“Yes
or no: Do you have Byrne Dairy chocolate milk in your fridge
right now?”
A
few months ago, I pulled up a recipe that Terry and I had been
thinking about trying.
Cardamom.
One
of the ingredients was cardamom.
At
the time, this got me started on a run of thoughts involving the
things we never readily have on hand. Things like cardamom—because,
sure—and also cream of tartar and so on. The idea being items
we have all heard about, might pause for a moment because we think
we do have it, but often don’t readily find immediately on hand.
It’s not like running out of juice or eggs—assorted staples of
your kitchen—but it’s also not something completely out of the
question that you’ve never heard of previously.
The
recent holidays had me visiting with my mother. As I think I may
have shared before, her kitchen is a marvel. It’s just the two
of them in that house, Mom and Dad, and yet somehow just in with
the baking products you can find multiple types of chocolate chips,
any kind of flour you might imagine, a wide variety of nuts, and
so on. (And, it’s probably obvious, you’ll find cream of tartar.
Seriously, does anyone else have a minimum of three types of flour
regularly within arm’s reach?)
The
general idea of confusion for me though was based on need. My
guess is that most of us might have one recipe that uses cardamom
or cream of tartar that we are familiar with and possibly even
use on occasion. Maybe two. More likely though, none. And in turn,
I wonder about kitchens where certain items would be readily available.
Have
you ever moved? If so, when cleaning out the pantry, how many
cans stunned you? Was it the can of sauerkraut? (I’ll bet it was.
You don’t even eat sauerkraut. How on earth did a can of it get
into your kitchen?) Maybe you had a great reason for buying the
jar of pimientos or can of asparagus, even though the cans you
discovered in the corner of the cupboard had best buy dates that
were passed more than two years ago.
Cardamom
got me thinking. I never use Herbes de Provence, have no clue
what it blends, but there it is. Came with the spice rack and
containers, I think. Still, we have it, but no cream of tartar.
A
couple of days ago though, I found a slight twist in the logic.
I stopped in Byrne Dairy to pick up some chocolate milk. And instead
of what items I don’t have but would find strange I don’t have,
I began wondering about all of the items that we usually have
that others might find strange.
Those
of us familiar with the treat will patiently explain to you that
there is absolutely nothing like Byrne Dairy chocolate milk. We’ll
also go to great lengths to stress that the purchase of it in
the glass bottle is simply beyond measure the way to go. Brilliant
stuff. Heck, if we’re in the region where it’s sold, if we don’t
have it, the thought will create a craving and we’ll head out
to buy some right then and there for all of us to enjoy.
And
yet, some people have never even heard of this delicious offering.
Sure… sure… chocolate milk. You think you know. You don’t. Until
you’ve had Byrne Dairy chocolate milk, you don’t know.
Expand
the thought. Many of us don’t stock salsa as a condiment… never
mind as an every day condiment… never mind having all of the fresh
ingredients on hand to make it from scratch (and quickly produce
something better than most of us will ever have the joy of tasting).
Heading
home on that day with two half-gallon bottles of chocolate milk,
the debate was on. Maybe it was a regional thing… maybe a family
recipe… but there were definitely items that would seem normal
and routine and even necessary in my kitchen that for others would
be the rough equivalent of canned sauerkraut.
I
asked the question to start this essay as a bit of setting the
scene, but yes, I do have some Byrne Dairy chocolate milk in my
fridge right now. It isn’t there all the time, but more often
than not, yes. We also have a can of brown bread on a shelf. (I’m
pretty sure, and now that thought has me wondering about it, baked
beans and some hot dogs later this week.). There’s a jar of roasted
red peppers in the fridge. And, there are at least five types
of vinegar in a cupboard.
All
that said, I’m pretty sure we only have two types of flour.
What’s
in your kitchen?