i was out at the weirdest breakfast restaurant with my friend Betsy last sunday. it was called "Tommy's Hamhouse" (yep, i'm officially in the South) and it was odd: it was right across the parking lot from a Baptist Church, and inside was alarmingly reminiscent of a cafeteria/huge church potluck/spaghetti feed. there were booths, yes, just like a regular restaurant, but the entire middle of the restaurant just had long plastic tables and those metal chairs with the vinyl seats added. the restaurant was so popular that they needed to add it. here's senator DeMint hangin out with the owner. check out the background. oh, and that guy is Tommy, as in Tommy's Ham House.
phenomenal. my gut reaction was to first look for the fried chicken my pastor would always bring (and of course they had fried chicken) and then run to the dessert table to check out the peanut butter bars that blanche used to make and what type of Jell-O would be served.
i was describing this to Betsy and she mentioned to me that Jell-O is just not a popular dessert/side dish item in the South. in the summer she said that it melts to easy, which i understand. what i could not understand is that she was unaware that you can put just about anything into Jell-O. i explained the cranberry-orange Jell-O mold that my mom would make for Thanksgiving for a few years (by the way, where did that disappear to, Mom? it was a fan favorite) and the church ladies who would match the vegetables/fruit to the color of Jell-O served. while i still won't eat Jell-O with vegetables in it, you really can't go wrong with strawberries and sprite in Jell-O. holy crap that's good.
and Brelin, she was mortified when i told her the mayonnaise in the green Jell-O mold story from your childhood. she said something to the effect of, "GodA'Mighty that's just unnatural."
i got home from Greenville last weekend and needed to go to the store. i made a bee-line to the Jell-O: sugar free, only 10 calories. i moved out of my apartment in seneca yesterday and ate three cups in rapid succession, guilt-free and blissful.
unfortunately though, it was red, for pentecost. i just can't bring myself to eat grape Jell-O.
2 comments:
i love that you have a photo of tommy and the senator. did you have ham? because i think you should've.
my mom always made the green jell-o with cottage cheese, pineapple and walnuts to bring to church stuff, and then about five other ladies had made that kind too. I guess the south is not like the midwest...
Post a Comment