food associations

It's interesting how strong our associations can be between certain foods and a specific place, person or event.

For many years when I was a kid, my sister and I would spend the night with my grandparents every Friday while mom and dad had "date night".  Granny and Grandaddy spoiled us rotten.  As we got a little older, they set up a separate room for us with a sofa, chair and TV so we could watch what we wanted to (Dukes of Hazzard!) rather than what they liked (game shows).  

Granny was the best cook.  Her pancakes were so light and fluffy and cake-like.  She would ask us every Friday night what we wanted for breakfast Saturday morning, and fix whatever we asked for.  We would eat breakfast in our pj's, then lazily watch cartoons.

They always kept a stash of candy for us.  Back then, you could occasionally buy candy bars 4 for $1.  When they were on sale, Granny would buy enough to last until the next sale.  Every Friday night, my sister and I could each pick the candy bar that we wanted.  Sometimes she would buy the 1 pound bag of M & M's to last us for a few weekends.  My sister and I would painstakingly count out the same amount for each of us.

Even today, all I have to do is look at M & M's and I think of Friday night at my grandparents.  The smell and taste of those small candies is heavenly to me.  I would eat them one by one, and eat the candy shell first.  Then I would let the remaining chocolate melt in my mouth.  Even hearing someone mentioning M & M's makes me feel all warm and cozy inside.

Food can be so powerful, can't it?  However, we do have control over it.  We can allow ourselves to control food or food to control us.