Wonder Bread Hometown Fresh Sign (Photo credit: joseph a)
As politically incorrect
as a bologna sandwich
on white bread
with mayo or mustard or sometimes both
topped with iceberg lettuce
and cut into dainty quarters
accompanied by salted potato chips
on a styrofoam plate.
Gulping down a coke
with its empty sweet but oh so delicious calories
while watching TV
a rarity in my childhood house
where most meals were served
at the dining room table ~
meals that included meat and potatoes
and a side of vegetables or two and a salad
on china plates.
Dessert (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
And in those days dessert ~
because my father
who expected little, did expect dessert.
Bliss then was
a rare sandwich for supper
instead of the usual heavy healthy fare
and the best sandwich of all
was politically incorrect.
What did you eat that gave you bliss when you were a kid (or even now) that seems out of step with our nutrition crazed (and rightly so) world?
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On the Homefront 
Anything containing chocolate :). I laughed at the dessert part in the poem. In our house, my hubby cooks such big dinners that we are usually so full we don’t care about dessert. However, my father expects my mother to give him dessert every night, even if it’s just a bowl of icecream, or else he gets cranky LOL!!
I know, sometimes it was just a bowl of syrup–but dad had to have his hit of sweet — we only have desserts for special dinners, holidays and birthdays now
Banana paddlepops!
I do not know what those are–but love the name!
When you were a kid, was bologna still considered bad? Or do you have today’s sensibilities imprinted on yesteryear’s practices?
Pizza was a special treat in our house. My father didn’t like it so we had it on the weekends or when he was out on a fishing trip.
I do not remember bologna as being bad when I was a kid–so you are right–I am imprinting today’s sensibilities on yesterday’s treats–though I admit to sucuumbing to a bologna sandwich once in a while now
I love pizza – how could someone not love pizza?
My mom prepared fancy meals for dinner all of the time. Occasionally we would eat pancakes. I loved that
when you are a kid you loved things that were out of the ordinary and not a formal dinner–or at least I did
I still hate fancy dinners. and I don’t like to use 20 different forks and spoons.
me either–I get confused easily
I remember white bread! Loved it and used to eat all the time without guilt before we knew it was so bad for us. Fried chicken was a big thing for me growing up. Sigh. Sometimes I wonder if we think too much about what not to eat and what’s not good for us instead of what is.
I think you are right–because I really do find things that are good for us are delicious for the most part
gah bologna! My grandma packed me a one slice of bologna on two slices of bread every day 😦 For us growing up with grandparents in the house meant food–real food every day, including pies and home made doughnuts. I recall with great fondness that one year (perhaps my 12th or so) it was my parents turn to host the New Years Eve bash. We all went to the store and got to pick out our very own frozen dinners…replete with aluminum flavored dessert 🙂 We now live in a world of convenience foods and I can’t stomach ANY of it…and bologna- not so much.
*anna
I think you may have been overexposed to those delights (ha ha). I remember when TV dinners were a treat, now they are a drudge for the most part
oh definitely not over exposed to tv dinners…those were the ‘treat’ if you can imagine 😉
I remember we drank skim milk and used margarine and ate low fat, low cholesterol foods while everyone else was still drinking homogenized milk and using butter. Our diet chnged so dramatically after dad’s heart attack. I loved our bologna sandwiches and still to this day have an addiction to potato chips. I also remember dad making us bacon and eggs occasionally on Saturday, and he had his bowl of raisin bran!
I remember eating dad’s raisin bran–but pouring myself a huge bowl then putting just the flakes back in the box and keeping the raisins–dad caught on after a while
Remember chicken hot dogs? Ugh–but they were served because of dad’s health issues; we really were politically correct before it became a thing
Oh, the Wonder Bread! Every generation of adults is so willing to deceive themselves, aren’t they? Today’s parents are no different. No child left without a cell phone. (for safety reasons, of course.)
Off topic, I know, but years from now when the food supply consists of genetically modified, gluten free, fat free, mood stabilizing pellets instead of a good hearty meal that someone labored to put on the table, I wonder what we will remember about these good old days. The starvation of the soul perhaps.
