You generally hear of people’s connection to food on a daily basis: At work your coworker comes in to tell you all about their romantic lobster dinner the night before.; your warm memories of your mothers homemade pancakes from childhood.
Smells, sights, sounds all can trigger our memories of times before and can create even a physical reaction in our bodies. Remember the last time your mouth watered thinking about your friends famous mac and cheese? Or the physical sensation that cold ice cream on a hot day created in your mouth?
Last Fall I took a class on writing for woman’s magazines with Sherry Amatenstein at The New School in NYC, after our last class Sherry and I got to talking and I won’t forget the moment she dished out her comfort meal. She let me know that, “she didn’t know what it was, but there was something about chicken salad that really held a soft spot in her. She connected to it and when she was in need of comfort, she’d go for the chicken.
Well we all have these needs of comfort and satiating cravings. I think that is why food is something we can all generally reate to. I hope to do right by my physical memory to food and my need to be comforted, after all we are all human.
Well that’s just what these delicious chips did for me. As a kid I remember consuming a lot of potato chips, but most importantly at the fair, there was one occasion where we got an order of greasy steak fries and I remember them being served wrapped in a paper cone. This distinct memory flashed through my mind as I was taking these photos and making these chips.
For all of the memories they created I found peace in knowing they were the healthiest version of these memories possible and that I had made them, (I knew what was in em’, I’m sayin’)
Oh and the best part? There was no lingering tummy ache afterwards, just sweet remembrance and satisfaction.
I hope you enjoy these chips, and perhaps they will inspire you to reconnect to a memory or perhaps you will just create a new one!
Recipe for “memory lane” chips:
1 Medium sized sweet potato, I used a white sweet potato for this version as they are closer to the consistancy of a potato chip and that was what I was looking for
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt to taste
Peel and Slice the potato 1/4″ thick
Layer evenly chips on a baking pan and cook at 350 for 20 minutes
Keep an eye on them, an option is to broil them for the last 5 minutes to crisp them up, just make sure you watch em’ closely
Enjoy and bon appetit!
