I have a weird relationship with food. I need to desperately change that relationship. When I do...and I do so often, I end up cheating on the good relationship with all the "bad boys" that tempt me.
Food and what it means, not just how it tastes has a weird power over me..... take my upcoming trip to Mad City.....every planned event.... involves a meal.... Lunch in Milwaukee....off to Mad Town, dinner with my brother.... plans of a solitary breakfast at some impossibly decadent place of my youth ( I have no idea what the name of that place was, or even where it was.... I was 21 and heavily hung over ...I remember that much). Lunch at the Farmers market on Saturday..... maybe to Sunday Brunch in Hartford and then end with a late lunch in Milwaukee with the B's.... all social events I am anxiously awaiting. Now there is no reason that lunches cannot consist of salad and grilled chicken breast.... but somehow pasta and real Wisconsin Brats sound even better.
I even looked to see if my trip coincided with the Sheboygan Brat days.... that is a trip I would have made. Interesting thing about that, I remember the family venture to brat days.... Stomp and the Boy scouts even marched in the parade one year....my annual visit and camping trip with Ruth and Jack began or ended with Brat days.... yet the web site tells the story of its beginnings in 1953 and coming to an end 13 years later. That means 1966... I was ten....WOW.... I vividly remember the grills in Kiwanis park covered end to end row after row of steaming delicious bad for you brats.... the Crusty hard rolls ....and yes even at ten...the beer. My uncles and cousins all manned the grills at various points. I was so proud of them.... the grillers.... and they belonged to me. I remember my dad.... white shirt, black pants...pulled up over his belly.... the Fromm who left Sheboygan returning to an afternoon with his brothers and sisters and their families ( yes I remember family picnics of over 75 people). Brat days still bring a smile to my face.... alas, I will be back in Oregon by August 2....
but I wander...food.... to me it is more than sustenance.... it is the social event of my day.... breakfast with hubby.... extended to include completion of the daily cross word. out with friends on a near weekly basis.... its a great way to keep busy friends connected...we all have to eat you know.... and work meals have turned into nightly social gatherings.... no one eats alone and how dare there be a crisis at 200 AM.... ( I'm kidding.... almost) . New folks are turned into fast friends over discussion of what Jay's Curry will do to your stomach.... who brings what and each individuals habits.... after years of dining with the same folks, I know which day of the week it is by what someone else ( or often in my case) what is for lunch (( Monday nights = Marie brings chili)). We share, but not really potluck style...
so why the weird relationship.... I equate food with feelings... being loved, being smothered in someways.... so when I want to feel love I eat... but what I don't understand is why does macaroni and cheese feel more loving than a healthful salad or oreos love me more than an apple. when in fact the opposite is true. Learned behavior...most agreeably... yet while mom did love us all with her cooking.... ( you got to choose your favorite meal on birthdays, scrambled eggs with real butter and whole milk on Christmas morning.... )she tried to teach me... all of us I suppose.... that grilled chicken loves you as much as fried chicken.... it just never really feels that way.
But back to those brats.... the ultimate giving of love and approval...dad making Brats on the grill.... the smell of charcoal ... the effort it took to get real Sheboygan Brats ( actually Johnsonville Brats) and Brat buns to our Milwaukee home.... now that was love at its best.
Fred gives the recipe for Brats in a Beer Spa. Mostly Dad's version with a South Florida twist ( the Spa part).
Yummmmm..time for dinner... no brats today... Tuna and Macaroni Salad with Fresh Oregon Raspberries and Vanilla Ice Cream !!!
Bon Apetit
1 comment:
We need to get Dana (or someone) to phsycho analyze the Fromm/Food relationship. I know that I can go months (last time even two years) eating "good stuff" keeping weight down, walking daily, etc. then BOOM, something happens and I am back to Brats and burgers and ribs and steak and french fries and I can't get enough, and its too hot out there to walk and then BANG 40-50 pounds gained in 4 months. Fat again.
I'll eventually get disgusted with myself and start over again. Through this whole process I am totally aware of my actions and consequences. It just doesn't seem to matter. When I am on the upside (gaining weight) I just disregard the consequences. Generally thinking "I will start tomorrow". I haven't been able to figure this out for the last 30 years.I need to get back on the downside. Tomorrow? I guess downside is really the upside. Ya Know.
Also, the spa is not a Floria twist. It is just a marketing name for the Sheboygan vesion of putting the Brats in a "pan full of beer with onions". Sex sells. If you put the naked girl brats into the spa with boy brats you get extra sizzle.
Say Hi to Aunt Mary and Wayne and Nancy and also to the B's. Salad and chicken are good. Especially 7 layer salad loaded with cheese and bacon and mayo etc, and BBQ chicken smothered in BBQ sauce or southern fried chicken, or a whole roast chicken from the Beer garden in Munich. Oh a little Caesar with a slice of overcooked dried up breast meet can be yummy. Not too much dressing!
Enjoy
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