The Taste of Childhood

There are some foods that always remind me of childhood, or younger years. My parents have this photo of me with a big bag of Cheetos and superbly orange fingers. If I'm ever in a silly mood, I grab myself a bag of those.

When my friends hosted slumber parties, there were things that were necessary for it to be a hit: Cool Ranch Doritos, Dr. Pepper (we were convinced it helped you stay up longer), and homemade Chex Mix (back in the day before it was sold ready made in a bag) But the topper was always the Mothers Circus Animal Cookies. Those wonderful pink and white iced animal shaped cookies were a special treat.

Every workday, John has the same lunch - a sandwich, chips, and three Mother's Iced Oatmeal cookies (from the bag). The cookies in the bag have a different flavor from the ones that come in the divided trays. I can't taste it, but his taste buds are super sensitive, so I believe him. Lunch is not lunch without those cookies.

Well, he's going to have to adapt. We've spent the past two weeks looking for those cookies and our grocery store isn't carrying them. I got online today to e-mail the company and get some details about which area stores must be shelving these bags of yummies. The first 10 hits on Google came up with news stories: the factory in Oakland shut down on 10/9 and the home office filed bankruptcy.

Before I got online, John had joked that they were probably going out of business. I figured it was some political thing between our grocery chain and the cookie supplier. Uh, no. Mother's Cookies is no more. The Taffy sandwhich cookies that Dad would dip in his coffee are a thing of the past.

I think I'll be able to live without the pink and white iced animal crackers, but I don't know how long it will take for John to find his substitute lunchtime cookie. He's taking it pretty well, but you never know with the grieving process. Right now, he's asking why the government didn't bail this company out. "Mothers Cookies was a company worth saving!"

In lieu of flowers, please send cookies.

Recipes and Other Kitchen Tricks

So I tried a new recipe yesterday. I have been dying for the weather to get cooler so that I could make this tortilla soup. I had to settle for the tiniest drizzle of rain on Friday as an excuse, but I took it and ran with it.

Some things I learned:

• Chicken with bones add a good deal of flavor, but let it cool before you start deboning. I think I could probably commit a crime without being detected because I am convinced that I burned off my fingerprints.


• A little cilantro never killed anyone. More flavor should not be feared. I was so sure that I should follow the recipe that it never occured to me to add salt, pepper, or other natural flavorings. It hit me this morning that cilantro would have been a good addition.


• Don't talk up a recipe. My friend, JoAnn, had brought this to work a few times and I loved it. I was so excited about testing the recipe that I shared the excitement with John. WRONG move. A hyped up recipe will never be loved - no matter how good your first attempt is.


• Be prepared for leftovers. I think we'll be eating this soup for weeks and I should have put it in some freezable containers instead of the pretty ones that were closer on the shelves.

For those of you who want to wow people in the kitchen, or just have a pretty cool party trick, check out this video that another friend sent me:

The Things You Learn

People tell you when you get engaged that things will be different. Everything changes. When John and I got married, I didn't feel all that different. There wasn't this amazing BOOM of feelings like there was when we got engaged. There wasn't much in the way of growing pains for us. Ever since the honeymoon, I've kept a vigilant eye out for changes: anything that would scream "You're married now!"

So far, I've learned that John's love for oatmeal is based on its ability to house an enormous amount of brown sugar. Similarly, sopapillas are wonderful pockets for gobs of honey. The man who can buy Thin Mints from the Girl Scouts in February and keep them (on the counter in plain view!) until May has a sweet tooth. Four years together and this was an epiphany.

John was sick this weekend and I was reminded of something I learned while we were engaged. Some people (me) like to be babied when they're sick; the extra TLC and attention can be therapeutic. Favorite foods, special blankies, and old movies. The fussy buzzing is not for others, though. There are people, who oddly enough, like to be left alone and don't want to be reminded that they're sick. They'll even get up and do whatever they can to forget that they're sick. That would be my hubby.

Thankfully, this was just a reminder and not a learning experience. I called John on Friday night after dining with my gal pals to find out that he was sick. So, I got into Super Wife mode and went to three drugstores (two were closed) to stock up on the necessary meds and fluids. I know, I know, a good wife would have already had a stash of the requisite meds in the house. I can't really get around that one, so we'll focus on the fact that I picked up his favorite Gatorade flavor and a maple bar so that he had something to cheer him up the next morning. Let's not focus on the fact that I bought the wrong NyQuil flavor or that the donut was stale. The donut was manageable, but cherry flavored is acceptable, but not the yummy (to him) original flavor or anise / black licorice. Was that purposeful on my part? No!

The late night shopping trip was appreciated, but I think he was most comforted when I left him to his NyQuil induced sleep. I spent the weekend fighting my urge to go upstairs and check up on him. Sadly, the times I was SURE he was stirring about upstairs, he was asleep ... until I woke him up. Now I know why Mom always gave us the dinner bell when we got sick. I think I'll need to get one before flu season.

John's illness was only a head cold and now he's back at work enjoying being a part of the real world. Me, I'm doing my best to overcome my hypochondria.