Tag: food

Reality & Me

Photo by Adonyi Gu00e1bor on Pexels.com

Picture this. I’m in my kitchen preparing a meal for our family today, and I get to thinking about how pleased I am that I am using mostly leftovers to create a new dish. It makes happy to not be wasting food, and even though cooking is not my favorite thing to do, I like that I am able cook a warm meal when there is snow covering everything. (Seriously, we were prepared to eat sandwiches for like a week if the power went out in the storm.) As I was cooking, I got to thinking that this is not the kind of meal that you would see on a reality TV cooking or baking show. However, it was the kind of meal that you would see in a lot of people’s homes. That got me to thinking, if I was responsible for coming up with reality shows, what would the content cover? Immediately, I thought of three that would be for me!

Cooking Show – This show would go beyond just what happens in the kitchen. I would want to teach families how to meal plan based on a grocery budget, how to make the most of the weekly ads for their favorite grocery store (mine is Kroger, and I checkout the new ad every Wednesday!), and how to prepare quick, healthy meals that only utilize common ingredients. None of that you have to buy a giant thing of an herb that you will only use one sprig of nonsense! I would then take a family shopping for the week, help them prep their meals, and discuss ways to reuse any leftovers. For example, if they had pork tenderloin as the main dish one night, then they could use the leftovers for sandwiches the next day. I have come to believe that a lot of people want to make better meals at home, but they could use some real guidance as opposed to cooking shows that are either to gourmet or seem more focused on chaos than learning.

Travel Show – I would want to showcase something that most people would not think to visit. Perhaps I would do a world tour of museums or visit a variety of National Parks. My goal would be to feature places that appeal to an array of interests while also being open to those not wanting to take out a loan just to go on vacation. There would also be specific episodes geared towards families, married couples, and single adults.

Art Show – Can we all agree that performing arts shows have basically been done to death at this point? I think it would be cool to see a visual arts competition. I’m thinking something like Bob Ross level of calm where people just paint some Happy Trees and see who comes out with the best painting after a given time. I have great memories of watching The Joy of Painting on Sunday mornings, and I feel like the world needs more art like that. I realize you can just watch most of it on YouTube, but the competitive aspect would be a lot of fun!

If you were in charge of reality TV, what would your content cover?

XOXO,

The Great Kaysby

So Long Jerry’s

“Don’t it always seem to go/That you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone/They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot.”

— “Big Yellow Taxi”, Counting Crows

Today, the closure of a local icon was announced. Jerry’s J-Boy was a decades themed diner that at one time could be found scattered throughout our region of the country. For those who’ve never heard of Jerry’s, imagine a discount version of Denny’s. It was a greasy spoon with burgers and fries that went straight to your thighs, but more than that it was a social gathering place for family and friends.

I recall going to Jerry’s as a kid with my family starting sometime around 1994. I know this because I first watched Gone With the Wind in 5th grade, and I was obsessed with sitting next to the Gone With the Wind memorabilia and fish pond. By the time I was a senior in high school, I liked it enough that it was chosen as the place to celebrate my graduation with my family. As a young adult, Jerry’s would become the place that me and my mom would plot out Black Friday shopping plans. It also became a good place to go for a hearty breakfast after church. Additionally, it made for a good early morning breakfast with family after going to the polls on Election Day. I’m pretty sure it was the place of much debate the morning of Election Day 2016 when the hot topic was Hilary versus Trump. I’m very thankful for the family memories made at Jerry’s!

Jerry’s was also setting of a lot of my memories with friends as a good part of my 20s was spent there. It started as a place to hangout at all hours and talk while getting free refills. No matter how long we were there, they never seemed to mind the endless requests for more $2 soda. Then, Jerry’s turned into the post party place. For some reason the pancakes always tasted better at 2 am! This naturally led to Jerry’s becoming a post Phoenix Hill (also nostalgia filled and closed) place. There was nothing like dancing until last call, piling into a car, and watching the sun come up through the Jerry’s windows. There were even times when we all went for dinner at a normal dinner time – gasp! These times involved two memorable moments. One, it is the only time I’ve ever been told I look lumpy like blue cheese which to be fair I’m lumpy! Two, it is the only time I’ve ever seen someone sweat while eating buffalo chicken tenders! I’m so glad to have all these memories with friends!

It is sad to Jerry’s close. I’ll think of them when I eat buffalo chicken tenders with half cooked fries and cottage cheese! Jerry’s J-Boy was far from paradise, but I hope that they don’t pave it down and put in a parking lot.

XOXO,

The Great Kaysby