Anyone who knows me well knows of my love for Hot Tamales (the candy, not the actual Mexican food). My love of these yummy little treats has inspired my son to redesign the Hot Tamale box just for me as a Christmas present (a very fun, unique stocking stuffer, I might add--and just in case you're wondering Hot Tamales do in fact taste excellent at 7:30am as you are opening your Christmas presents), prompted friends to serve dishes of them as appetizers as well as desserts at our get togethers, and compelled my best friend to bestow upon me packages of them at random times just because she knows it'll make me smile. That's an awesome best friend, by the way, who will surprise you with your favorite candy for no reason other than she knows it'll make your day!
A few days ago, as I was standing in line at the grocery store, I spontaneously threw a pack into my cart to munch on the ride home (I know, never shop when you're hungry, but frankly that advice isn't applicable in this case, because I will eat Hot Tamales whether I am hungry or not-- they are THAT good!). I loaded my bags into the back seat, and sat down in the driver's seat to enjoy a little bit of heaven. I opened the bag (changing the packaging to a bag instead of the decades-old box was, in my opinion, a terrible mistake--Hot Tamales make this very satisfying sound when you shake the box, and when you slide them out of the box; no such luck with the new bag wrapper. Thankfully, they did not change the "movie size" packaging, so I guess I'll just have to start buying the bigger boxes gosh darnit...).
Anyway, so there I was sitting in my car with the bag ripped open and a few candies in my palm, and I realized that just the smell of the Hot Tamales made me smile. And I paused. Because I couldn't really think of any other candy that makes me smile like that. And I wanted to figure out what it was that was triggering the big stupid grin on my face.
It didn't take long.
Movies. I never really realized it before, but I associate Hot Tamales with going to the movies. When I was younger (much, much younger, like say high school), when I went to the movies I always got Hot Tamales. Always. None of that nasty Good n' Plenty, not Mike n' Ikes (a blatant rip-off of the Hot Tamales in my opinion), not Dots (what the hell kind of candy was that anyway?), not Raisinettes (really, raisins in your movie candy?). Hot Tamales. Always.
I do love to go to the movies still--love the smell of the popcorn, love getting engrossed in the stories. I do occasionally still get a big box of Hot Tamales when I'm at the movies (and I will state for the record that I think if you're going to put a bunch of candy in a box, the serving size should be the whole box. I don't care if the nutrition information says it's three servings. I'm not sharing. And I'm certainly not saving any for later).
But there was more to it than just movies. I can't name you any particular movies I saw when I was a teen that really impacted me. No, it was more about the memories of going to the movies than it was actually watching any particular show. Here's why:
When I was in high school, I shared a lot of the same friends with my older brother. We ran in the same crowd, so to speak. We took some of the same classes, both ran on the cross-country team, belonged to a lot of the same clubs. We even worked at the same store (I miss the Bagel Bin and those yummy bagels covered in salt).
And our group of friends went to the movies together. And sitting in my car, I realized that I think I love Hot Tamales so much because every time I open a bag or a box of them, my senses immediately take me back to hanging out with my big brother and remembering how much fun we had together. I can picture the lobby of the Dublin Cinema with its maroon swirly carpet. I can see the ticketing line. I can even envision the little black board with the white letters that told the ticket prices-- and I believe they were somewhere around .75 cents for a student. Wow. It's now $9.00. That's a whole other blog entry that won't have nearly the happy, nostalgic feel that this one does for me.
I guess that's what my Hot Tamale fancy is-- just a happy, nostalgic reminiscence of a carefree time in life when I palled around with my big bro, no cares in the world.
It got me to thinking about other foods that cause that same visceral reaction. I came up with a few:
Butter Rum Lifesavers: more happy childhood memories
Peppermint Lifesavers: actually, it was Cryst-O-Mint at the time, but they don't make those anymore. Peppermint Lifesavers will still cause me to remember the smell of Pop Pop's wooly sweater (my grandfather).
Reed's Cinnamon or Root Beer candies: haven't had these in a while now, but they always reminded me of going to the symphony with my parents because my mom always had them in her purse.
Hostess HoHo's: immediately takes me back to sitting in the back of my best friend's mom's van and eating entire boxes of them in one sitting--good times!
Grapefruit Soda: Hansen's makes a nice grapefruit soda that makes me feel like I'm a little kid again, standing in the kitchen of our first house on Bonita Avenue and stealing a little swig out of the green bottle of Cragmont Grapefruit Soda.
Sourdough bread with a hunk of cheddar cheese and some salami, washed down with a full-sugar can of Dr. Pepper : this is perhaps my favorite thing to eat of all time (although I do the diet Dr. Pepper these days) and I know exactly why. I have so many memories of going to Carmel with my family, and each time we went we would go to the deli up on the corner of Ocean Avenue, the Mediterranean Market, and each of us kids would get to pick out a can of soda to go with the picnic lunch my parents would get. We would take all the food out to Point Lobos Park, and we would sit on the rocks and eat bread and cheese while watching the sea otters in the surf. I remember going there with my family, with Gaga (my grandmother), and with my great aunt and uncle at various times. And always the same lunch. It just makes me smile thinking about it.
I'm starting to see a pattern emerge here. Perhaps I need to reassess my eating habits. Maybe I need to dig a bit deeper and see if I can find some amazing childhood memory involving broccoli or apples.
But you know what? Memories are a big part of who you are, and you will never convince me that bread, cheese and salami are anything but good for me!
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