Let me begin by saying, it happens only once in a blue moon, but when it does it brings back a host of memories from long ago. I've heard that a grilled cheese sandwich with a bowl of tomato basil soup falls into the category of comfort food. Maybe that is right, but you can also add fried squash to a short list of homemade delicacies that trigger memories from the past for me.
Almost with a sense of reverence, I'd suggest that you can also include homemade apricot fried pies to things that take me back to my childhood and fill me with delight (pardon the pun).
As newlyweds, my paternal grandparents would often stop to see us when they made their way westward from Forestburg to Odessa to visit my parents. I guess that when you retire and go back to live on the family farm, it stands to reason that you'd have a garden. Granddaddy prided himself on his ability to grow anything.
Okra and squash were two of the home-grown items they always left with us. At times, we almost made a meal of the two fried together. How did we ever subsequently reach a place where fried anything was seen as a death warrant?
In today's world, everyone now knows that fried foods are high in saturated and trans fats, which are known to increase blood cholesterol levels and damage the walls of your arteries. These damaged areas in your blood vessels eventually develop plaque, narrowing the artery and making it harder to pump blood.
My grandparents all lived into their nineties, and I can assure you that fried anything was a regular menu item. Of course, they grew what they ate and that may have contributed to their longevity. We are killing ourselves with pesticides, or so I'm told.
Several years ago, the general opted for a raised garden one summer. Hers wasn't the magic touch and if we were dependent on what she grew as a staple item, we would have starved to death. She had the good sense to start small, and the garden was limited to tomatoes.
I can't truthfully say that she gave a name to each tomato, but she may have. You would have thought she was in a contest to gain a reputation as the lady with the green thumb. The truth of the matter, when it came to her tomato crop, it was slim pickings.
That's not to be confused with Louis Burton Lindley Jr., better known by his stage name Slim Pickens. He was an American actor and rodeo performer. Starting off in the rodeo, Pickens transitioned to acting, and appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows. For much of his career, Pickens played mainly cowboy roles. He died at the age of 64. Whether his death was related to hardening of the arteries from eating fried foods, I do not know.
They say that delayed gratification is a sign of maturity, but when it comes to having fried squash at dinner, the delicacy never makes it to the dinner table. As a family we huddle together like a flock of vultures around the cookstove and pick up each morsel with our fingers as it comes out of the frying pan.
Hey, I'm the guy that eats pizza with a fork. My grandchildren think I'm weird. I can't remember the last time I ate fried squash with a fork. I always use my fingers as I huddle with other family members around the stove for the fried squash that always serves as an appetizer.
All My Best!
Don
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