McCarthy.
Everybody, of course, hated
Communists, but not everybody was ready to believe, as McCarthy was
accusing, that the “Reds” had infiltrated the U.S. government at
the highest levels and were preparing to destroy the nation from
within.
Ty Olsen was as obsessed
with baseball as he was hockey and taxidermy (Trig played on the
town team in the summers) and was as secretly in love with Marilyn
as was Julianna.
“ There is already trouble
in the Monroe and DiMaggio household,” he told his wife, while
Julianna tried to eavesdrop while still doing a good job
waitressing.
“ They were on their
honeymoon in Japan, Monroe was asked to travel to Korea and perform
for the American soldiers stationed there. The war is over, but
we’ve still got boys over there, so the Red Chinese don’t try
anything funny.”
“ You can’t trust ‘em,”
Trig, every the daddy’s boy, agreed.
“ She ran off to do her
duty for the USO, leaving her unhappy new husband in
Japan.”
Julianna’s heart sank. If
Joe and Marilyn were already having problems, what chance did
Cedric and Julianna have? Her grief was interrupted by Bjorn and
his foghorn of a voice.
“ Yes, yes, gather around
folks, gather around,” Bjorn gestured to the crowd that had filled
his adorable, if a little dingy, café. “Come on don’t be shy,” he
said in his heavy Swedish accent.
“ Today we have a very
interesting showdown between two much respected pillars of the
community,” said Bjorn.
“ Yes, and we have a bishop
too!” said Ty with a cheeky look on his face. People giggled and
chuckled.
“ I haven’t agreed to this,
this is the first of I’ve heard of this, and I don’t appreciate you
roping me into such shenanigans,” Bishop Dale said.
The truth was, he loved it.
It had been many years since he’d been a parish priest and he
missed the attention and remained something of a ham.
“ The rules are as
follows,” Bjorn paused and looked serious for he, too, relished the
theatre of it all, “eat as much of the food as you can.” Bjorn
smiled as he laid out his upturned hands toward the food that was
laid out before him.
Finally, it had come time
to eat. Not just for Ty Olsen and Dale, but everybody. The
newcomers were wowed by the aroma and variety of the food.
Returnees were comforted by the fact that the food was always about
the same. The trump card was Bjorn’s now-famous barbecue baby back
ribs. Other staples were the homemade Swedish meatballs and the
original orange baked chicken, which had been coated with Rice
Krispies Cereal, which was fusion cuisine for foodies many decades
before any such things existed.
There were mashed potatoes,
never the instant type but always homemade, and scalloped potatoes,
but these were often from the Betty Crocker box, were always on the
table. The salads are rarely the “good-for-you” type, but are
instead the “good-for-your- taste buds” ones. This was long before
the days of fad diets and “paleo menus;” these people ate like
dinosaurs because they were, dammit! Jello and Cool Whip were the
main ingredients in these desserts masquerading as sides, with
fruit cocktail or pineapple or pistachio pudding as part of
them.
Oh, and how about the
bread! There was a newly -acquired rotisserie oven which bakes many
loaves of fresh bread and buns at a time. These are the frozen
bread loaves. They cannot be made from scratch because the labor
would be far too intensive, but are delicious anyway, especially
when served right from the oven.
Desserts are dolled-up
puddings, chocolate dump cake or if the pie baker lady is up to it,
there will be fresh fruit pies or maybe even banana cream. In
season, rhubarb pie was the best.
“ The winner of this eating
contest gets to donate $25 to the local charity of their choice!”
the small crowd gasped in amazement at the substantial
prize.
“ Is Ty’s Taxidermy a local
charity?” Trigger asked, teasing his dad. He was sitting with
Ramona’s
Everybody, of course, hated
Communists, but not everybody was ready to believe, as McCarthy was
accusing, that the “Reds” had infiltrated the U.S. government at
the highest levels and were preparing to destroy the nation from
within.
Ty Olsen was as obsessed
with baseball as he was hockey and taxidermy (Trig played on the
town team in the summers) and was as secretly in love with Marilyn
as was Julianna.
“ There is already trouble
in the Monroe and DiMaggio household,” he told his wife, while
Julianna tried to eavesdrop while still doing a good job
waitressing.
“ They were on their
honeymoon in Japan, Monroe was asked to travel to Korea and perform
for the American soldiers stationed there. The war is over, but
we’ve still got boys over there, so the Red Chinese don’t try
anything funny.”
“ You can’t trust ‘em,”
Trig, every the daddy’s boy, agreed.
“ She ran off to do her
duty for the USO, leaving her unhappy new husband in
Japan.”
Julianna’s heart sank. If
Joe and Marilyn were already having problems, what chance did
Cedric and Julianna have? Her grief was interrupted by Bjorn and
his foghorn of a voice.
“ Yes, yes, gather around
folks, gather around,” Bjorn gestured to the crowd that had filled
his adorable, if a little dingy, café. “Come on don’t be shy,” he
said in his heavy Swedish accent.
“ Today we have a very
interesting showdown between two much respected pillars of the
community,” said Bjorn.
“ Yes, and we have a bishop
too!” said Ty with a cheeky look on his face. People giggled and
chuckled.
“ I haven’t agreed to this,
this is the first of I’ve heard of this, and I don’t appreciate you
roping me into such shenanigans,” Bishop Dale said.
The truth was, he loved it.
It had been many years since he’d been a parish priest and he
missed the attention and remained something of a ham.
“ The rules are as
follows,” Bjorn paused and looked serious for he, too, relished the
theatre of it all, “eat as much of the food as you can.” Bjorn
smiled as he laid out his upturned hands toward the food that was
laid out before him.
Finally, it had come time
to eat. Not just for Ty Olsen and Dale, but everybody. The
newcomers were wowed by the aroma and variety of the food.
Returnees were comforted by the fact that the food was always about
the same. The trump card was Bjorn’s now-famous barbecue baby back
ribs. Other staples were the homemade Swedish meatballs and the
original orange baked chicken, which had been coated with Rice
Krispies Cereal, which was fusion cuisine for foodies many decades
before any such things existed.
There were mashed potatoes,
never the instant type but always homemade, and scalloped potatoes,
but these were often from the Betty Crocker box, were always on the
table. The salads are rarely the “good-for-you” type, but are
instead the “good-for-your- taste buds” ones. This was long before
the days of fad diets and “paleo menus;” these people ate like
dinosaurs because they were, dammit! Jello and Cool Whip were the
main ingredients in these desserts masquerading as sides, with
fruit cocktail or pineapple or pistachio pudding as part of
them.
Oh, and how about the
bread! There was a newly -acquired rotisserie oven which bakes many
loaves of fresh bread and buns at a time. These are the frozen
bread loaves. They cannot be made from scratch because the labor
would be far too intensive, but are delicious anyway, especially
when served right from the oven.
Desserts are dolled-up
puddings, chocolate dump cake or if the pie baker lady is up to it,
there will be fresh fruit pies or maybe even banana cream. In
season, rhubarb pie was the best.
“ The winner of this eating
contest gets to donate $25 to the local charity of their choice!”
the small crowd gasped in amazement at the substantial
prize.
“ Is Ty’s Taxidermy a local
charity?” Trigger asked, teasing his dad. He was sitting with
Ramona’s
Similar Books
