Food is always on my mind. I think we may have discussed this before. If I am not thinking about what I am going to fix for dinner, then I am remembering a meal or particular foods from the past. I thought I'd share a few tales involving food at Tinker.
Everybody who has ever worked at Tinker will do doubt tell you about the feasts we have. We celebrate birthdays, retirements, babies, marriages, going away parties, promotions, demotions, Christmas, Super Bowl, 4th of July, any OU game (especially those against Nebraska, back in the day that one was huge since we had lots of colleagues and friends at SAC Hqs, and, of course, Texas), 15th of April -- think about it, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, bosses day, secretaries day, tooth aches, Easter, Memorial Day, first landing on Mars, inspections, opening day of Krispy Kreme, Ides of March, and any other thing someone could dream up. Since I mostly worked with guys for the first 18 years of my Tinker life, I was asked, no expected, to be the one responsible for the planning, cooking, serving, and cleaning of the said celebrations. I have to be honest, during those first 18 years, there were other women from time to time in the office and they helped, but since I am the control freak I am, I took charge more than I should have. Since I am in charge of these stories, I like to think of myself as a martyr so I can whine.
So for my Tinker friends, here are a few tales based on fact:
1. I remember the time when they guys thought that it had been a long time since they had snacks in the office. They didn't want to bring anything themselves, but they were willing to pass the hat and they came up with a tidy sum of one quarter a piece and have me do it, the unmarried secretary - the lowest salaried employee. This was in the early 70s and I was thought of as the maid to those guys. I might have been a little put out that they came up with a quarter a piece, so this time...........I bought exactly that measly sum would buy. I threw my quarter in, of course, but imagine their surprise and dismay when I brought in one large bag of plain potato chips and a couple tubs of dip. That'll teach 'em to send me to the grocery store with $4 for food for 12. First question, "Where's the meat and cheese?!?" Are you kidding me? Had these guys never been to the grocery store themselves??
2. Back in the day, there was a woman in our office with Italian heritage. Nothing do but she had to bring it to the office to show off. By this time, she had annoyed just about everyone with her incessant bragging, but since she wanted to bring it in we were generous enough to allow her....well the fact is, those guys NEVER turned down an opportunity for food. We all chipped in and the spaghetti throw down was on. She brought a huge cooker, filled it with water, and turned it on. The water got hot, but not boiling. Lunch time was getting closer and closer and no boiling water. Closer and closer until she finally decided to go ahead and put the dry spaghetti in the water. She stirred. She stirred again....and again, trying to keep the strands from sticking together as they cooked. And cook they did. Do you know what happens to spaghetti when you put it in hot, but not boiling water, and stir it? It dissolves into nothing. There was not one strand of spaghetti, not one overcooked limp strand, but we had plenty of starchy water. Lucky for her she had meatballs and sauce and bread to throw at the savages in our office. The woman never lived that episode down. The cruel savages called her "Miss Chef Boy-r-Dee" from that day on. They teased so badly that finally our boss had to step in and call the savages off. Still it was fun, Margarite.
3. After a couple of group Thanksgiving dinners where the food ran out before my guys (I am kind of proprietary) went through the line, I volunteered to make the Thanksgiving dinner for them the next year which turned out to be the next umteen years. Oh my gosh, what a smuck I was - am! I started working on those dinners several days in advance; 2 turkeys, gravy, potatoes, green beans, dressing, cranberries, rolls, butter and homemade pies. Yes, I cooked it all, dragging into the office around 11:00 looking like I had been through a steam bath with my clothes on. The one stipulation I had was that I would NOT carve the turkey so one of the guys would come to the house to carve it and take me to work.
4. Some of you may remember when I brought my taco soup to the office. I put it on the cabinet, but it sloshed - all over me and my BRAND NEW dress, and BRAND NEW suede shoes. I was drenched so badly that I had to go home and change clothes. Soup was good though. Moral: Don't wear new clothes and new shoes when you bring sloshy food to the office.
We had so much fun on those grocery days, didn't we K? The food was always delicious, but much better after T. came into the office. I knew I had met my match (out matched!!!) and a new friend when I saw the vegetable carved palm tree and the crock of pate she brought for our Christmas snack day. Finally, I had someone in the office who likes to cook, and cook well she does! Nothing from Albertson's deli from her. Once she came into our office, our grocery days were upped to the gourmand level. Thanks T.
Food has a way of bringing people together, don't you think. We became a little family when we "broke bread" (as my dad liked to call it) together...a little office family. These little get togethers had a way of soothing feathers and de-stressing certain situations. Hard to stay mad when you are enjoying the best cucumber sandwiches you have ever tasted, a great batch of hot wings, or a slice of cheesecake. I loved every one of these celebrations even those where I cooked for days and cleaned up the mess. I miss them - Tinker groceries. By the way, the reason the water didn't come to a boil was because the cooker threw the braker and nobody thought to check.
