Diary of The Food Whore: Simply Complicated

Simply Complicated

April 09, 2005

You know, there was a day when things seemed more simple. Wait, is that a grammar issue? More simple - can I use those words together? Eh. Whatever.

Anyway, when you ordered coffee, no one asked you what kind. A cheeseburger came with the standard yellow cheddar. Or even GOD FORBID - American. French fries were plain spuds. Bread was white or wheat - marbled rye if you were lucky. The previously talked about mushroom selection was pretty basic. Even things like toilet paper came in only 1 ply or 2. (Unlike today's choices which range from embossed to 500 thread count Egyptian Cotton)

But now we're inundated with 25 choices of everything. Nothing is simple, it seems. Or even more simple.

Tonight after a drop I went to my friend's house where we sat outside by her new fancy fire pit and roasted marshmallows over the open flame. I brought things for S'Mores and in doing so grabbed your basic graham cracker and the only chocolate needed - a plain Hershey bar. There was no thought of Valrhona or Sharffen-Berger. Though I must admit Godiva did cross my mind.

But I stuck with the simple choice - the only choice, really.

Sometimes I think about the days of my youth when my cash strapped parents made feasts out of hamburger and russet potatoes. Food was simple, and it was grand. There was no thought of eating fiddle head ferns unless you were playing hide-and-go-seek with your sister and the older neighborhood kids and they conveniently "forgot" to seek you and you grew desperate and hungry and were too stupid to say, 'Hey, over here, I'm here, helloooooo!', so you started eyeing the odd plant to see if it was snack worthy. (Still bitter about those days...)

Food is now this entire culture in and of itself. Which is great, don't get me wrong. I am obsessed with it all. But there are moments like tonight when a gooey marshmallow and a basic Hershey's chocolate bar rock my world.

Although right now, if someone were to offer me a plump chicken breast stuffed with proscuitto and smokey fontina cheese smothered in a crimini and heavy cream sauce, I wouldn't say no.

I guess I'm just simply complicated.

Posted by Foodwhore at April 9, 2005 12:52 AM

Simplier.

Like kraft macaroni and cheese and oreos. Some classics you just go back to.

Although --hahaha -- I have to confess to making s'mores with Whole Foods grahams, all natural marshmallows and (wincing, waiting for scorn) Sharffen-Berger. It was worth every cursed calorie.

Posted by: Damomma at April 9, 2005 07:40 AM

Somedays, more simple is as good as it gets. For example, today's lunch menu: Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup, saltine crackers and ginger ale. The only combination of foods when you're feeling sick. :)

Posted by: Mensch71 at April 9, 2005 08:51 AM

"Now there are seven kinds of Coke
500 kinds of cigarettes
This freedom of choice in the USA drives everybody crazy
But in Acapulco
Well they don't give a damn
About kids selling Chiclets with no shoes on their feet
See how we are"

Lyrics by
John Doe/Exene Cervenka
See How We Are

Posted by: haddock at April 9, 2005 09:38 AM

There's a great book about this by Barry Schwatz called "The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less."

Posted by: Earth Girl at April 9, 2005 09:45 AM

Now that I've read about your stuffed chicken I'm hungry. I went to cooking school in Columbus, Ohio at LaBelle Pomme and that sounds like one of the recipes we would've made. Yummmmm.

Posted by: lajhen at April 9, 2005 11:54 AM

Kris,
In addition to being a great writer, comedian, and food expert, you're also a great philosopher! What you write is so true. Sometimes I'm so overwhelmed by all the choices when I'm shopping, that I just skip the item entirely! I especially love your last line about being "just simply complicated". It's observations like that which make you the philosopher, and make your writing so much fun to read!
On a different note - thanks for responding to my e-mail back in January. It was nice "talking" to you. I think at the time it was snowing here. I don't know about your friend who lives in the area, but I had snow at the end of my driveway until yesterday, which is hard to believe since the temperature was 60 degrees!
It was nice to "connect" with you again. Keep up the good work!

Posted by: Kathy at April 9, 2005 01:35 PM

more simle = 'simpler':)

Posted by: Valerie at April 11, 2005 08:26 AM

I liked this post quite a bit. It made me feel all nostalgic and made me crave my fathers scrambled eggs and bisquick pancakes, like only he can make. And the frozen food we used to live on . . . It made me feel almost guilty to be so involved in my food choices. But, all the same, I do love food and I do know I am fortunate to be able to play around with it so much.

I do hope that if I have kids someday, that they will remember some small thing or tradition in our food, not just lots of experiments and fluff.

Posted by: gemma at April 12, 2005 08:04 AM