Nostalgia

Back in the Stone Age when I was young, these are the Foodtoons we used to draw. The big thing was fire-roasted venison, and simply everyone was gathering locally-grown produce. Ah, the good old days.

Remembrance of Foodtoons Past

Several years ago, in a misguided attempt to actually make something of myself, I took a few classes at the University of Rhode Island. It was there, in an elective summer art class, that the professor took one look at the tomato in my rendering of a still life and pronounced it "too cartoony." Obviously, his middle name was not Nostradamus, because he could not foresee the big future I had ahead of me drawing food cartoons.

I decided to do an artist's rendering of my artist's rendering and add a smiley face because my friend Annie gave me some grape tomatoes from her Dad's garden that were so delicious they had me swooning.

I did the drawing in crayon because occasionally I like to let my inner eight-year-old come out to play. Take that, Mr. Professor Artist Dude.

Dinner and a Movie: Royal Wedding

A really good thing about the Army Dude is that most of the time, when I present a perfectly ridiculous idea to him, he says "Let's do it." (The rest of the time I ignore him and do it anyway.)

I stole got the idea for Dinner and a Movie from Brittany at Va-Voom Vintage, who does Friday Night Fashion and a Movie. I love reading cookbooks from different eras, so I thought it would be fun to watch a movie and eat a dinner that would have been typical of either the time the movie was made, or the time in which it is set. In the case of Royal Wedding, the movie is set in what was the present day: 1951, depicting the story of a brother-and-sister dance team who go to England to entertain during the festivities surrounding the wedding of then-Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth).

The Scalloped Potatoes With Ham casserole was made with Campbell's Cream of Celery soup, since home cooks in the 50s were crazy about their casseroles. It was actually a little salty for my taste, but surprisingly good. The Army Dude had two helpings. He even enjoyed the movie despite its lack of shooting and military tactics. Which is another good thing about the Army Dude: you can get him to do pretty much anything if you bribe him with dinner.

She Had Me At "Moo"

The Army dude and I went to the Washington County Fair this weekend, where I made friends with a dairy calf named Annabelle. We didn't get a good picture of her so I drew you one. You're welcome.


Annabelle was cute and surprisingly cuddly for a farm animal. She is going to grow up and produce my favorite food group. What's not to like? As for Annabelle, she clearly knew an animal and cheese lover when she met one. We're BFFs now.

Resentment

When I was little, my Grandmother - who lived two doors away - used to call the house and say "Guess who's heah?" This was a cue for us to get washed and brushed up in a hurry so we could meet whatever relatives were visiting. Trust me, you do not want to be the curly-headed child whose mother has to brush her hair in a hurry. Then at Gram's there was the gauntlet of relatives to run while attempting to get my cheeks pinched as little as possible. But there was compensation for all this discomfort. Gram always served tea and a "nice cake." She would always give me a big piece because I was skinny and she wanted the relatives to know it wasn't due to lack of effort on her part.

I share this little slice of Americana from the last century because the U.S. Army could learn a thing or two from my grandmother. If I have to put on a pretty dress and brush my hair, and then go to a banquet where I'm expected to smile and politely converse with people I barely know, the least the Army could do is give me cake for dessert.

Breakfast And A Show

My friend Leppy has started a tradition this summer of Sunday mornings on the front porch. She sets up an electric kettle and a coffee pot, and she brings out good bread, butter, jams, and fruit. Stopping by there is an excellent way for me to procrastinate on my weekend To-Do list.

This morning there was drama when a young lady started yelling in the street, expressing her view that Victor should remove his overweight posterior from the house of what we could only assume was the young lady's rival for Victor's affections. A screaming discussion ensued between the young women over which one should do something anatomically impossible, which ended when Victor followed his girlfriend up the street. They made slow progress. From what I could tell, Victor wasn't enjoying being loudly berated all the way home.

My friends and I, of course, had to check out this young god who had two women yelling in the street over him. Much discussion ensued, but we never did figure out why they bothered. We appreciated the entertainment, though. Who knew breakfast could be so exciting?

I Heart Popcorn

I can't believe that after all this time I have not discussed my deep and abiding love of popcorn. It's my favorite food. (Okay, after cheese, it's my favorite food. Actually, give me cheese popcorn and we have the best of all possible worlds.)

Popcorn is the classic movie snack, of course, but it also makes a great meal replacement when I come home so exhausted that even making pasta seems like too much work. My favorite way to have it is popped on the stove with oil then drizzled with butter and seasoned with salt. Obviously, I can't eat it like that all the time or I'd be big as a house. Also, it creates a Dish Washing Situation that I am usually trying to avoid by eating popcorn, so I generally satisfy my cravings with bags of Pop Secret 94% Fat Free.

Imagine my surprise when they started making single serving bags of popcorn. In my house, the regular size bag is a single serving.