It is Memorial Day weekend. I hope that you each and all have a safe and happy one. The weather in my neck of the woods is a bit cool for May, which has spoiled at least one picnic which I know of and no doubt will ruin several others. I don’t do picnics, which makes me a Memorial Day grinch of sorts. My wife, who is a closet germophobic, sees nothing inconsistent between her need to have GermX, wet wipes, and Puffs Plus within arms reach at all times, and her ability to eat potato salad that has sat out for hours in eighty degree weather on a picnic table that a Canadian goose nestled to its nether-regions but a few hours before. Different strokes. For me, the closest I get to a picnic is lunch on a French Quarter balcony. The emphasis on food, however, got me thinking about foods which inspire. Some time ago at this spot I wrote about what beverages aided the creative process. Coffee occupied six of the first five spots on my list. But foods? What foods feed the creative muse?
For me, it’s apples and bananas and peanut butter: fruit cut into sections, with peanut butter — Planter’s smooth, if you would be so kind — dolloped onto each piece. Three pieces of each, no more, no less. It’s a jump starter, and I don’t know why, I don’t even recall when I first acquired the habit. But it works. How goes with it with you? Are there any foods, or combination thereof, which jumpstart your inspiration? Or does fasting starvation do the trick? Either way, enjoy the weekend and the holiday.
Nachos, tortilla chips, or crispy rice crackers. Super crunchy noisy stuff like those, with only a little salt, and maybe a bit of melted cheese. I think it is the sound of the chewing that sets a rhythm to which I can keep pace. Those and an ice cold glass of slightly sweet Assam tea get my creative juices flowing fast.
In the distant past I would’ve included my former room mate Andy’s special mushroom pizza in the list but after the coffee table started complaining that lamp stand was staring, and the couch told the love seat he wanted to break off the relationship we wondered if we should really be using those mushrooms that grew behind the shed on our pizza.
The real kicker came when the end table revealed he was a double agent, and that the coat rack was actually a KGB colonel in disguise. The coat rack denied the charge vehemently, but its Russian accent gave it away.
Basil, those must be very special mushrooms! Waiter, if you would please, could I have two of whatever that gentleman is eating?
Have a great and safe holiday!
I used to stoke up on caffeine and anything that was high in carbohydrates. Now after losing almost 50 pounds I find a mixture of green tea and fresh fruit keeps my energy flowing.
Thanks for sharing the formula, Peter…one thing though…you know that fifty pounds you lost? I found ’em!
Coffee. I live in Seattle. It would be some short of treason if it wasn’t coffee.
Seriously, I was just diagnosed as mildly diabetic, so all my eating has been turned on its ear. If you haven’t checked with your doctor lately, please do.
Brian, a lifelong friend of mine was just last week — at age 67 — hospitalized with diabetes. He went to one of those mobile screening things and they sent him right to the ER. He’s not having a lot of fun at the moment. Thanks for the advice, though I probably won’t follow it, to my regret.
Yes, coffee, but with chocolate. Dark chocolate. Mash potatoes covered with roasted onions plus fried chicken covered with a plate and fried under pressure of a pan full of water (called Tabaco chicken in Russian) or special Moldovan soup called Zama, always do the trick as well.
I want to read the book that results from that feast, Victoria! If it’s half as good as the menu sounds you’ll it’ll be at the top of the best sellers’ list.
A nice glass of pinot noir or Sancerre is good. But before 5 p.m., it’s strictly Gummy Bears and those big lollipops with bubble gum inside. (I buy them in bulk).
It’s a wonder I have any teeth left.
Kris, I am given to understand that it is always five o’clock somewhere. I’m not a Gummy or lollypop guy, but Jelly Bellys don’t last too long around here, regardless of the season.
Kris,
How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie-roll tootsie pop?
Wha-Huhn!
Two-Hoo!
Thu-rhee- CRUNCH!!!
Three!
Three licks to get to the center of a tootsie roll toostie pop…or a really tight thriller scene…
Joe–
If I ate while writing, I’d be wresting from you those fifty pounds. But doing something while writing is necessary, as a counterweight to being sedentary. That’s why, twenty years after quitting, I still deeply miss smoking. For me as a writer, everything went better with cigarets. Now, it’s coffee, and the heartburn that goes with it.
Barry, I quit drinking over twenty years ago and in the intervening time I’ve had a number of conversations with addicts of various stripes. All agree that while they were able to quit drinking, drugs, gambling, etc. with varying degrees of difficulty, the one addiction that was most difficult — if they could overcome it successfully at all — was smoking. Keep up the good work.
Caffeine and carbo’s help me get going for writing. For everything else, there is the forbidden stuff!
Kathryn, I am intrigued…maybe someday you will share with us precisely what that forbidden stuff might be.
Safe journeys to you…
I don’t eat while I write, except a small snack of roasted almonds and bottled water. Happy holiday, Joe. I like your idea of a picnic on a French Quarter balcony. I smell the Beignets and chickory coffee now.
And Happy Memorial Day to you, Jordan! I envy you being so close (relatively) to the source. If you get the chance, enjoy.
Oh, do I miss the Beignets! Probably if I went to New Orleans I would break my new diet and charge right over to the Café Du Monde. At 71 I’ve discovered the joy of cigars – outside on the deck, of course – along with some locally roasted coffee.
Jim, if your new diet denies you beignets you need a new doctor. Beignets are considered one of the four basic food groups in New Orleans. When you’re there, “diet” means stopping at one plateful. Maybe two.
My secret vice is M&Ms. Chocolate works for me.