I love you guys!!
Everybody who has ever worked at Tinker will do doubt tell you about the feasts we have. We celebrate birthdays, retirements, babies, marriages, going away parties, promotions, demotions, Christmas, Super Bowl, 4th of July, any OU game (especially those against Nebraska, back in the day that one was huge since we had lots of colleagues and friends at SAC Hqs, and, of course, Texas), 15th of April -- think about it, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, bosses day, secretaries day, tooth aches, Easter, Memorial Day, first landing on Mars, inspections, opening day of Krispy Kreme, Ides of March, and any other thing someone could dream up. Since I mostly worked with guys for the first 18 years of my Tinker life, I was asked, no expected, to be the one responsible for the planning, cooking, serving, and cleaning of the said celebrations. I have to be honest, during those first 18 years, there were other women from time to time in the office and they helped, but since I am the control freak I am, I took charge more than I should have. Since I am in charge of these stories, I like to think of myself as a martyr so I can whine.
So for my Tinker friends, here are a few tales based on fact:
1. I remember the time when they guys thought that it had been a long time since they had snacks in the office. They didn't want to bring anything themselves, but they were willing to pass the hat and they came up with a tidy sum of one quarter a piece and have me do it, the unmarried secretary - the lowest salaried employee. This was in the early 70s and I was thought of as the maid to those guys. I might have been a little put out that they came up with a quarter a piece, so this time...........I bought exactly that measly sum would buy. I threw my quarter in, of course, but imagine their surprise and dismay when I brought in one large bag of plain potato chips and a couple tubs of dip. That'll teach 'em to send me to the grocery store with $4 for food for 12. First question, "Where's the meat and cheese?!?" Are you kidding me? Had these guys never been to the grocery store themselves??
2. Back in the day, there was a woman in our office with Italian heritage. Nothing do but she had to bring it to the office to show off. By this time, she had annoyed just about everyone with her incessant bragging, but since she wanted to bring it in we were generous enough to allow her....well the fact is, those guys NEVER turned down an opportunity for food. We all chipped in and the spaghetti throw down was on. She brought a huge cooker, filled it with water, and turned it on. The water got hot, but not boiling. Lunch time was getting closer and closer and no boiling water. Closer and closer until she finally decided to go ahead and put the dry spaghetti in the water. She stirred. She stirred again....and again, trying to keep the strands from sticking together as they cooked. And cook they did. Do you know what happens to spaghetti when you put it in hot, but not boiling water, and stir it? It dissolves into nothing. There was not one strand of spaghetti, not one overcooked limp strand, but we had plenty of starchy water. Lucky for her she had meatballs and sauce and bread to throw at the savages in our office. The woman never lived that episode down. The cruel savages called her "Miss Chef Boy-r-Dee" from that day on. They teased so badly that finally our boss had to step in and call the savages off. Still it was fun, Margarite.
3. After a couple of group Thanksgiving dinners where the food ran out before my guys (I am kind of proprietary) went through the line, I volunteered to make the Thanksgiving dinner for them the next year which turned out to be the next umteen years. Oh my gosh, what a smuck I was - am! I started working on those dinners several days in advance; 2 turkeys, gravy, potatoes, green beans, dressing, cranberries, rolls, butter and homemade pies. Yes, I cooked it all, dragging into the office around 11:00 looking like I had been through a steam bath with my clothes on. The one stipulation I had was that I would NOT carve the turkey so one of the guys would come to the house to carve it and take me to work.
4. Some of you may remember when I brought my taco soup to the office. I put it on the cabinet, but it sloshed - all over me and my BRAND NEW dress, and BRAND NEW suede shoes. I was drenched so badly that I had to go home and change clothes. Soup was good though. Moral: Don't wear new clothes and new shoes when you bring sloshy food to the office.
We had so much fun on those grocery days, didn't we K? The food was always delicious, but much better after T. came into the office. I knew I had met my match (out matched!!!) and a new friend when I saw the vegetable carved palm tree and the crock of pate she brought for our Christmas snack day. Finally, I had someone in the office who likes to cook, and cook well she does! Nothing from Albertson's deli from her. Once she came into our office, our grocery days were upped to the gourmand level. Thanks T.
Food has a way of bringing people together, don't you think. We became a little family when we "broke bread" (as my dad liked to call it) together...a little office family. These little get togethers had a way of soothing feathers and de-stressing certain situations. Hard to stay mad when you are enjoying the best cucumber sandwiches you have ever tasted, a great batch of hot wings, or a slice of cheesecake. I loved every one of these celebrations even those where I cooked for days and cleaned up the mess. I miss them - Tinker groceries. By the way, the reason the water didn't come to a boil was because the cooker threw the braker and nobody thought to check.
I love you guys!!
I miss our breakfasts and snack days.
ReplyDeleteI am laughing out loud reading these!
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