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Sue Spitulnik

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Make it Yourself

It’s National Pack Your Lunch Day. I get up every workday morning the same time as my husband and make a fresh salad for him to take for lunch. I put the homemade dressing on sparingly so it’s only a little soggy by the time he gets to it six hours later. His favorite topping is tunafish. Some of his work-mates have asked if I would make them one….we laugh as we imagine me with a list of each individual’s desires as my own children don’t eat what my husband likes, namely, the hot peppers, radishes, olives, and Asiago cheese. Sometimes, I make two, so there is one for me also.

When I was a kid, I envied my classmates that brought their lunch to school. My mother insisted we eat the hot lunch the school provided, for a fee of course. Now that I think back, most kids brought a sandwich, chips, and maybe some fruit. Back then I thought that was fine. Today I wouldn’t. You would more likely find me with a leftover piece of meat and some cold cooked vegetables, or even a dish of cold spaghetti.

My daughter is a body builder and she runs around with the ever-present snap-top container of chicken, brown rice, and broccoli. It has been cooked with some seasonings added, but she eats it cold, often with her fingers. I’m not impressed with watching the process, but her headaches are gone, she feels good, and she looks even better. I admire her stick-to-itiveness.

A couple of interesting facts from the calendar;   Mickey Mouse was the first licensed character to appear on a lunchbox in 1935.  The 1950 Hopalong Cassidy lunchbox was the first one based on a television show.

I also remember back in grade school the “rich” kids had metal lunch boxes with a thermos included, the “poor” kids carried brown bags.

While I was still working, I often stuck a container of food in my purse. One day it leaked. What a mess. The next day my boss brought me an insulated bag with a cat on it. I am still using it. And now, with the gluten-free days, I am taking my lunch more often than not. Van’s gluten free waffles make a great hamburger bun, with a bit of ketchup and mayo, hold the maple syrup.

What did you say you packed for lunch today?

 

 

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Real Maple Syrup

It’s National Pancake Day. IHOP restaurants began National Pancake Day in 2006.  Since that day, they have raised $24 million for charities.  On March 7th, 2017 people from around the country will once again celebrate National Pancake Day at IHOP restaurants and enjoy free pancakes. Guests are asked to consider leaving a donation.

I imagine the lines are long today at IHOP. Anytime anything “free” is involved that’s the way it goes. That’s all right. The gimmick behind this offer is beneficial to a lot of charities, hence a lot of people get help from other people’s donations. That’s a good thing in my mind.

One of the local products of New York state goes very well with pancakes. It’s real Maple Syrup. The maple trees have been tapped for a few weeks now, and there are restaurants that serve pancakes and fresh maple syrup only during the syrup making season. The lines are very long to get a table, but the wait is worth it.

If you’ve never seen, or learned about the process of making fresh maple syrup, I urge you to look it up and share it with the children in your life. It’s fascinating that a liquid drawn from a maple tree, can be cooked down into a super sugary syrup. It’s a long, slow, meticulous process so the syrup doesn’t burn and get ruined. The finished product is a favorite of mine.

If you’ve a mind to have pancakes today, I suggest you brave the lines at IHOP and donate a bit to help your fellow humans. Thank you.

 

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Sub/Hoagie/Po-boy

It’s National Cold Cut Day. It’s interesting how the human mind works. I looked at the list of today’s subjects very early, then later, told my husband I wanted a submarine sandwich for supper. In upstate New York that is the name for a foot-long sandwich filled with cold-cuts, lettuce, tomato, onion, and mayonnaise, or oil. Of course other things like pickles, peppers and olives can be added also. And, it might be slathered with mustard too.

Across the U.S. this sandwich has different names. It’s interesting how food names are colloquial, just like slang and how one drinks tea. It proves what a big country the United States is.

When I was a kid I lived across the street from a small grocery store. They sold cold-cuts. It was a treat to have a bologna or hard salami sandwich. My aunt and I liked to have liverwurst with mustard. The liverwurst back then was mushy and spreadable with a knife. When I buy it these days, it always seems to be dry and flavorless. They just don’t make things like they used to.

