ARA: Eddie asks about food

The day I got married to Carol, I rode my bike to Friendly’s on Delaware Avenue in Albany for breakfast.

Dolly Madison Raspberry Zingers

A couple of weeks ago, Eddie, the Renaissance Geek, who has been one of the bloggers I have been following the longest, asked a series of questions.

What’s your favorite vegetable?

Spinach, no lie. It was one of the few vegetables I would eat as a child, along with peas, corn, green beans, and carrots. In the day, it was all canned. Fairly recently (2013, maybe for my birthday), The Wife bought a can of spinach; it was AWFUL! Fresh, preferably; frozen, if necessary.

Yes, I was heavily influenced by Popeye, who was featured on some local afternoon kiddie shows on WNBF-TV, Channel 12 in Binghamton, on which I appeared a few times.

Your preferred comfort food?

Boring, I know, but it’s mac and cheese. When I was in college, I might put a can of tuna fish in. BTW, in those days, a can of tuna was a lot bigger. Occasionally, I’d put in some cooked ground beef.

Do you ever eat a bowl of cereal just because you want one?

I mean, and why not?! I’ve blogged about cereal here, FCOL, complaining that people were too busy to eat cereal, which I think is absurd. Also blogged specifically about mixing cereals here.

What is your junk food weakness–the one you cautiously indulge because it would be too easy to go overboard with it?

Raspberry Zingers. Of all those junk-filled cakes, it wasn’t Twinkies or those chocolate things, it was the combination of coconut and faux fruit. There are knockoff brands, but none are as good as Dolly Madison.

Finally, what was your favorite, but now defunct, local restaurant?

I guess I’ll say Friendly’s. It’s not defunct, but it’s no longer in the city of Albany, or indeed in Albany County. The day I got married to Carol, I rode my bike to Friendly’s on Delaware Avenue in Albany for breakfast, a structure that’s been closed for years, and nothing’s been done with it. More recently, the restaurant on Central Avenue, which always took great care about The Daughter’s peanut allergy, disappeared, oddly only months after the building was rehabbed. The location on Wolf Road in Colonie also disappeared.

Going to the suburb of East Greenbush (which we did once) or the neighboring city of Troy (which I went to for the very first time just last week) is not the same, in terms of convenience.

I suppose it’s also that I am peevish that we had purchased some discounted coupons from our local restaurant, which closed the VERY NEXT WEEK!

By the way, the food questions come because I have chemo on Tuesday and my eating will be all screwed up for the rest of the week.

And you KNOW I wish you nothing but the best, Eddie!

Author: Roger

I'm a librarian. I hear music, even when it's not being played. I used to work at a comic book store, and it still informs my life. I won once on JEOPARDY! - ditto.

5 thoughts on “ARA: Eddie asks about food”

  1. Oh… Spinach… Mmmmmmmm…

    Eddie asked some great questions!

    (And the mac-and-cheese can be a legitimate meal for the broke college student[s] by simply adding some thawed frozen-pea-and-carrot mix with the tuna. 🙂 )

  2. Chris – I’ve actually added frozen peas and carrots to mac & cheese & tuna! Been years, though…

  3. Damn, chemo… sorry about that, Rog. I can understand the food posting.

    I always loved Popeye but would almost vomit when I saw him cram the spinach. I cared not whether I was EVER “strong to the finish,” obviously!

    But I love asparagus, fresh, steamed. Sometimes I dredge it (finger food) in a light garlic/butter/lemon sauce (light because I water it down).

    About Friendly’s… Did you know I worked in the very first Friendly Ice Cream in Binghamton, on the Vestal parkway? Opening day. If you called it “Friendly’s” in those days (before Hershey bought them out), you were almost fired. They were the MOST anal employer ever – coffee had to be served with the handle at a 45-degree angle to the patron’s right hand. I was called out by the district manager for serving it to the left until I informed him that the customer was my SISTER and she is left-handed. That shut him up. He was one of those Napolean complex types, kind of reminds me of Flanders on The SImpsons!! Amy

  4. Love fresh spinach but fresh green beans are my favorite. And, cereal is a universal snack food…especially chocolate Cheerios!

  5. Catching up on my blog-reading tonight. Nice post. Now I’m craving mac and cheese. I’ve always said that one of the signs that you’re an adult is that you can have cereal for supper any time you want to.

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