Cinnamon Rolls

Last week, I went to the grocery store without having lunch first.  Big mistake, big mistake.  I hardly ever buy treats.  My kids can attest to that for they remind me constantly of how deprived they were especially when it comes to chips.  Poor little ones never got to have any flavored chips and my daughter loves to recall the special treat of picking out her own chips for those grade school field trips.  Poor, poor children....so mistreated.  Back to the trip to the grocery store....A package of Pecan Cinnamon Rolls jumped into my cart on the way out of the store.  Paid $4.99 for four huge pecan rolls..what a waste...what a waist!  Good thing the hubby was driving because I had those babies open before he got the car started.  Oh my, oh my, they were so good even not warmed per the instructions; a far cry from those little pecan rolls in the vending machines at Tinker.  Although, they were not all that bad and if you unrolled them slowly they could last all morning long.

Hubby and I started discussing the vending machines and the cafeteria at Tinker.  We have time now to discuss all that stuff, being bored and all.

Here I go..........back to the past and memories of the things that filled our tummies while working at Tinker.  Sounds interesting, huh?

Those of you still at Tinker will be interested to know that the snack bar on the north end of 3001 is at the same place it was in 1967.  Back then, you could get a coke with ice from a vending machine.  You'd make your selection and the cup would drop, some ice would plop in, and your coke would fill the cup.  Great, huh?  Well, not always.  Sometimes the cup would fall off center or fall sideways and the ice and coke would go everywhere except inside the cup.  Great machine when it worked right, huh?  Again, not so fast.  This machine also served all manner of hot and cold beverages; i.e. coffee, hot chocolate, and the best......beef broth...........!!!  Coke that has a hint of beef broth........not so great.

There was a great vending machine, however, which held small cans corned beef hash, vegetable stew, chili, pork n' beans, soups, and various other delicious foods (smile).  Actually, they weren't as bad as you might think.  At 35 to 45 cents a can, it was a pretty good alternative to the pricier cafeteria food.  The greasy corned beef hash was my favorite topped with a jalapeno pepper.  Mr. Guerrero would make a trip to Mexico every couple of months and brought back a gallon of those peppers for the office.  They were a nickel each and really upped the wow factor of the corned beef hash.

Back in my early days at Tinker...think December 1966...a group of us would go to the cafeteria each morning for breakfast.  We had our special table right behind the cashiers.  It was our morning ritual.  We were the popular table...I tease, but General McNickol or was it McNickle, joined our table every day.  It was a different time back then.  It seemed we were all family, and the general didn't seem as stuffy as they do now.  We had lots of fun or maybe I felt that way because most of us were single and hung out together.

Back in those early days, there was a little room off the cafeteria (Oklahoma Room) which was like a restaurant, even with white tablecloths.  One would order off a menu and the food was delicious.  The club sandwich was a favorite with everyone which was served with crinkle potato chips.  I do have a memory, huh? 

The cafeteria was revamped several times of the years, but it never held the same allure that it had in the early days.  I might have been hunting a husband.  {wink}  About the time I retired, they put in a coffee bar, but back just three years ago, I didn't like coffee, but it still didn't have that same draw as 1967.  Good times......and a more naive palate.

One of these days soon, I am going to recall some of my office luncheons.  Who will be interested?  Probably nobody, but it will be fun for me to recall.  Am I the only one that food recalls a memory?  I know I am a little off my rocker.  I love you.