Remembering My Three…or More Favorite Meals

Everyone. No, not everyone but most…adults have had a favorite meal in their lives, one that brings back fond memories of the food, the place, or the people with whom they shared it.

Three come to mind for me.

One that first comes to mind occurred when I was studying for my doctoral comprehensive exams. I rented a small, quiet place, designed for solitude and focus which I needed, at the spectacular rocky Oregon coast. For a few days a former colleague who had become a friend joined me. She knew about food. I knew I liked to eat food but she knew how to cook it. When she cooked, she used Julia Child’s cookbook like a primary reader.

Off to the local hardware store we went, the only place in tiny nearby town where we could find cookware. We purchased an inexpensive aluminum pan, then found butter, garlic, and wine nearby.

Back at the seafront motel, we hiked down the steep hillside, Pacific Ocean in front of us. There we picked mussels from the tidal rocks and carted them back up the hill. Using the room’s hot plate, my friend showed me how to steam the mussels along with horsetails we had gathered along the banks. I’m unsure if I had ever eaten mussels or horsetails before that evening but I can assure you that they and the chilled white wine made a perfect and unforgettable dinner.

How I loved that foraging, continually looking to repeating that experience.

A second memorable one happened on San Francisco’s Folsom Street, long before it…