I seldom eat breakfast sausages, but I had some Hempler’s ones in the freezer and decided ‘Why not?’ I just had one, and it was ‘OK’. I grew up with Farmer John’s sausages, and it occurred to me that I haven’t seen any since I left L.A. No great loss, since I seldom eat breakfast sausages, and I can always have Jimmy Dean’s sausage patties cut from a chub. But I miss the Farmer John’s that came in that cardboard tray.
Knudsen’s cottage cheese. I had some ‘small curd’ cottage cheese this week from one of the regional dairies. Not as good as Knudsen’s; and again, I haven’t seen Knudsen’s since I left L.A.
And I’ll tell ya: I could murder a Macho Meat Burrito from Del Taco – if only there were Del Tacos up here.
Near my house when I was growing up was an old-fashioned privately-owned convenience store with a grill in the back. The lady who ran that grill made the best hamburgers I have ever eaten, and I hate that that’s gone forever.
A close second is Rush’s in Columbia, which I can only get when I’m down there.
My dad was stationed in Daggett for a while, and there was a little place called Joy’s outside of Barstow. So here’s the scene: About 1972 or 1973. Mojave Desert. 110º outside. There’s a little structure with nothing nearby, that I can remember. It had a screen door with a wooden frame and one of those long springs to shut it. <creeeeeeek>… <WHOP!whopwhop> Inside, a swamp cooler made it comfortable. There’s a counter, but no booths. I’m spending the Summer with dad, riding motorcycles and swimming in the pool at the airport; and Joy’s is a nice treat. ‘Joy’ made the absolute BEST cheeseburgers on the planet. I’ve no idea what she did. She had a flat grill, and she seasoned the meat out of large shakers. Probably just salt and pepper, but try as I might I’ve never been able to make a burger like Joy’s. A bun, lettuce, tomato, onion, mayonnaise, beef and cheese. But there was something special about hers. And she made a macaroni and cheese salad I’ve never seen anywhere else. Dad transferred to Lancaster, and Joy closed the diner to take care of her ailing mother. Three and a half decades, and I still remember it.
Another good burger place was Kitty Hawk Café, at Santa Monica Airport. Huge, greasy, ground chuck. MAN, those were good! They closed, and a new place took over. It’s called The Spitfire Grill now. (The writer of the movie The Spitfire Grill had his office above the diner, and he used the name for the story.) They must have cleaned the grill or something, as their burgers weren’t as good as Kitty Hawk Café’s.
There was a café at the airport at California City whose burgers weren’t especially good. Certainly nowhere near as good as Joy’s or Kitty Hawk’s. Heck any number of chain burgers are better. But they tasted like a picnic. Sometimes a ‘picnic burger’ is just the ticket. It burned down, and I never got the chance to go back after it was rebuilt.
Johnny L.A., your description of Joy’s (well, without the screen doors and the swamp coolers) fits very nicely with my memories of Aile’s. Maybe Joy and the lady at Aile’s were sisters.
Freshly roasted hatch green chiles. We used to buy them right off of the side of the road in Albuquerque, fresh out of the roaster, and we’d buy 'em by the pound. Haven’t found a good substitute since.
When I was a kid, my first exposure to Mexican cuisine outside the home was Taco Cid. I don’t know if the chain is around anywhere any more, but that’s still the Platonic bean burrito to me.
ETA: Holy crap! Not only are there still a Taco Cid around, but there’s still one in* my hometown!
The Korean condiment Kimchi (also spelled Kimchee and Kim chee), I miss it because I can’t eat it because it gives me heartburn or pyrosis or dyspepsy or some such.
For all I spent every day in Bulgaria wanting American food, sometimes I really crave Bulgarian food.
Especially vafli (wafers). Oooh, I googled “vafli” just to see what would come up, and some Bulgaria PCV I don’t even know wrote a detailed ode to how fantastic they are. It’s true. They are amazing.
(I know, I keep whining about it, but I really, REALLY miss caffeine, dammit!)