Home, Sweet Home

You always miss home, but sometimes, you miss something FROM home and there is nothing that can satisfy that yearning.

This happens because there are certain things that just can NOT be properly replicated.  And when faced with the choice of the replicated item or nothing....  I choose nothing....  at least a couple of  items.

Anderson Erickson Dairy's mascots

The first item is Anderson Erickson cottage cheese, which is manufactured in Des Moines, Iowa.   I would rather choose a salad then have another brand of cottage cheese.   Which really sucks because I really LIKE cottage cheese...  at least I like AE's cottage cheese.  And when I finally have the opportunity to get my hands on AE cottage cheese, I could literally eat a carton a day until I have had my fill.

AE dips are also amazing but I do now and then break down and try other brands.  I don't think I have actually bought another brand in the last 4-5 years though.  I spoke with a representative of AE and they assured me that the full shelf life of dip is about 45 days so it was something I could take with me and still have time to eat it before its expiration!  But don't freeze it.  (the taste and quality doesn't change with the freeze, but the consistency does)

Reames egg noodles, also manufactured in Des Moines, Iowa, is another thing that other companies can not seem to replicate.  Oh, you can get the "shelf" pasta, which we do, but the frozen egg noodles are only purchased when we find Reames.

And happy day!!  Hubster found a single bag of Reames egg noodles in our Phoenix Walmart, of all places....  he snapped it up, hurried home, and in a flash (meaning several hours), we had beef and noodles over mashed potatoes.... and all was right with our world, at least while our tummies were full.

There are a lot of other items I could list that can not be fully replicated but my need and/or taste for these items have overcome and allowed substitutes to suffice....  A partial list would most certainly include

• Graziano's Sausage
• Fareway's Tenderloins
• Grimes's sweet corn
• Aunt Hester's strawberries
• MaidRites

May you be surprised with a pleasant memory of home.