They say that a smell has the power to trigger a memory. You never know where it will happen. A stranger passes you on the street and you get a whiff of their perfume/cologne and you're immediately transported to a time and place that you haven't thought about in years. You smile at the memory of a lost loved one, a happier time in your life, or even just pause from the craziness that is life for a brief moment. No matter the memory, that smell is forever associated with it and no one can take that from you.
The same can be said for food ~ and why wouldn't it? Food is that common denominator in everything in life. It is the touch point in every family gathering, friendship story, and links our childhood to our adult lives. I challenge you not to eat a dinosaur chicken nugget and NOT think of a point in your childhood that you don't think of. So the question is, what foods bring you back to childhood?
For me could be a box of Mac & Cheese. Ripping that powdered cheese packet and mixing it with butter and milk reminds me of making it with my childhood friend in one of our kitchens. It is also hearing that they're bringing back Dunkaroo's, and remembering eating the majority of the gram cracker figures and saving the frosting for the last couple of cookies as a treat. In summertime when the smell of grilling is in the air at dusk I am immediately transported to summers anchoring with friends and family on the boat, jumping off the back, and becoming waterlogged after 12+ hours of continuous swimming. Mom would have to grab the back of our life jackets and force feed us fork-fulls of hamburgers, hotdogs, or whatever she could shove in our mouth before we jumped back in (I know I know- no eating and swimming! We had life jackets- we'd float!).
As an adult we can eat whatever we choose with very little restriction, and while its great to come up with something delicious to eat, who doesn't love an easy throwback meal? What is so wrong with making a package of hot dogs, a box of mac & cheese, and veggies (eat your veggies!) and watching Disney+? Why can't we buy a package of Dino-nuggets and eat them all? I say not a damn thing, so fire up the ol' firebox, bake those nuggies, and if you need me, I'll be in my couch fort in the living room. DM me for the password!
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