Tammi's World

A Fish Story

When my boys were young we weren't exactly rollin' in the dough. Meals were a bit of an issue, especially since they were BOYS. For cryin' out loud - who knew they could eat so much!!

Anyway, I had to get pretty inventive when it came to making sure there was plenty of things to eat around the house.

I learned how to make my own potato chips, tortilla chips, donuts, you name it. If it wasn't an "essential" I gave it my best shot at figuring out how to make it.

My Fry Daddy was my best friend. If I were a little nervous that the kids wouldn't like something, I'd just deep fry it. It worked just about every time.

Anyway - the biggest challenge were the snacks. I needed something that didn't FEEL like "good for you food". Something the kids would eat and enjoy.

Well, one thing we always had plenty of was salmon. My ex would go down when the salmon would run and snag a truck bed full. We'd smoke a couple and fillet the majority. But I always had him chuck up at least two of those bad boys so I could freeze them. Little bite size nuggets, as it were.

So on Saturday nights, while most families were settled down together with popcorn and apples, or pie and ice cream we had us salmon bits.

I'd dredge those puppies in Drakes Crispy Fry Mix - the best EVER - and deep fry them to a perfect golden brown. Then, we'd all gather in the living room, watching movies and poppin' salmon.

Lucky for me, the kids LOVED fish, and they thought it was cool as all get out that they could eat it like popcorn. (This was 20 years ago, long before the days of "popcorn chicken" and such) For me? I just knew my babies weren't hungry.

So what brought up this inconsequential memory? Last night, as I was settlin' in for a movie and some needed down time, I realized I was hungry. Oh, not starving, but I had skipped dinner and my tummy was just less than pleased.

As I perused the pantry and fridge I realized I had no snack food to speak of. None. Hmmmm, gonna need to work on that. Oh Wait!! Fish fillets. I've got fish fillets.

No, not salmon. And no not little bites. But still........it'll work.

And it did. It was exactly right.

And in my minds eye, I could see my boys, sittin' around the living room doin' all those things that young boys do, poppin' fish and smiling at me.

And I realized, I'm starting to look back at those years and have GOOD memories. For just a minute it was a reminder that nothing is *all* bad.

And it only took me 12 years to figure that out.......

Posted by Tammi at July 22, 2007 07:46 AM | TrackBack