7.01.2020

pancakes and popcorn

If you could only pick a couple of foods to represent your childhood, what would they be? I am fortunate - I have an abundance of food that comes to mind... BBQ, mom's homemade pizza, the .10 boxes of candy from Food Emporium, orange jello with pineapple/carrots/celery...

But today I choose pancakes and popcorn.

Pancakes because every single Saturday morning that I can remember, my mom made pancakes. She made a zillion of them and stored them in a green bun warmer on top of the stove. We were allowed to sleep in, so even if I woke up late, I could still go out and find some pancakes. (I wonder how many she made each weekend?) Warm pancakes with margarine and syrup - mmmm. Smells and tastes like childhood. (I bet there were some Saturdays that she would have liked to sleep in and not make pancakes. Nah. I just can't imagine her not wanting to make pancakes!)

Popcorn because when we would watch TV as a family, we almost always had fresh popcorn. We had one of those popcorn makers that had an orange plastic lid (or was it clear?) You poured oil in it, then the popcorn, put the lid on and waited for the magic to happen. We would melt better to pour on top before the special ingredient.... Hog's Breath seasoning. Hog's Breath is my mom and dad's secret seasoning recipe. I don't remember why my dad named it Hog's Breath - need to get that part of the story! It mixed with the melted butter on the popcorn and was just so good. This is at the forefront of my mind right now because I got this treat in the mail! Looks like I'm going to have to make some popcorn and find an episode of Matlock or Columbo.