Sorry for the delay fellas, I was busy Dealing With Stuff. But I’m excited to let you all know that I think NGFYGF will be heading in a fun direction next month! I’m gonna try to get the cadence of these back up to monthly, and have some ideas for what’s next. Follow me on IG (@emmaleeg9) if you’d like to get your voice in there about what I should cover— I’ll do some polls.
Hugs,
Emma
Appetizer: Duality of Buses
Entree: Celebration Foods
Congratulations, you’ve acheived something! Whether it be living to see an annual holiday, getting promoted at work, or starting a new stage of life, a celebratory meal can help you ring in the occasion!
Recently, I was told Good Career News. My first instinct, obviously, was to think of what to eat to celebrate. I thought of visiting a diner, or waiting a week to go to a fancier restaurant. Overwhelmed, I ran to the corner store and bought Lays Limon chips and a Modelo Chelada.
Let it be known that this is a blessed combination. The sweetness of the cool tomatoey Chelada washed down the tart Limon chips, and both were of a quantity where I felt completely satisfied by finishing just the two items.
Why I didn’t order in a sushi dinner or a fancy steak I don’t know. But I remembered that when I got into my first college, Nic said we should eat “wherever I wanted.” I chose the neighborhood bagel shop that neither of us particularly loved. But eating at the small table, all felt right in the world. I guess during an overwhelming event, I gravitate towards the familiar.
After joking about how I choose the strangest ways to celebrate, Nic also got Good Career News. He then brought home a cacao bean, saying we would eat it when he signed a new work contract.
Perhaps I seek a comforting, grounding food to make me feel like nothing has really changed, especially when something positive happens. Nic, on the other hand, moved toward something adventurous, and perhaps saw the new flavor as a way to shake off the past. In his words, “I already wanted to buy a cacao bean. But the celebration was a reason to pop it open.”
We brought it to his family’s house to celebrate his achievement and say goodbye to his grandma, who was ending her 6 week visit the the United States the next day. We cut through the woody exterior and revealed load of sweet, white flesh that tasted like a creamsicle.
I feel like there’s a reason that there are special foods associated with holidays. Becoming paralyzed by the uncertainty of how to best savor a moment is a waste of a celebration, so returning to favorites is a good bet. Whatever you choose will become special, and infused with the memory. An official celebration feels like sealing an envelope with a kiss, or storing a memory in a hard drive— it creates a specific time to contain the feelings you want to hold onto. I find that pairing specific smells, tastes, or songs helps me remember the joy better.
This weekend, I visited Pittsburgh for my cousin’s Bar Mitzvah, and found that the afterparty was far more of a spectacle (and three times longer) than the event that the celebration was supposed to honor.
Going through the motions of a Bar Mitzvah can feel utterly familiar, but the infusion of the Bar Mitzvah boy’s personality makes each one interesting. They’re like weddings in that way. It’s the sensations of the music, the ambiance, and the food that leave each guest with something unique to take home. Sometimes, going a little too hard with your celebration can outshine what you’re remembering in the first place. Then again, maybe the celebration is a chance to transform your memory into something you created, rather than something that simply happened to you.
In cases like Good Career News, the possibilites for celebration foods are endless. It’s completely up to the recipient what to do, and whether to give the News an official celebration at all. We as a society have not agreed on what is best to seal that memory.
My thought is I’d rather come up with some deliberate method of celebration, no matter how asenine, than leave the memory of a good day completely up to chance. Every chance to honor a good moment with a little treat is a gift. Especially if it tastes like tomato beer.
Happy New Year, and I wish you all many celebrations.