Andrew Griffin
2/8/16
Dr. Lee Food Memoir She handed me a yellow piece paper. Crumbled up and then flattened-out again, folded every which way with blue lines now faded from all the wear and tear. On it, looked like what I can only describe as chicken scratch, in two different colored ink and even pencil marking hieroglyphs. “Andrew I need you to get everything on this list as soon as possible so go right now” she said as she frantically loads more potatoes into the oven. “Mom, the party start in like three hour and this list isn’t even in English”. She puts down the avocado she was hastily gutting like a fish and snatches the list from my hand and begins rambling off indigents ranging I have never heard off as I smash my fingers into my phone’s keyboard in a panic to copy them as these key items would not be repeated. “Mom I have no idea what a leek even looks like” I say to her bewildered at the task at hand “Andrew I don’t have time for this just go now and find them” she says as she slices a cucumber. My mother’s cooking is different in the sense that there is not a rhyme or reason for what is made. From Monday’s Homestyle chicken coated in cornflakes from top to bottom for a savor crunch in every bite dipped in country gravy to Tuesday’s mouthwatering ribs that we tear at like carnivorous beast with our hands and mouths thrashing at the meat till only bones remain, one can never guess or understand the high order or power of my mother cooking process. I like a good hearty meal but my mother’s quiche is so sublime it makes me question why I eat other foods. Now back to the task at hand. I grab my keys and am off to the supermarket. I enter the store and abruptly realize why I was sent to the store. A sea of people walk in unison throughout the store. Who knew the store would be so crowded three hours before the Super-bowl starts.
I pace up and down the aisle looking for items on the newly crafted list on my phone. Spinach, hot dog buns, tomatoes and cupcake frosting “what does she need all this for” I mutter to myself as I sit on line behind people with shopping carts full of goods. I finally arrive home and hand-off all the recently purchased goods to the master-worker. She looks at groceries as professor of theoretical physics would stare at an unsolvable problem, and then, goes to work. Spinach dip, quiche, clam, pigs in a blanket, onion casserole, mini sliders, corn bread, tacos, wings, french fries and potatoes skins. All come together in a symphony of flavor come flying out of the kitchen and the smells give off a mind-boggling aroma, all for a simple cause, the enjoyment of football. Football and food. What a great combination that should be praised in the heavens. The food, the company and the entertainment combine to create a perfect event.