Hamburgers and Road Trips

This week I was proposed the question to close my eyes and attempt to remember my earliest food memory. I thought at first the question was random and stupid but as I closed my eyes, I began to remember great meals I had eaten. I remembered Julia and I's first meal as a married couple, bar-b-que, though, we couldn't find the sauce, so the meat was very dry. I remembered being at LU at 1:00 in the morning and ordering a thin crust pepperoni pizza with my roommate, or going to Buffalo Wild Wings with my prayer group. I remembered being in Brazil and ordering fish, only to have the ENTIRE fish come to me on a plate, face and all. I also remember eating cow tongue (it is hairy) and eating so much meat that the next day I had meat sweats in the hot sun. I can still taste the spicy curry and hot tea from India which I ate and drank in 125 degree weather. I remembered my mom's mystery meat and noodles after track practice or her Poppy Seed Chicken which still makes my mouth water even as I type these words. I remembered KFC on Christmas Eve and Dunkin Doughnuts on Christmas. Yes, I have eaten a lot of great meals!

However...

My earliest food memory would have to be a good old fashioned hamburger. You know the kind which you can barely wrap two hands around and comes with a toothpick stuck in the center. The type of hamburger which drips grease all down your shirt as you are eating. Medium rare with onion, cheese, mayo, ketchup and a Dill pickle on top. That's what I remember! In order to fully appreciate my memory you have to know that growing up my family was health conscious. In the house we never had a "real" hamburger it was always turkey burgers. Whoever thought this was a good idea was severely mistaken! The ONLY time I have had a real hamburger was when we would take a family trip to Florida, New Hampshire, Texas, etc and we would stop at a restaurant for dinner. ALWAYS dinner! If you thought as a child we would stop at a fast food restaurant for lunch you would have been mistaken, because my mom always made sandwiches. You had to look forward in anticipation for dinner, when your taste buds would leap for joy to taste a hamburger. Dinner on a road trip was when you could enjoy a hearty, delicious cow.

I found though as I remembered the food I have eaten over the course of my life, what I remember most were the people I ate the meal with. I remember the road trips more then I remember the restaurants or the destinations. Looking back, I can remember getting up real early in the morning before the sun, climbing into a car and driving. I would always sit behind the passenger seat, my sister in the middle, and my brother behind the drivers seat. We ALWAYS sat in this order, we were worse then Baptists in church on Sunday. There was something comforting and cosy about all being in the car, no where to go but the open road. I can remember in the car my mom playing with Baby Nicki and Pez dispensers. I can remember my sister falling asleep next to me with her mouth wide open or my brother listening to his headphones for hours on end. I remember my mom always packing my dad lifesavers, knowing by this little action how much my mom loved my dad. I also, remember, my love for reading being birthed on these trips as I would spend those hours in the car with my nose in a book. Looking back it is not so much the grease filled burger I remember but rather the family car rides which have left the greatest memory. I hope one day to build a love for hamburgers and road trips like my parents built in me.