Tastes Like Family--"Preserved" Memories

The Grumpy Chair dieter's Thursday post made my mouth water and my "preserved" food memories float around a bit more insistently. Fig preserves..mmmmm.

But figs don't have a strong nostalgia factor for me.

What flavor of fruity spready thing tastes like "family" to you?

For me: guava

I have this vivid series of images: I and my pop spreading guava paste. He bought a brand that came with a thin (maybe 1/4 inch) strip of guava jelly down the middle of the rectangular bar of paste. I'd usually pull out the jelly strip and eat it like candy. Then I'd spread the paste on Cuban or Italian bread or Cuban-style water crackers. With cream cheese added--we're talking absolutely divine splurgey combo.

That is a flavor that's "family" to me. It's got our culture and the remembrances of innocent, shameless eating by the young me, a Princess free of worries about sugar, fat, calories, etc.

Also, my fave Cuban pastry treat is a guava pastry (and they use guava paste in the middle of the flaky, phyllo-ish crust). We call it a "pastelito de guayaba." Lord, but I love those things, fresh, warm, in the morning with some cafe con leche (our version of cafe au lait). The last time I had one was August, at my brother's birthday. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

When my hubby and I were dating and newlyweds, there was this place we'd go to several times a week for Cuban food. And I'd have the guava shells in syrup with cream cheese for dessert (a very typical Cuban dessert). See it in THIS RESTAURANT'S menu. And the pic at right shows how it's served.

Oh, I better stop. I'm getting horrible cravings!

:::serenity now, serenity now:::

Second would be the home-made marmalade mom used to make--grapefruit, orange, papaya. Mainly the citrus, though. It wasn't my favorite thing, but it sticks in my mind as being "mom" when spread on those Cuban crackers.

When I hit my next mini-goal, I just might splurge on a breakfast of guava paste and cream cheese on a huge Cuban cracker.