Food is life, the rest is just details. This and other 90’s related bygones are what have made my life complete lately. If there were a few highlights I had to select from this week’s menu, I’d say the hot dog supper and poached eggs w salmon breakfast were tops. The little things that pad the food are what make it such a treat.
Initially, I was not sure what led me to a hot dog dinner at the ice cream stand on Thursday, but as I made my choice I recalled a recent article chronicling Martha Stewart’s favorite hot dogs: she uses dill pickle with Dijon mustard and bacon or sauerkraut to add a punch of flavor. What I could recall from Yahoo news led me to a Google search that got me to her website, and the recipes listed here seem to ramp up the exotic condiments and add ins to a deceptively simple pork product.
Saturday morning I was hungry and wondering what to eat. The poached eggs and smoked salmon alone would have been great, and I decided to add seasoning. Pizza Hut sells these little crushed red pepper flake shakers, and I had some Taco Bell hot sauce laying around, so I added those to it and seemed to taste the extra thing in there that was maybe just an essence of the old times. I don’t eat actual Pizza Hut pizza anymore, but rather order the gluten free pizza by Udi’s that they offer. It captures the experience of pizza without the carbs.
I think just passing through or being there makes for a great experience, and you don’t have to eat the food to enjoy the feeling you get when you link it back to those times. When standing in line at the ice cream place, I wanted an extra thick chocolate frappe, though ultimately it was something I decided against because I knew how filling it would be. Being around other people who were enjoying ice cream cones was enough for me to feel like enjoying the experience vicariously through others was enough, and I didn’t have to spend calories on it myself. There was a baby who was running around in a diaper barefoot and I said to the mother, “Oh to be footloose and fancy free, and not a care in the world that you’re barefoot. Good for you, baby!”
When you’re waiting in line you’re thinking about what you’re supposed to do when you’re waiting in line, what you’ve done countless times before, thinking about an upcoming meal, anticipating those first few bites, and enjoying the act of eating with those you’re with. This process is somewhat foreign to me right now, and so I notice in slow motion how conditioned we are to do what we are used to doing, or do what we miss so much. But knowing we can choose differently is empowering, and knowing that these times are not like the olden times is refreshing.
I’m not sure how many locations had it, but my family used to eat at the Taco Bell across from the mall. They had touch screen computers that you could order and pay at, and for a limited time they served cheese fries. This was back thirty years ago, and at the time the self service ordering and the fries seemed to be unusual but familiar to me, as I think of it now.
Here is what I ate the past few days:
Tuesday 11:30am mozzarella sticks w marinara
5:00pm cheeseburger sub w lettuce and hots, cubed watermelon
Wednesday
6:15am open faced sausage, egg, and cheese w cheddar on tomato basil bread
10:00am 1 slice tomato basil bread w peanut butter
1:00pm mozzarella sticks w marinara
5:00pm steak tip garden salad w ranch, watermelon
Thursday 7:00am open faced sausage, egg, cheese on croissant
11:00am 1/2 croissant w peanut butter
5:00pm watermelon
7:00pm hot dog w nacho cheese, bacon, and onion with bun, diet Pepsi
Friday 6:00am smoked salmon, toast w butter
9:30am popcorn made w olive oil, swerve, and salt, cheese, bacon
11:00am popcorn made w olive oil, pistachios, pecans
5:00pm fried rice w dumplings, cheese, and ranch
Saturday 8:00am two poached eggs, smoked salmon, toast w butter, coffee w heavy cream and Swerve
1:00pm salad w peppers, onion, mushrooms, cucumbers, spinach, Thousand island dressing, hummus, apples, 1 pork rib, zoodles
8:30pm salmon w salad, ranch, asparagus salad w mozzarella, lemon, garlic, basil, and tomato, Dr. Pepper zero
Sunday 9:30am 1 fried egg, 1 slice bacon, 1/4 glazed donut w Fruity Pebbles topping, coffee w heavy cream and Swerve
1:30pm salad w ranch, asparagus salad w mozzarella and tomato, 1/4 salmon, Dr. Pepper zero
7:00pm chili w onion, cheese, sour cream, 1/2 low carb tortilla, 1 scoop peanut butter Oreo ice cream w peanut butter sauce
blorgons 