Tortillas, and home

It’s funny how the food I loved as a child has come back to sustain me in grad school.

When I was little and we were poor, one of the staples - if you could call it that - was butter tortillas. All they really consist of are one tortilla with some butter spread out over it, a little salt and pepper, and time in the frying pan, microwave or directly on the burner to heat up. As soon as the butter is all melted and starts to sizzle, they’re done and they’re perfect. I ate them all the time because they were cheap and filling.

Now, struggling through grad school, I find myself eating butter tortillas again, experimenting with different combinations of seasonings and condiments to make it more appealing. After all the variations I’ve tried, though, the original recipe is still the best - even preferred, for me, over the cheese crisps my wife makes for herself.

Some other recipes from childhood that have come back? Well, the macaroni in milk, but in a different format - in chicken broth, with a little sliced onion and pepper. While Colleen said she liked it, I found myself hungry for the subtle comfort of milk, butter and noodles, low on spice but filling and good. Maybe it’s because I needed calcium more as a child than now. Who knows?

Either way, now I’m on the hunt for new recipes that are quick and affordable, and it’s been a slow-going process. This morning was probably the greatest success: Colleen used an over-ripe banana to make these perfect banana pancakes, not too sweet and just light enough that you could eat them even without syrup if you wanted.

It’s funny how, when you’re struggling to make ends meet, it’s the simpler foods that seem more appealing. Even though I couldn’t afford it, I think I’d turn down a bunch of fancy, high-priced dinners for macaroni and milk or banana pancakes, because while the expensive food may be what most folks would eat, the pancakes and tortillas remind me of home.