May
A Taste of Home
I’ve lived in a lot of places over the years, claiming eleven different structures as “home” in eight different states. I’ve lived in New Jersey, Connecticut, Ohio, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, and New York.
While I enjoyed many aspects of all of these places, the place I feel the strongest pull of “home” is St. Louis. Much of that pull, I’m sure, is because of time (the better part of 
seventeen years was spent there–my longest stretch in one place ever).
That said, I guess it’s natural to miss it from time to time. Fortunately for me, I get to go back once or twice a year to visit thanks to my work as an author and annual checkups with my M.S. doctor. Those visits enable me to see my friends face-to-face and to breathe in the St. Louis atmosphere I grew to love.
For the most part, the visits hold me over from one to the next thanks to memories and future plans. But, from time to time, I need a little dose of home in between visits. Sometimes, flipping through pictures helps. Sometimes, emailing a friend and asking for the latest scoop helps. And sometimes–as was the case this past weekend–incorporating a little “St. Louis” into my life in New York helps.
My latest attempt to infuse a little St. Louis into my life here in New York? I baked a pan of Ooey Gooey Butter Cake (a St. Louis tradition) using a recipe from a friend I met while living in St. Louis. I brought the treat to a PLOT LUCK dinner some fellow RWA friends and I had on Saturday night. The smell in the house while I baked planted a smile on my face a mile long…one I spread to my friends when they got to try my little taste of home!
So how about you? What’s something that reminds you of home (wherever home may be)?
~Elizabeth
For those who might be interested, here’s a recipe for Ooey Gooey Butter Cake as told by my friend, Heather Richards. Just do me a favor, okay? If you make it, tell people it’s a St. Louis tradition, okay?
Ingredients for bottom: *1 package yellow cake mix. *1 stick butter. * 1 egg. Combine (this will be relatively dry). Press into greased 9 x 13 pan.
Ingredients for top: * 1 (16 ounce) package of powdered sugar. * 8 ounce package of cream cheese. * 2 eggs. * 1 tsp. vanilla. Combine. Pour on top of crust.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Cool completely or it will be runny. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cut in squares. Enjoy!!!!
May 26th, 2010 at 8:47 am
Friendly’s. Nothing like it here in GA. It was a big part of dating my wife as teenagers, so every time we are back in CT we go.
Car cruises. One of the few things to do around Danbury in the summer that you really couldn’t get in trouble. Marcus Dairy, Sycamore, (that fair up past Brookfield, I can’t remember the name.) I drag the girls to the ones around here a couple of times a year.
Finally, good Italian food. Again, not something you can get in GA for some reason. We’ve found a few ‘good’ places but nothing like the restaurants in NY and CT.
May 26th, 2010 at 9:29 am
You know I will test that recipe! Sounds ooey gooey yummy!!
I have lots of smells that remind me of home. When I was growing up it was the smell of Lake Michigan early in the morning. Driving through downtown Milwaukee not too long ago, one could smell Red Star Yeast and the beers from the various breweries and the smell of chocolate from the Ambrosia chocolate factory – all within 3 miles of each other. It was a great blend enough to make one crave bread, beer & chocolate within minutes!! When I bought my 1st house it was the smell of spices coming from the fontarome (spice factory) nearby. Now in my adulthood, it’s the smell of bacon. Yes, bacon! We live across the street from a glorious library which is across the street from a meat processing plant. They make all sorts of sausages (the slaughtering happens off premises, thank God! The factory campus here is beautifully landscaped and fits right in with the neighborhood.) but they are known for their (Patrick Cudahy) Sweet Applewood bacon. Imagine waking up to that? Head right for the eggs, Folks!!
May 26th, 2010 at 10:07 am
Ahhh, the fairs, I vaguely remember those, Chris. Might need to check one out this year!
Your comment made me smile, Mary. Bread, chocolate, bacon…three of my favorite things!!! Perhaps a trip to Wisconsin is in order soon than I planned.
May 26th, 2010 at 11:10 am
It’s funny because I just said to my husband over dinner last night “I will ALWAYS associate the smell of corn on the cob, and bacon with our summer house in Mattituck, Long Island”. We had the first corn of the season with dinner last night, and the smell of it never ceases to bring me back!
May 26th, 2010 at 11:25 am
Apple Cider from Doll’s Orchard is our local taste of home.
But I also associate foods with places I’ve traveled. When I was in Whitefish, Montana, ten years ago, they were big on huckleberry. I had huckleberry coffee and huckleberry fudge. Sounds awful, but they were wonderful, both.
In Vermont, there was a Green Mountain Roast coffee that I loved.
And each summer when I head down to Atlanta, I hit the Caribou Coffee at Peachtree Center. Best employees of any coffee shop, ever, and it’s the only place I’ve had Caribou brand.
Hmm…may have to place an online order with Montana Coffee Traders for some Huckleberry blend…
May 26th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Love St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake (and the spin off cookies), Toasted Ravioli, and Imo’s Pizza.
May 26th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Food? Corn dogs. I miss these sooo much. The one’s I had here pale in comparison.
When I was in Seattle, everything reminded me of home. The trees, the way everything was set up, the MOUNTAINS…
The only thing I wanted was a Perkins but no luck…
May 26th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
Lynn, I’m pretty sure there’s a Perkins in St. Charles. Check!
Yum, toasted ravioli. Miss those too, Beth. Weird how they aren’t anywhere else.
Joe, my oldest LOVES apple cider!!! Your comment made me think about favorite tastes on vacation. I used to love getting black and white cookies whenever I traveled to the northeast…now I can have them routinely. And barbecue down south is an entity all its own. Yum.
Jeanne, I love when a smell or a taste can transport us to happy places!!! And now you’ve made me crave a little corn on the cob!
May 27th, 2010 at 2:22 am
As anyone who has known me longer than five minutes can tell you, I am a native Texan. Since I currently reside in Illinois, there are a lot of things I miss. I think most of it is food related! I miss Texas barbeque, especially brisket. I miss Tex-Mex. I miss the Texas Country menu at the local Dairy Queen (we have DQ…but a different menu).
And in February, I miss the Texas tendency for mild winters…
May 27th, 2010 at 7:11 am
I’d miss the mild winters, too, Shel. And I ADORE brisket (though not sure I’ve ever had it from Texas).