Chasing a Memory

[Old Hippie]

Sometimes an idea will just burn a hole in my brain. I'll let you in on my latest craziness.

I like to think we all have food memories. One of my favourite stories is about a guy who tried for years to replicate the chili dogs he ate as a kid. Even allowing for maturing tastebuds it just wasn't ever right. Finally he asked an old diner cook about the problem. "Yer tryin' too hard," he said. "Buy the cheapest hotdogs you can find. Cruise the day-old bread and pick up a sack of stale buns. Buy a can of the cheapest, greasiest chili you can find. Think like you're going to sell this to an 8-year-old." Worked like a charm, the story goes.

My version of that is this little gem:

The orange nut roll from a box of "Meal, Combat, Individual." Eunice King's Kitchen in Sherman, TX is long out of business, but they oughta make that lady a saint. When I was a scared kid in a green uniform with clueless leakin' out my ears, finding a can of that in my field ration was cause for celebration. I kept a rotating stock of three cans of it in my footlocker, and literally that was the bright spot for me. Every day was crud but a seriously cruddy day could be improved by whipping out my P-38 and opening up a can of orange nut roll.

OK, it wasn't great but I liked it. Ms. King also turned out "fruitcake" in cans for the rations -- and I'm pretty serious about fruitcake so I'd get a little snobbish. Which means I'd eat it right away instead of saving it for a more quiet enjoyment. Over the years since I've kept that hotdog story in mind whenever I think I should try to recreate the recipe. That wasn't a problem until lately when a combination of free time, looking at old service photos with my brother, and a lack of baked sweets caught up with me.

My first step was finding a pic of the can, which as you see has the ingredients listed. Man; I actually ate that? Well, when you're cranking it out by the ton on government contract that's what you get. Probably mixed it in an old cement mixer. So a certain amount of upselling the quality was going to happen. After comparing the ingredients to some common cake recipes I settled on an orange-almond pound cake. I wanted that firm texture, and accepted that it would be a bit richer.



It's good. Is it as good as my memory? Well...all this time. Frankly I wouldn't trust my memory but I will admit that I remember enjoying the orange nut roll from a can 40+ years ago, and I have been enjoying this version as well. You can never step in the same river twice, it's said. But I'm happy with it.

Wishin' y'all good food memories! Now you tell me one...

O.H.

 

[Lightcs1776]

Love the story. I just missed the c-rats. From what I was told, they were better than the early MREs I was forced to "enjoy."

 

[Alum Ladd]

Sometimes an idea will just burn a hole in my brain. I'll let you in on my latest craziness.

I like to think we all have food memories. One of my favourite stories is about a guy who tried for years to replicate the chili dogs he ate as a kid. Even allowing for maturing tastebuds it just wasn't ever right. Finally he asked an old diner cook about the problem. "Yer tryin' too hard," he said. "Buy the cheapest hotdogs you can find. Cruise the day-old bread and pick up a sack of stale buns. Buy a can of the cheapest, greasiest chili you can find. Think like you're going to sell this to an 8-year-old." Worked like a charm, the story goes.

My version of that is this little gem:

View attachment 1680668

The orange nut roll from a box of "Meal, Combat, Individual." Eunice King's Kitchen in Sherman, TX is long out of business, but they oughta make that lady a saint. When I was a scared kid in a green uniform with clueless leakin' out my ears, finding a can of that in my field ration was cause for celebration. I kept a rotating stock of three cans of it in my footlocker, and literally that was the bright spot for me. Every day was crud but a seriously cruddy day could be improved by whipping out my P-38 and opening up a can of orange nut roll.

OK, it wasn't great but I liked it. Ms. King also turned out "fruitcake" in cans for the rations -- and I'm pretty serious about fruitcake so I'd get a little snobbish. Which means I'd eat it right away instead of saving it for a more quiet enjoyment. Over the years since I've kept that hotdog story in mind whenever I think I should try to recreate the recipe. That wasn't a problem until lately when a combination of free time, looking at old service photos with my brother, and a lack of baked sweets caught up with me.

My first step was finding a pic of the can, which as you see has the ingredients listed. Man; I actually ate that? Well, when you're cranking it out by the ton on government contract that's what you get. Probably mixed it in an old cement mixer. So a certain amount of upselling the quality was going to happen. After comparing the ingredients to some common cake recipes I settled on an orange-almond pound cake. I wanted that firm texture, and accepted that it would be a bit richer.

View attachment 1680671

It's good. Is it as good as my memory? Well...all this time. Frankly I wouldn't trust my memory but I will admit that I remember enjoying the orange nut roll from a can 40+ years ago, and I have been enjoying this version as well. You can never step in the same river twice, it's said. But I'm happy with it.

Wishin' y'all good food memories! Now you tell me one...

O.H.

Great story! Always a pleasure to read your posts.

 

[Asland408]

Great story! I have P-38s in my Kitchen and a few P-51s there too that I use often. I also have a P-51 on my key chain. Thanks for the great story and your service.