Bagels and Childhood Food Memories

This is my favorite way to eat a bagel. Just in case there is any curiosity out there in the world, I like it with lots of cream cheese and a sliced tomato on top, dusted with a touch of salt and pepper. I also love a bagel with cream cheese and lox. It reminds me of childhood for some reason, I think that was one of the meals my mom would make when my dad was out of town. There were definitely "Dad in Town" meals and then "Dad is Out of Town" meals.

When my father was in Southern California on business, which was about 2 weeks out of every month as a kid, we would have bratwurst, omelettes, tuna melts. Hmmm, what else, I know there is more. Actually, I remember the tuna melt dinner very clearly because one time my mom made them when my dad was around. It was probably my brother and my fifth tuna melt of the month (always on an english muffin mind you) and my dad says, "Kristine, this is delicious, you should make these more often." Of course my brother and I laughed and said, "Dad, she makes these all the time, you're just never around for them." Which then began a conversation about the different dinner choices we had.

Does anyone else have memories of different meals that surrounded different circumstances? Oooh, babysitting meals, that's another one. Boiled hot dogs was a favorite, as were those Celeste frozen pizzas. And fruit cocktail! The kind that came out the can with maraschino cherries and little balls of peaches and pears. I loved those, the canned mandarin oranges as well. Ok, enough nostalgia over here for the moment.