I miss the old days when kids and adults alike spent time outside, there weren’t so many rules about what food was made out of, it actually spoiled if not eaten in a timely manner and eating over-processed cold-cuts wasn’t such a big no-no. Of course, they weren’t so over-processed back then, and we exercised off the ill effects. And now I’m attempting gluten-free too, so there goes a good bread roll. It might just be the day to throw caution to the wind and have an oily, cold-cut stuffed, extra onion, submarine sandwich. I can already taste it.

 

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The National Day of Calendar tells me that Alfredo di Lelio created fettuccine alfredo for his wife when she had no appetite after having their first child. It says it was noodles, cheese and butter. Yum. There is a recipe you can click on, so I did. To my dismay it was made with store-bought jars of sauce. Not in my kitchen! I’ll make mine from scratch, thank you, so much less salt that way! And adding cream is a must. If one is going to eat alfredo sauce, it might as well be the best it can be. You can always add some chicken and vegetables to make yourself think of it as a more healthy meal.

About thirty years ago, my daughter and I went to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada for the day. Back in the days you didn’t need a passport to cross the border. I don’t remember what the reason for our trip was, but when we came back across the border, the guard asked us if we had bought anything during our stay. I’m way too honest a person; fearing he would tell me I couldn’t take it into the states, I answered, “We have leftover Fettuccine Alfredo in a to-go box.” He got this serious look on his face and asked from which restaurant. I told him, Mama Mia’s. He got a big grin and said something to the effect of, “At least you knew where to get the best. Have a good day.” We are still talking about his comment.

I just looked up on Trip Advisor to find out if Mama Mia’s is still open. It is, but the reviews weren’t all that favorable. Still, I would go back just for the good memory. My daughter is now 42 and she does have a passport. Maybe we should go for a ride and have Fettuccine Alfredo for lunch one more time.

 

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Cheese Please

It’s National Cheese Lover’s Day. The information for this day says there are over 1400 different types of cheese. Wow! I would have never guessed that. Maybe I should pay closer attention the next time I walk through the cheese section at the grocery store. (Wegman’s, here in western New York state! Lucky me!)

My taste buds were imagining a Swiss and mushroom omelet for breakfast,  the American toasted cheese sandwich for lunch (with tomato soup), and the baked Brie and raspberry jam that the neighbor serves when we play cards. I use blue cheese,  Asiago, or 5 year aged extra sharp cheddar each morning when I make my husband’s salad that he takes to work for lunch. Cheese can enhance any meal, any time of day.

Next time you get to peruse a salad bar, check out the number of cheeses, and don’t forget the cottage cheese that is sometimes in with the desserts. So many cheeses, so little time. I think I need a snack.

 

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Popcorn!

Popcorn started becoming popular in the United States in the middle 1800s. It wasn’t until Charles Cretors, a candy-store owner, developed a machine for popping corn with steam that the tasty treat became more abundantly poppable. By 1900 he had horse-drawn popcorn wagons going through the streets of Chicago.

About the same time, Louise Ruckheim added peanuts and molasses to popcorn to bring Cracker Jack to the world.  The national anthem of baseball was born in 1908 when Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer wrote Take Me out to the Ballgame. From that point onward, popcorn, specifically Cracker Jack, became forever married to the game.

I included the above from the National Day of Calendar because I didn’t know popcorn had such a history or how long Cracker Jacks have been popular. I can’t imagine popcorn being sold out of horse-drawn wagons. I mean I can see it, but it seems the popcorn would be stale. Perhaps I am wrong.

I love popcorn. Whenever my husband isn’t home for supper, that is what I usually have. I watch a movie I know he wouldn’t care for, and eat a big bowl of popcorn. It makes the evening all my own. The cat even has to have a piece to lick the salt off of.

Years back my son had a yellow lab and a French Mastiff. He and his girl would babysit for two Bull Mastiffs. When there was a bowl of popcorn made, the dogs would sit in a line, like dutiful students, and wait their turn for one piece of popcorn as it was thrown to them. The dogs were as big as his girlfriend, so it was comical to see them be so well-behaved and patient. We all wanted a turn at being the thrower.

A string of popcorn used to be an adornment for our Christmas tree when I was little. When we took all the other decorations off, the popcorn stayed. We would then stand the tree up in the back yard and the birds would eat the popcorn. They never seemed to mind if it was stale.

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