob and Amanda's. But it's not out of reach as much as the hot doggity, because if I go to the bakery at Publix I might be able to buy one hamburger bun. Could happen. (My mind drifts to maybe I could even find a cooking youtube video of people standing around a barbecue grill, and feel like I was at a gathering, but my little side voice says that might be a bit pathetic)
When was the last time I had a Coke? (Or any soft drink). Not in 2023 yet.
I think that's it for my food nostalgia. PBJ on white bread (with milk in a mug - a childhood preference because it didn't spill as easily as a glass).
Hot doggities. Chicken wings. Hamburger. And someone to share it with, so I could use two hands to eat. All simple, all oddly out of reach
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