Frozen Diners (I mean...dinners)

Q:  How do you like frozen food?

A:  Cooked.

Q:  Really?  That's all you're going to write?

A:  Yup.

Q:  This is supposed to be a blog post, not a three line question and answer session...

A:  It was actually---

Q:  Oh shut up and write.

A:  So.  Frozen food.  I've eaten it.  Quite a bit, actually.  When I was little we used to have those soft pretzels that you could cook in the microwave.  Those were frozen.  And then there were frozen waffles and frozen French toast, and those little cinnamon toast things that Eggo came out with that were delicious and you could never have just one.  Frozen food's just easy, so I can see the appeal of it.  At the same time it's strange to me that you can freeze food and then warm it back up and it still tastes okay.  Or sometimes better than okay.

When I was little it was a really big deal when we got to eat TV dinners.  I remember seeing the commercials for Kid Cuisine and asking Mom if we could have it.  I thought it was really neat that it came with a dessert because dessert was never a sure thing with our dinners, it always depended on if we had cookies or ice cream or whatever families eat for dessert.  But with Kid Cuisine, you were promised a brownie, and you could even eat it first if you so chose...

Recently, while walking through the "frozen diner" section of our local world market place, Mom scoffed, "Haha, you silly kids thought TV dinners were a treat..."  And she really did laugh at that.  Because a TV dinner meant that Mom didn't have to cook that night.  Those nights were rare, but when they happened, it was when just me, Mom, and my brother were home, and it was usually accompanied by a movie.  Silly Mom, I just wanted the brownie...

One of my favorite frozen foods of all time are these tamales that my dad brings home from this special tamale place from his old district.  Yeah, I know, really specific, but they're delicious.  No joke, these little baby tamales are just about my favorite thing to eat when I'm not sure what to scrounge around for.  You can make them with chili or smother them with shredded cheese or throw them in a bowl with macaroni and cheese, the possibilities are truly endless.  You just put the little tamales on a place (still in the paper wrappings, mind you) and toss them in the microwave for 2:22 (yeah, that's a technical time) and out pops some deliciousness.  Oh tamales...

Most recent frozen food I've eaten?  If our school cafeteria doesn't serve us frozen food (which I'm not certain about, so I'm just not going to count that, only the things that I absolutely know were frozen at some point...maybe I'm optimistic?), then it was frozen pasta.  Or...most interestingly...frozen fish sticks.  Which doesn't sound interesting, but if we're talking about what was paired with these fish sticks, that's another thing entirely.  Fish sticks and custard.

It's a Doctor Who thing.  When the 10th Doctor (David Tennant) regenerates into the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith, who you see up above), he's hungry from his regeneration.  Nothing seems to satisfy him, and nothing seems to be not evil (like beans), so he finally settles on "fish custard."

I'm not generally a fan of fish sticks, or fish in general, so eating fish sticks wasn't all that appealing for me.  But I'd never had custard, so why not pair something that I'm not very fond of with something new and different?  Let me tell you right now, it was delicious.  Granted, I only got through four fish sticks before I got a little bored, but if I ever eat fish sticks again, it's going to be with custard.

"One morning, as I went to the freezer door, I asked my wife, 'What should I take out for dinner?'  Without a moment's hesitation, she replied, 'Me.'"

- Anonymous