I’m fascinated by the Food Network Show – "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives". If you haven’t seen it – Guy Fieri travels around the country visiting local restaurants and sampling their specialties. Now, I’m not talking about the 5 Star restaurants that we read about in Gourmet Magazine or the fashionable eating establishments across the United States frequented by celebrities. I’m talking about the Mom and Pop restaurants – those “greasy spoons” that are locally known for their mouthwatering entrees and side dishes. They are a place where, I believe, the phrase “comfort food” was coined. Guy observes as the cook (usually the owner) whips up his or her famous house specialty for him to sample. After he oohs and aahs over the delectable creation that has been prepared, he meanders through the restaurant interviewing “the regulars” as they sing the praises of the restaurant and its owner(s). The restaurant may be small, simply decorated and old-fashioned or outdated in décor yet the patrons seem to relish the fact that they always feel welcome and that they look forward to ordering their favorites from a menu that never changes.
I’m not sure why I love this show. Maybe it’s because it takes me back to some special eating establishments from my childhood. The “B&K Restaurant” on 7th Street was a favorite restaurant of our family. I always ordered the Meatloaf Dinner – and it was DELICIOUS. While we were waiting for the waitress to bring our meal, my dad would let us put a quarter in the tableside jukebox and we could pick three songs. I’m not sure if the B&K would qualify as a diner or a dive – but either way we loved it and when I think about it, it always brings back fond memories.
As for drive-ins, we loved to frequent the “Dog ‘N Suds”. On a hot summer evening my parents would load us up in the station wagon and head to the drive-in on West State Street. My mom, dad and three brothers ordered a root beer and I ordered an orange drink (I didn’t like root beer). We just loved the way the carhop delivered our order right to our car and hooked the heavy tray to the car window. Amazingly, it NEVER fell off and the window stayed intact! Somehow the sweltering heat of an August night just didn’t seem as stifling when we were sitting in the car at the Dog ‘n Suds drinking a root beer or an orange drink!
OR – maybe it could be that “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” takes me back to a place where I could basically eat anything I wanted – and I never worried about the calories or the cholesterol or the fat content or the sodium content or the carbohydrates or the sugar content. If I liked it – I ate it. If I wanted more – I ate more. (That philosophy eventually did catch up with me in a negative way as the years passed…but I’ll postpone that for another blog entry.)
Even more, however, I think the show rekindles memories of such simple yet special times in my life. When I watch Guy visit the “Big Star Diner” and eat their “Big Star Meatloaf” or hear the patrons of Ruth’s Diner sing praises about “Grandma Claire’s Macaroni and Cheese” it just makes me happy (and hungry). It’s always fun to go back in time and reminisce. The ability to recall helps us realize that things that didn’t really seem to matter at the time, do indeed matter. I think this quote from a favorite TV show says it all: “Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.” (…from the television show The Wonder Years)
As for our involvement with Project Linus, when we make a blanket for a child we offer that child a good memory to physically "hold on to" in spite of the negative circumstances which surround him or her at the time. We know that Illness or trauma in the life of a child can be devastating, but the hug of a blanket can somehow buffer the agony. Eventually, the hug of that blanket can actually rekindle a positive remembrance which somehow softens the details of a nightmarish experience. Thank you for your help in making these good memories!
Well, I'm ready for dinner...meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans sure sound good! But I think I'll go with the broiled cod - that sounds good too!
Happy Blanketmaking!
Mary
