Food…it is a necessity for most people.
Moms, especially ones of newborns and babies, can kind of forget about it easily. Or at least I can. So many times it will be 1:00 or 2:00 pm and I will realize…oh I haven’t eaten lunch (and possibly even breakfast).
This is what happened recently while I was grocery shopping, which is kind of like the carnal sin of grocery shopping: MUST NOT SHOP HUNGRY!
So there I am strolling the isles of our expensive, gourmet store when I remember they have this great grab & go section with my favorite garden salad. Really it is the dressing (lemon garlic vinaigrette) that makes me crave the salad. So I grab that to eat later at home and then it happens…my three-year-old son sees the gelato counter and asks for ice cream. UGH!
Now, it is HOT….darn hot! And we’ve been getting sno cones nearly every other day and his father has quite the sweet tooth and will eat ice cream at home pretty often as well. I, on the other hand, do not really have much of a sweet tooth except for a few distinct flavors. So I obliged my little tyrant and strolled over to the gelato counter and order my son the coolest little push pop of mango gelato (GENIUS!) and that is when I saw “PINK GRAPEFRUIT” lighted up like the Holy Grail. Grapefruit flavored anything is something you either love or hate and it is hard to really get an authentic flavor without making it taste too bitter or over processed. I asked for a taste of the pink grapefruit gelato and it delivered!
I was time warped back to my youth when a friend would send my mom & I ‘Just Picked’ Texas grapefruit annually for Christmas. They would come packed with special paper so they wouldn’t shift during mailing and the box was brightly colored, sending a ray of sunshine on a cold, dim winter day. When you opened the box you were accosted with the subtle but oh so sweet citrus smell of grapefruit. They were light yellow on the outside and this bright ruby red inside that was juicy and filled your taste buds with sweet, tangy citrus that made you pucker but smile at the same time.
Then I’m time smacked back to reality of a three-year-old requesting to taste it and a baby on my back grabbing at the spoon because she wanted a taste too. So of course, I had to get myself a cup and that ended up being my lunch as we checked out and packed up the car. And the whole time I was back with my mom, with my side pony tail and my big pink & purple framed glasses and my neon paint splattered shirt eating grapefruit with sugar sprinkled on it on Christmas day…..
Are there any foods/flavors that can time warp you back to a different time & place? What other senses have that affect on you?