Fried bologna sandwiches on white bread. Yeah, that was a staple at our house. Deviled ham sandwiches were a close second. I wouldn’t touch either these days, but back then we were skinny kids running around outside, riding bikes in the street, without a care in the world. Freedom at its best…and then that damned food pyramid! 🙂 Great topic LouAnn. Food glorious food – bountiful bliss!
We had fried bologna and deviled ham too–though I could never stand the latter–I remember my parents using a grinder to homemake the deviled ham.
I hope we never get to the point where we no longer enjoy a lovely meal and instead just eat to live rather than live to eat
The summer before 4th grade, I went to Panama City with a friend on their family vacation. They had three kids already so the food budget didn’t allow for eating out. The cooler was packed for a week’s stay in a rented “off beach” bungalow. Deviled ham sandwiches and pork-n-beans EVERY DAY. But what a fun time we had.
good memories sometimes do not include what our more gourmet palates of today demand
My comfort or ‘bliss’ was a bag of potato chips, a coke and maybe an ice cream float….Diane
have not had a float for ages–used to love them
Tiny French bread rolls, fresh from the bakery oven, stuffed with a Savoy (Venezuelan brand of chocolate that I don’t think exists anymore) milk chocolate bar. Eat when the chocolate starts oozing. The perfect after school snack. Bliss! xoxoM
sounds like heaven!
I loved when we had breakfast for dinner. My mom would make French Toast with Wonder Bread. When I think about it now, it does have eggs so there is some protein to be had…;)
I also loved pizzas (the frozen dinners) and coke. I liked it when things were casual. I hated sitting at the dinner table and feeling the tension between my mother and father, and staring at a plate of gross vegetables and pot roast.
Now that I think about it… junk food, or that which lacked real nutrition, was reinforced with happy eating times, and foods from the pyramid were negatively reinforced with tension at the dinner table! Eureka! Now I know why I turn to my comfort foods in times of stress and why I still gravitate toward bologna sandwiches with potato chips!! LOLOL!
a realization — and that makes so much sense–good food was not accompanied by good times and tasty (or what we call bad) food was more relaxed–no wonder we award ourselves with the occasional chips and bologna sandwich
Wonderful poem, LouAnn. My favorite was my mother’s fried shrimp. It was our family “special occasion” dinner and delicious! I have made it since, but it’s not the same as when she made it!
shrimp is heavenly food to me–not something we ever had at home though–my mom hated all fish but salmon
We had a Wonder bread store that we would visit & load up from every week. Those Hostess pies were my faves! Apple & Cherry…YUMMO!
Those sammiches you had were part of my childhood bliss too. And – hotdogs on a fork over an open stove flame too.
Happy Friday! 🙂
I remember putting hot dogs on the end of a hanger that had been sprung and cooked over an outdoor bbq that looked like a fireplace
I was a big bologna eater as a kid — that was the go-to sandwich for my lunchbox. Yes, with mayo and lettuce. Sometimes lettuce. And every lunch had a Tastykake. On Fridays, we had PBJ.
Such an interesting thought, LouAnn. I am remembering those white bread sandwiches and Captain Crunch from childhood. Oh, and Spam. And those little white hot dogs in a can. (Arghghgh! Couldn’t even eat one these days.) I guess am totally in love with vegetables these days…except when offered a pistachio whipped cream dessert or maybe a Starbucks frappuchino like yesterday…
I ate Captain Crunch all through grade 13 (which we no longer have in Ontario but had when I and the dinosaurs roamed the earth) and give it credit for getting me into university
There are so many wonderful veggies and wonderful ways to fix them, that they are no longer a dark corner in my life–I remember sitting at the supper table when I was about eight and not being allowed to leave until I finished my squash–it was cold and congelled and awful–today I love it
I remember when they made me eat kielbasa and sauerkraut! ICK!
I like sauerkraut but not kielbasa
I liked this so much a tweet went out. forbidden childhood pleaures. You can’t beat them. I bet you still do this sometimes. Come on, fess up
😀
yes, sometimes I do–but I almost have to apologize at the deli counter when I ask for my six thin slices of bologna–so what is your forbidden childhood favourite delight?
