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| I've never been a fan of this product (can from 1950s). |
My Life in Chocolate Milk
Nestle Quik I'm pretty sure I first had this stirred into a glassful at my Aunt Gloria's, down the block. [They ate pretty healthfully down there--whole-wheat bread, etc.--so I'm sure this was a treat.] I've always loved my Aunt Gloria, for a million different reasons. She is married to my mother's brother, Jim, and went to art school before marrying and having five children. She and Uncle Jim live in Connecticut now.
Hershey's Syrup Mom kept a can of this in the fridge and sometimes used it for chocolate milk. I didn't like it, but my cousins Annie and Cathy [Gloria's girls, and my frequent playmates] said they did. The grass is always greener, I guess. I always thought my aunts were prettier and more fashionable than my mom, who was older--I don't think that's unrelated to how I felt about the chocolate milk at my house. Sigh. So much still to learn.
Ovaltine My grandmother kept this in her cupboard. I loved the brown jar [it was glass then] and the malty flavor she spooned into milk in her apartment kitchen with the window by my grandfather's seat at the table--the window that overlooked Sunnyside Avenue. [This cute, popular, nice guy from my high school, Christos, lived on Sunnyside, and once, when I parked my car on the way up for a visit, he walked over and told me he liked the first-person columns I wrote for the local newspaper. I somehow still regret that I was so shy or thought so plainly of myself around boys that I did not strike up a conversation.]
Nesquik I've weaned myself off this calorie- and sugar-laden weakness. But when Figgy was a baby, and I was sluggish on my way to work in NYC, I sometimes got a carton in the morning. I didn't drink iced coffee or lattes back then. Guess it was the sugar and caffeine jolt I craved. Or did I want to mother myself with a nostalgic favorite?
Maybe there's something seriously wrong with someone who can measure out her life in cups of chocolate milk.
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Nothing wrong with remembering tastes as a vehicle for nostalgia. I never liked chocolate milk, but I can measure my life through chocolate bars! And thinking about specific ones transports me to the room and time. I enjoyed this post and the trip it took me on. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Nan. thank you for your note--really. You are so funny...measure one's life thru chocolate bars :) Yes, yes. I hope all is well. alice
ReplyDeleteThis is a cute one, Alice. Luke is a chocolate milk fiend. I'm fairly strict with food (overly so, my sister would say) so I keep it for a special treat at Starbucks or in a restaurant; he drinks white milk at home. This past weekend, we were at my sister's house, and she buys it already made, by the half-gallon, and poor Lukie thought he was in heaven! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Eileen. That Chinese mother philosophy would surely prohibit chocolate milk, right? ;) Her philosophy might prohibit it for a lifetime. Luke looks so cute from the photos. I just know you are a great, great mom. love, alice
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