Eating Differences…

Johnny-on-on-the-Spot … by John Foster …

The other day, our older daughter and her hubby dropped in to watch some football and wife Geneva served up chicken and noodles and mashed potatoes.

The three of them put mashed potatoes in a bowl and ladled the chicken and noodles on top.

I caught grief because I had a separate bowl of chicken and noodles plus another with my mashed potatoes topped with a generous portion of butter.

I’ve tried my mashed taters topped with chicken and noodles before but I simply prefer to keep them separate.

My wife and daughter gave me a fair amount of grief over my choice.

But I also like my bowl of Bran Flakes soggy.

I’ll pour out a bowl and let it soak in the milk for several minutes.

It becomes a mushy mess of sorts but with just a dash of sugar, I find that quite tasty.

Often times I’ll have it with what my sister Jeanne used to call a “sick, sick sandwich”.

My Dad would spread butter on a slice of bread and then top it with the peanut butter.

But some people also find me strange when I tell them I’m nota big fan of “PB & J”.

I prefer peanut butter all by itself on the bread.

Now, we freeze extra loaves of bread and when it’s time to get out a new loaf, one of my favorite treats is a “frozen bread peanut butter sandwich”.

Back to cereals.

Now, I like to eat most of my other “flakey” varieties shortly after the milk is applied.

But not my Bran Flakes!

I have a dear friend who likes to bury his cereal in banana slices.

I’ve never been much of a fan for cereal topped with fruit.

My wife likes that Special K with the dehydrated strawberries and I think they have the consistency of of blood clots.

Obviously not my number 1 choice at breakfast time.

A question regarding waffles.

Is it required that you get butter into each square or triangle of a waffle before you pour on the syrup?

Same thing with pancakes or French toast.

Maple syrup with some butter “gingerly” applied.

No fruit toppings for me.

However, when I was a young lad developing my tastes for foods, I would spread jelly on my French toast and melted butter on my pancakes.

That sounds pretty weird to me now.

How could I not like maple syrup?

Did you know that you’re supposed to “age out” when it comes to hot dogs with ketchup (catsup)?

There’s a group of people who say you should only put catsup (ketchup) on your hot dog if you’re 12 or younger.

I like mustard on my hot dogs and brats and in my opinion, neither one is totally edible unless there are some charred skin involved.

When I was going to school in Columbus, Ohio back in the day when the Earth was still cooling, there was an F.W. Woolworth’s nearby with a lunch counter and they always buttered and browned their hot dog buns before stuffing the meat within.

Quite tasty!

By the way, is it a dining “faux pas” to cut a hotdog in two and then slice the halves length-wise so you can east it on a hamburger bun?

Just asking for a friend.

I also used to work part-time at a radio station in Columbus, Ohio and, on Friday night’s, the crew at the local Manner’s Big Boy would bring their leftover burgers and fries to the station after midnight.

Even lukewarm or tepid, it always tasted so good, probably because it was free.

You know what else I really like?

In the military, we called it “S-O-S” but it was actually chipped beef with a creamy gravy and you would ladle it on toast.

I also like corned beef hash.

Most of the rest of my family aren’t big fans of that at breakfast.

Then, on New Year’s Day, a big pot of sauerkraut cooking over a pork roast is my standard meal for celebrating the new year.

To celebrate the New Year, my Mother always did a big pan of “pigs-in-the-blankets” which was ground sausage and beef with rice wrapped in cabbage leaves and then simmered beneath sauerkraut.

That’s a special aroma on a cold day.

That aroma reminds me of my childhood days when our European neighbors would do kraut or goulash and the aroma would waft through the air.

Outside of New Year’s Day, about the only other time I have sauerkraut is to drop some on a well-done bratwurst.

And, to think, there was a time I didn’t like maple syrup on my pancakes.