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I HAVE MOVED! My main blog as of Sept of 2010 is TWO YEARS TO HAPPY WEIGHT AFTER. Visit me there. My post links in the updates below will link up to the new blog. THANKS for reading!

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Friday, October 12, 2007

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.

3 comments:

Grumpy Chair said...

I gotta have some guava paste now. I hope I can find it (I'm in Houston, and the grocery stores carry lots of international foods.)
I'll let you know what I think about it.

Eat.Play.Run. said...

Dig your journal :) I'm a writer too, it looks like we weigh about the same and my dad is Cuban too! lol I didn't grow up around him and wasn't exposed to much about Cuban culture growing up, so this entry was a treat.

Looking forward to seeing your progress. Good Luck!

http://blogs.weightwatchen.com/sexybitch

Anonymous said...

This morning I skimmed your blog for inspiration and want to thank you for the reminder to get lots of sleep.

At 5'2" I hit my top weight of 270.3 lbs about 10 years ago. I've managed to get it down to 212 the beginning of this year, but I'm now back up to 220. I've newly committed myself to getting 20 lbs off by the middle of February. That's doable - 5 lbs a month.

I'll keep you posted.

The Fat Old Broad