22 november

Fake chicken nuggets for dinner.

I am enchanted by these. Enchanted? Delighted. Whatever. They are excellent. The fact that the good-for-you meat substitute market has really improved substantially up in the past few years is just superb. Yes, it’s my choice not to eat real meat, and I could quit quitting/ not starting at any time. I don’t mind not eating hamburgers – I’ve never eaten a hamburger, so it’s not a loss. Occasionally, though, the idea of something that has chicken or turkey in it really sounds perfect. Thanksgiving, obviously. Once a promo video of chicken parmesan at Hardees really got to me. (The actual sandwich, maybe, would not have done it, but that video was right on the menu screen and it was pretty well made.) There’s this turkey cheese loaf that my mom makes for picnics – braided dough over smoked turkey deli meat, cheese, mustard. No other varieties are quite as good. And, of course, there are chicken nuggets. 

Chicken nuggets occupy a sort of special space in my mind – possibly the same for everyone, but I can only speak for myself here. When I was little, I had chicken nuggets on one of two occasions: eating lunch in the elementary school cafeteria or out at McDonalds with my grandmother. I nearly always packed my lunch in elementary school – and, in fact, although I definitely always packed in high school, I’m not sure if I ever bought a school lunch in middle school, either. Now that I think of it, I might have only ever bought a full school lunch in elementary school. Whoa. Healthy, cheap, time-saving (at least on the during-school front) – why would anyone not want to pack an awkwardly shaped bag full of potentially spillable contents and then be responsible for carrying that bag back and forth each day without leaving it in a locker or backpack to go all fuzzy and rank? I know, right? Ahem. The second nugget option came in the form of McDonalds. My grandmother – this is my dad’s mom – being very classy – although I was very lucky to grow up with two classy grandmothers – did not have McDonalds on the top of her own personal wish list, but she did like to make me happy. So, among other goodies – Strawberry Watermelon Hubba Bubba chewing gum, a Michael Jackson Thriller cassette (it seemed classier than the t-shirt) – treats would occasionally include McDonalds items like after-church pancakes in mysteriously futuristic Styrofoam disk serving trays – for the days we didn’t go to Tops Diner – and after-shopping Happy Meals with the coveted chicken nuggets. The 80s!

Does it seem likely to you that I could go on about anything? Yeah. Well, only if I have something to say.