Sunday, November 13, 2005

Fluffernutter Sandwiches over time

Time has gotten the best of me recently. There is just too much going on. This Saturday, after I returned from Franklin Park and got ready to get my haircut, and do the weekly food shopping. I sat to have a quick lunch of a fluffernutter sandwich and glass of milk, my mind wanders back to the days when I was in my early teens. When life was so much simpler. Or so I thought at the time.

As simple as riding my bike to the park to play ball. Riding my bike to the library to get books to read while I would babysit in the evening. Walking the paper route delivering the Pawtucket (RI) Times and Providence Journal. Saving money to pay my way for high school and college.

Before I get too far along you might be asking yourself; what is a fluffernutter sandwich?
It is a New England specialty, a sandwich made with peanut butter and Marshmallow Fluff.

If I were especially hungry, I would make a triple-decker.
Yes, three slices of bread with peanut butter and fluff on alternate layers.
Those were the days!

Time was on my side...
The future was further away than tomorrow.

But it came around the corner quickly. Doesn't it always.

Over the years the fluffernutter was a Saturday staple. The fluff would wilt if it sat in the bread too long so I took a home recipe of SPAM and egg salad for lunch most of high school. I took a regular PBJ to work in the steel mill or when I was a night watchman during the summers during college. An official metal lunch pail was required to protect lunch in those environments. As I got out into the working world post-college, I occasionally took lunch. With a group of teachers at Slater Junior High School (where I was a fairly regular substitute teacher), we had an "out to lunch bunch" that specialized in getting to some sandwich or pizza shop and back just in time. (Only the teacher in the lead car knew where we were headed. It was a once a month challenge and fun!) When I switched over to the "real" working world, lunch continued to be an occasional "pack to bring with me" thing. When I was commuting from Flemington, NJ to the financial district in New York City, I would eat a good breakfast at home, eat out for lunch, and have 3-4 pieces of fruit on the train home. I was eating like a king for breakfast, a prince for lunch, and like a pauper for dinner, which according to some was actually a pretty good diet.

Gradually over time, I packed my own lunch less and ate out more but I continued to look for a good bargain in sub sandwiches, or pizza and on the weekend, I looked forward to my fluffernutter in the comfort of home!

Do you have a favorite lunch?

Has it changed over the years?

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