Tasting The Nostalgia

There are endless things I remember fondly from my childhood. The unique smell of 90's kids pajamas, the excitement of seeing the video game demos at Wal-Mart...and the impending neck pain from looking up at those screens while I played them, the endless wonder to be found at the mystical temples of Toys-R-Us and Hastings, and the subluminal programing from the government with the constant presence of the "Got Milk" signs in all our schools. All memories that instantly bring that special feeling to my heart. Now, as a gamer, I'm particularly disposed to bouts of nostalgia when I hear the "ding" of a Gameboy or an SNES, the digital chorus singing "SEEEGAAAA", or scarcely describable power of the Playstation BIOS screen loading up. These sounds were staples of my childhood and the heralds of endless adventures. But, with all these triggers I know of, the best of them all is the surprise trigger. The smell, sound, or image that pulls some sleeping titan from the hidden recesses of mind. Like what happened the other day...

Growing up, my Mother was a very talented, 90's style cook. We had hamburger helper, spaghetti, goulash, and crock pot pot roast among many other 90's staples. But, Mom always

went that step further and learned little tricks to do to personalize those meals and make them something we really looked forward to. Maybe it was adding powdered ranch dressing mix to some hamburger helper or diced up pepperoni to the spaghetti sauce, maybe it was melting butter over the top of homemade chicken pot pie or the perfect amount of liquid smoke and a slice of bacon to the green beans. Mom always knew exactly what to add to make sure her cooking always had that extra something special... We just called it mother's love.

That's something that I've learned to dislike as an adult. Back in the glorious 90's we had ingredients like "Mother's Love", "Zing", "Special", and "Comfort". Now, it seems we've all broken it

down and made everything so systemized that the magic is all gone. If you serve me a bowl of beef stew and tell me it's got a lot of umami flavors, I know what it means, but I still prefer a bowl of beef stew that has something "special" like it was cooked with "Mother's Love." Maybe I'm just turning into a old man, but we don't have to give everything such serious, scientific explanations. Quit hydrating and just drink some water! But, that's a whole separate soapbox that I don't want to stand on today... No, today I want to tell you about a memory I'd almost lost but had ripped from my mental recycling bin and tossed back to the front of my mind. It all started with a pizza crust...

My family was going to be making homemade pizza for dinner and had sat out a pair of raw pizza crusts to come to room temperature with some olive oil and seasonings before being pre-cooked for the pizzas. It was the smell, I think, that triggered the resurgence of the memory first. The smell of the warm dough and the faint smell of the olive oil as they started to warm up in the oven suddenly took me back to being a kid again. My Mom had made pizzas more times than I could count and my Father had worked for a pizza restaurant when I was young, so I knew the smell of pizza dough cooking very well...but something was different this time. There was something else nudging this memory in a different direction. There was a partially cut up onion that

was adding its odor to the mix now. What was my mind trying to remember? What about the onion, the pizza dough, the shredded mozzarella, the ranch dressing mix..... BIEROCKS!! As the memory burst out of my subconscious a flood of memories suddenly flew through my mind! One of my favorite meals growing up was bierocks. Now, traditionally bierocks are made like a German beef and cabbage hot pocket, but not when MY Mom got involved! She made a pizza with no sauce. Just ground beef, cabbage, onion, and a little mozzarella cheese...then we drizzled ranch dressing and a little salt and pepper on it (don't judge me, we live in the American South. Ranch can go on anything).

Bierocks pizza was something I hadn't thought about in many many years, but suddenly I was overtaken by warm nostalgia, taste bud teasing memories, and a desire to share my experience with my family at the next opportunity. A savory, earthy, umami filled delight... or, for my fellow old souls: a very special meal that's got that homemade comfort and a big ol' helping of mother's love on top. I can't wait to pull my Mom's old creation out of the oven and give my kids a

big slice of what it was like to be me in the early 90s. If I can play my cards right, we'll enjoy our Bierocks pizza with ranch dressing, a pitcher of red Kool-Aid, and some reruns of The Drew Carey Show. Maybe we can even play some retro games for dessert. So, if you want to share in a memory from my childhood, and get a heaping taste of one of the most comforting comfort food you'll ever taste, try out bierocks pizza. It's awesome...just don't skip the ranch drizzle. And, if you react explosively to cooked cabbage enjoy at your own risk, but my opinion is that the meal is totally worth it. So, until we meet again, cook up a big plate of nostalgia, enjoy that warm feeling it gives you, and... as always, Game On.

P.S. If you like the bierocks pizza, leave a thanks for my Mom. She'll love to hear about it!