Capers and Candy

I remember high school. Really, I do. I also remember my mom complaining about some of the teacher's requirements. Two memories immediately come to mind. An English teacher (straight out of college) wanted every student to provide a cassette tape so she could "talk to us" as she was grading our papers. Dumb idea, and my mom let me know it. Spanish II had a study of the culture and food of the regions of Spain. Mom had to find and then buy saffron so I could make my dish for the class. Prior to her shopping excursion neither of us knew that saffron is the most expensive spice sold. She found out when she was shopping for it, and she sure as heck let me know it when she got home.

I don't remember any high stress high school experiences with Christopher that involved stupid teacher ideas or me hunting to purchase something. However, I had the pleasure of experiencing both with Cameron.

Spanish II is having a culinary section. (I guess not much has changed in Spanish II after all this time.) He found a recipe online. He chose Fricase de Pollo. The recipe was printed and I was requested to go to the store to purchase the ingredients. All was going well until I started looking for the capers. What the hell is a caper anyway? They weren't with the spices. I spent a good 5 minutes reading every label on the spice shelves. No capers. So, I moved on to the next ingredient... stuffed green olives. We hate olives, but the recipe calls for them. Lo and behold! Right next to the olives were the capers. Killed two birds right there. I spent $40 on all of the ingredients, but he was set to cook.

The very next night I was handed a list of candy that he needed for Biology. "Why in the world do you need candy for Biology?" I asked. "So I can make an animal cell. The giant gumball will be the nucleus and the Nerds rope will be the DNA" he replied (smiling large because we all know how much Cameron loves candy). "That's dumb" I said. "What's wrong with styrofoam balls, pipe cleaners, and construction paper?" Still smiling, Cameron said, "She is making it fun."

So on my lunch hour the following day I headed to Dollar General. I picked up the Jolly Ranchers, regular M&M's, and peanut M&M's. Next stop was Wal-Mart. I got the pull-apart Twizzlers. I was slowly making some progress. After work I went to Meijer and got lucky finding multi-colored Rainbow Twizzlers. All I needed was a large gumball and a Nerds rope. The young lady that was helping me look for these last two items recommended that I go to the candy store at the mall. I tried Gander Mountain first because they have some obscure candy and it was much closer than the mall. I struck out and headed towards the mall.

I walked into Inside Scoop at the mall. It is a store with candy floor to ceilling and hundreds maybe thousands of stuffed animals. It was a Willie Wonka candy room that I stepped into, and under normal circumstances it would have made me smile. Picture this... I walked into this candy store and an absolutely adorable young store clerk, who was as effervescent as shaken ginger ale, and who had a smile from ear to ear bubbled, "Hi!!! How are you this afternoon?" My reply was short and to the point, "I'm tired and I'm frustrated."
Clerk: "Aaawwww!!!! That's too bad. How can I help make your day better?"
Me: "Lead me to a giant gumball and a Nerds rope and I will be very grateful."
Clerk: (giggling and smiling) "I bet your child is making a cell for Biology. Right? I just had another mom in here buying these."
Me: "Did she buy anything else?"
Clerk: "No. She was having a hard time finding these pieces of candy too!"
Me: "Makes me feel better."

So now I type this and I think to myself that my mom is smiling as she reads this. She probably has a smile as big as that candy store clerk's smile. Her saffron and cassette tape are my capers and candy 28 years later.

Oh, and the olives that led me to the capers? Cameron wouldn't use them even though the recipe called for them. He very much dislikes olives also. I have a reminder of my journey in the pantry.