Ghetto Sunday

Last night was truly ghetto fabulous!  Trench and I planned a nice little “ghetto” dinner party at my house, to celebrate where we came from – and to remind us about where we’re NOT…  Let me tell you what was on the menu…  

Our FIRST meal – at 2pm, was “CoCo Wheats.”  Come on, y’all…  You remember CoCo Wheats – not Malt-O-Meal, not Grits, not even Cream of Wheat.  It has to be COCO Wheats!  Oh man, it was good…  We forgot to buy real sugar, so we had to use confectioner’s sugar – truly ghetto in itself.  But mmmm…  Add some butter, and those Coco Wheats were the BOMB!  

We also had Kool-Aid.  I haven’t had Kool-Aid in AGES…  I think we used 3 packages, plus the confectioner’s sugar – yes, we put confectioner’s sugar in our Kool-Aid.  While it wasn’t bad, you had to be careful to leave a little left in the glass, because towards the bottom, you could taste the corn starch in the sugar.  GHETTOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Next, I tried making what USED to be our all-time favorite sandwich from back on Tuxedo (Livernois and Elmhurst, y’all!)…  Potted Meat sandwiches.  Now before you ask me what the hell is Potted Meat…  It comes in a little can, almost like the SPAM or Vienna Sausages.  It’s made by Armour, so if you are in the grocery store, look for it.  I’m surprised they still sold it.  Anyway, here’s how you work the Potted Meat.  You take the Potted Meat, put it into a bowl…  Mix it with some Miracle Whip, and spread it on bread.  Voila.  Ghetto Heaven…  Well…  Back THEN, it was.  I swear I haven’t eaten Potted Meat since 1978.  Stephen (Trench) took one bite and nearly died…  Stefan (my oldest) had tears in his eyes; he just couldn’t eat it.  Even I couldn’t make it through an entire sandwich, so I wound up giving the entire batch of Potted Meat to my dog, Reno.  She ate it happily.  

A few hours later (those Coco Wheats filled us up!), we were ready for our main courses…  First on the menu, Beany Weenie.  Mind you, back in the day, I used to call it “Hot Dogs and Pork & Beans…”  That’s all it was!  But I noticed that now they’re selling it in the stores, and they’re calling it BEANY WEENIE!  Trench said that’s what they called it back in HIS hood too…  What a name…  But DAMN, was it good!  We cut up the hotdogs ourselves – used 2 whole packs!  Trench couldn’t skimp on the beans, so we bought the Bush’s baked beans – although if you wanted to be truly ghetto, you’d buy the big-ass can of NO NAME Pork and Beans, like WE did.  Or maybe it was VanDeCamps – either way, it was the cheap label…  But I compromised – after all, I was making my “Ghetto Mac!”  

Oh, y’all didn’t eat Ghetto Mac?!  It’s the no-name BOXED Macaroni and Cheese, with the powdered Cheese…  We never used any milk.  But here’s how I always used to make it, from my days in Pine Ridge…  While you’re boiling the noodles, you mix the powdered Cheese in a bowl with some butter (or margarine).  Stir it together…  YES, it’s hard at first, but as the butter softens, it mixes with the cheese powder to make a delicious orange “cheese” paste…  LOL.  Add some pepper, wait for the noodles to finish cooking, pour the noodles in the bowl with the paste, and MMM MMM MMMMMM!!!  Trench couldn’t get enough of my Ghetto Mac.  
And last, but not least, was Trench’s infamous Spinach squares – which was simply a baked ensemble of frozen spinach and 3 packages of shredded cheese…  I think he mixed some eggs and milk with it, baked it for about 40 minutes, and served…  It’s one of those dishes best served “the next day” – so we let him take it home…  LOL…  

Talk about GOOD…  Last night was wonderful.  It was so nice to go back into the “good ol’ days.”  We’ll have to do that again sometime – the next time I’ll make my mother’s infamous “Pat’s Special” or the all-too familiar “Beans and Neckbones!”

Much love, y’all…
Aaron-Carl