Cafeteria Comments: Dessert and more

Dessert: /diˈzərt/  n.  A usually sweet course or dish, as of fruit, ice cream, or pastry, served at the end of a meal

The Cafeteria Ladies could certainly create wonderful sweet dishes for the end of our meals. Again, I don’t think anyone was concerned with restricting fat, calories, or sugar. I’m sure all three were there in abundance.

Many of us remember the yellow cake with peanut butter icing. I believe there was honey in it, as well. (Debra Hammons Wright, Marilyn Pippin Tilghman, and James Prewitt.)

Mary Dayle Schults McCormick remembered the banana pudding and cobbler, although she didn’t specify which kind. However, Lanell and Ryan Grayson said their favorite was the peach cobbler. Rickey Lee thought the apple pie was his all-time favorite food.

Martha Carter Abney and Cal Carter both thought the best dessert was a cornflake dessert with peanut butter (according to Martha) and Karo syrup (according to Cal.) Perhaps they are both correct. They described it as being very much like Rice Krispie Treats. As a teacher, Martha says you never see anything like that in a cafeteria anymore.

When Hot Shot mentioned the vanilla wafers with peanut butter, it reminded me of the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that we had. What was most intriguing about the sandwiches was that the ladies mixed the peanut butter and jelly together. I’m not sure of the flavor- whether apple or grape, but I believe there was honey mixed in, as well. Perhaps, the honey made it easier to spread. I also think that to make all of those sandwiches may have been particularly labor- intensive. Maybe they gave us a scoop of the mix along with two pieces of white bread, and we made our own. I just can’t remember.  I would say Mrs. Mason received an abundance of peanut butter and came up with a variety of uses.  

However you slice these desserts, they were all fabulous (especially that yellow cake with peanut butter icing!)

We will conclude the cafeteria stories later in the week- just in time for The Gathering!

As I was finishing this, a special story was sent to me to be posted. I hope to have it posted late tonight or early in the morning. Kenneth Burns is back and just in time for The Gathering!  He wrote a piece that shares his memories of growing up in Egremont. As with all of his stories, I know you will be pleased.