Cheese and strawberry jam sandwiches on white bread with load of butter. Loads of butter. weird. i don’t like sweet things any more
funny how our taste buds change–I used to love savory but now have developed a sweet tooth–my son loves grilled cheese and raspberry jam sandwiches with bacon
Cheese jam and bacon? i like this guy
me too
I should hope so, fruit of your loins and all that.
🙂
yes, and all that, and more………:)
My grandfather had a couple specialties, one was his homemade cole slaw, the other was his ground bologna, sweet pickle and miracle whip sandwich spread. No one makes it like he did. In the summer months it was most popular and often he would bring me a sandwich (or two) while I was baking in the sun along with my grandmothers orange/lemonade drink. Nothing better. I no longer eat meat, but still remember those sandwiches.
sounds like a wonderful memory–I think my mom made up a spread very similar to that
Can’t even come close to the taste store bought, that stuff is gross.
do not even want to think about it!
I used to sneak those canned Chocolate Pudding Snacks into mom’s groceries. Then I’d offer to put groceries away! They’d get hidden in the pantry for a rare treat later. 😉
smart girl!
A politically incorrect sandwich like yours sounds so sneaky and fulfilling! Now its just put fries and ice cream between two cookies 😉
Cheers
CCU
You really know how to be politically incorrect — I love it!
Peanut butter and fluff on fresh squishy white bread, chips and chocolate milk. And yes when I’m in a crappy mood, I’ll make this for myself. Yum
sounds comforting and ever so slightly evil — good on you
When I came home from school I’d sometimes mix cinnamon and sugar and then sprinkle it on buttered bread for a sandwich. It was better when I took the time to toast the bread.
I used to have that when I was a kid on toast — you brought back some good memories
Many eons ago (or so it feels like), we were a white bread, white rice, and white noodle family. My mom was the one who started getting into the whole grain and organic stuff so now, white anything hasn’t been within a mile radius of my house for maybe the past ten years. I appreciate being able to eat healthy but it was a whole lot less complicated when you weren’t worrying whether your bread was REAL whole grain or not.
I know — we have so many hoops to jump through now and with my husband being diabetic, we have that to contend with too–apparently rye bread is good for diabetics
I often take a tuna sandwich to work in a brown paper bag for lunch. My colleagues seem to think that my sandwich is boring–I think that it is very tasty.
I love tuna sandwiches–I have a friend who builds one with tomatoes and cheese and lettuce galore which is good–but plain old tuna is good too
You’ve got me – that does sound good! I used to eat wonder bread, bologna, miracle whip, and american cheese sandwiches at my dad’s house growing up. It will always taste disgustingly of summer 😛
Another childhood guilty pleasure? Velveeta! My cousin and I used to eat up the stuff at my Grandma’s house – now though? Yuck, I can’t stand it!
I loved Velveeta at one point too- and for a while I had cheese slices on my bologna sandwiches and thought it was so exotic (I was 9)
Oh, gosh. This is one of those questions where the answer pops in your head like a flash, but you don’t want to share it! I will, though. Just keep in mind I used to be really thin, so this was possible. Or it’s the thing that led me to fat? I don’t know. Occasionally I’d get a coke flavored Icee, or slurpie, and a Hershey bar. But you have to eat this overdose of sugar in a particular way. Break up the candy bar and drop it in the slurpie. The chocolate freezes and is a delightful surprise as you spoon out the drink. I’m hungry.
that sounds wonderfully bad for you–I used to be very thin too–and in my mind’s eye I still see myself that way (though I am not that big now–it is a transition)
BLT’s!!! And Snickers Bars! Oooo! I love this post! It brings back the bad/good old days. 🙂
love BLTs — love anything with bacon
When my mom’d make pancakes and waffles for dinner every once in a while just to shake things up. Oh, and nothing’s better than grilled cheese with white bread and those orange cheesy slices. yum
brings back memories — and I love breakfast for supper–in fact I am doing that tonight