I grew up at a time when food companies were elbowing their way into homes across America. Like many children of the 70s & 80s, I can still hum the catchy jingles that were sandwiched between The Flintstones and Looney Tunes. Our family ate Indian scratch cooking nearly every night. But with persistent pestering, I was allowed Oreo Cookies, Apple Jacks, and other packaged foods.
During the day, my sister and I ate in the school cafeteria where most meals were cooked from scratch. One of the lunch ladies was Italian-American, and once a week ate her family's recipe for spaghetti with meat sauce.
I always looked forward to field trips which called for a packed lunch. I got to sneak a peek at the things my classmates ate at home. Many kids retrieved baloney sandwiches from their lunch box. I longed to bite into a layer of the oddly uniform meat that tasted like hot dogs. But mom was fiercely opposed to baloney. She always made me a ham sandwich topped with lettuce, a slice of tomato, and a spoonful of mustard.
I rarely eat meat now. So my days of ogling at baloney in the refrigerated aisle are over. When I want to warm up this time of year, I make French onion soup. If I'm too busy to cook up soup, I toast some French bread and layer it a heaping spoonful of caramelized onions and Swiss cheese.
