Retro Rewind - .02

 It's time for another edition of Retro Rewind and a look back on memories from my childhood, growing up in the 60's and 70's.

FAVORITE FOODS

Growing up I was literally addicted to Dr. Pepper! And while these days I prefer Coke, in junior high and high school I drank Dr. Pepper like water. while it's still a popular choice today, a lot has changed over the years, and it's fun to see how it has evolved. 

Did you know that Dr. Pepper is the oldest major soft drink made in America? The recipe was created in Waco, Texas by pharmacist Charles Alderton in 1885 and was first nationally marketed at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. Today there is an entire museum dedicated to its history. 

The branding has changed a bit over the years, and they've had some unique marketing campaigns as well, like this commercial from 1979, do you remember Be A Pepper? I even had an I'm A Pepper t-shirt. I think I could probably sing the entire song from memory, as well as Hilltop, which was a popular song written for a Coca Cola marketing campaign.Do you remember that one? What was your favorite soft drink from back in the day?

FAVORITE STORES

TG&Y

In my previous Retro Rewind, I shared about going to my favorite store, Kresge, but another favorite we often frequented was TG&Y. The store we shopped at was located in the Haltom Plaza shopping center, which still exists today, though TG&Yclosed many years ago. The shopping center opened in 1959, and the original neon sign is still operational. TG&Y was a 5-10 cent store, and I spent a hefty chunk of my allowance there every week. I also recall my mom often shopped there for Christmas presents. They had a wonderful toy department. We spent a lot of time at other stores in Haltom Plaza, too, shopping for food at Wyatt's Supermarket, eating lunch every Sunday after church at Wyatt's cafeteria, and then going for ice cream at Ashburn's. So many great memories! I also remember getting the absolute best brownies from the bakery at Buddie's Supermarket, which was at another location. We also had a Safeway and Piggy Wiggly nearby, though I don't recall shopping at them as much. In one of the stores, maybe Safeway, there was an area where children could sit and watch cartoons while their mother's shopped. I don't recall my mom every letting me do that, but I always thought it looked like fun. What grocery stores can you recall from your childhood? 

FAVORITE TV SHOWS -  TV GUIDE AND THE BEST FRIDAY NIGHT LINE UP

There as a period of time in the 1970's when the line up of sitcoms on Friday night kept me entertained for hours. The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family (I had a HUGE crush on David Cassiday), Room 222, The Odd Couple and Love American Style, which, looking back, I can't believe my mother let me watch. It was my favorite night of the week to watch television, and even more fun if I was having a friend over to spend the night, which I often did. Later in the evening we would watch The Midnight Special and listen to our favorite bands. The 50's, 60's and 70's were the golden age of hollywood and television. Even today I rarely find anything that compares with the quality and wholesome goodness of that era. Most of these old sitcoms are still available to stream today, and I enjoy watching an episode or two from time to time.

- The Brady Bunch  - you can watch the first three seasons for free on Pluto, and Paramount has all five seasons, but requires a subscription.

- The Partridge Family - you can watch all four seasons on Tubi.

- Room 222 - I haven't been able to find a streaming service that carries this show, but you can find a few episode on You Tube.

- The Odd Couple - you can watch all five seasons on Pluto for free.

- Love American Style - not available from a streaming service, that I can find anyway, but you can find some episodes on You Tube.

- The Midnight Special - and it's the same for The Midnight Special. This link will take you to an episode, hosted by Helen Reddy, which I don't recall, I always thought it was hosted by Wolfman Jack? 

Back then I kept up with all my favorite shows by checking the schedule in TV Guide. Although our guide came in the Sunday paper, my maternal grandmother subscribed to the actual guide for years and she saved all her old copies for me to peruse. I loved reading the articles and learning about my favorite shows and stars. I wish I'd held on to more than a few of them now, as many of them have become collectors items, and here's a guy who has them all! There is also apparently a book, TV Guide: The First 25 Years that chronicles the history of the publication and highlights some of the bigger issues and articles. I'm not sure I'd want to read it cover to cover, but it might be fun to peruse.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this little trip down memory lane, and that it's evoked a few of your own nostalgic memories. Did you have a favorite tv show, or Hollywood crush growing up? Let's chat in the comments!

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Savoring The Last Days of Christmastide

Though New Year's day has come and gone, the season of Christmastide lingers, and I'm here for it. With the exception of those tasks which always need attending to, I've set aside any thought of resuming "life as usual", at least for a few more days.

We brought in the New Year quietly, just myself, my daughter and her sweet pup, who was well past ready for bed when I snapped this picture just a little after midnight. I've never known a dog to follow such a routine, but he definitely has his preferences.

My husband retired early, and so we celebrated earlier in the day, continuing our tradition of watching The Hobbit trilogy, which is something I look forward to every year. My daughter requested jalapeno poppers for our celebratory New Year's eve feast, which I paired with queso, guacamole and cowboy caviar for good luck!

On New Year's Day we had our traditional feast of ham, scalloped potatoes, cabbage with bacon and onions and of course, black eyed peas! I think of the three traditional meals I prepare during the holidays, this one is by far my favorite. This year I made the same meal for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We all came down with the flu, and since I still had some of the ingredients on hand, I thought it easier to just repeat it. And while I appreciated the ease, we tired of the leftovers quickly and ended up with a significant amount of waste, a note for the coming year!

On New Year's Day, my husband and I had planned to go on our first hike, but as I am s-l-o-w-l-y moving back into hiking due to sciatic nerve pain, we decided it was too windy to risk it as extreme cold can cause a flair. The low temperature itself would not have posed a problem, since I would have dressed appropriately and once you get your body moving you warm up quickly. But the winds have been fierce in our area for close to a week now, making what has already been a colder than usual winter down right frigid! And so we opted instead for our first country drive. The valley of the Blue Ridge mountains is, to me, one of the most beautiful places on earth, and I feel so blessed to live here. The side roads that meander through the countryside often beckon, and we are prone to follow. This has led to many deleightful discoveries over the years, including a number of small, quaint churches. They are so charming, and this time of year, especially, with their doors adorned with festive wreaths, they are quite picturesque.

On Thursday we had planned to stay at home, but they're predicting some extreme temperatures to move in this weekend along with a bit of snow, freezing rain and ice, so we opted instead to make a quick trip into town to stock up with all the necessities. I'm implementing a little plan beginning this weekend, Souper Sunday, and making up a big pot of soup, which will more likely feed us through the weekend. But my plan is to elevate out Sunday supper by setting a pretty table, lighting candles, and hopefully setting the stage to put away our devices and linger around the table in conversation, a pause, I suppose, before the demands of the week come calling. I have a number of recipes saved on my Pinterest board and I've made note of a few I want to try, but we're going to start off with a recipe we all know and love, Grammy's Cabbage Soup. I've shared it here with you before, but I think it's currently tucked away in the archives, so if you're interested, be looking for it early next week. 

The picture you see at the top of this post and the one here to the right and below are of a group of buildings in our town. They caught my eye while we were out shopping yesterday. We went for breakfast at a cute little coffee shop we'd had plans to visit (more on that in another post), and after, as we were driving on our way to the market, I caught glimpse of them and immediately turned around!  I've seen them before, but the added touch of greenery just made them all the lovelier! The green building is actually another coffee shop that we have plans to visit, but the combination of the green against the red and the white, well, if you've been visiting here for awhile you know they are my favorite colors, as is vintage architecture, so when you combine the two? It's perfection!

And with that my friends, I'll close. I have a busy day ahead, cleaning out holiday leftovers and prepping food for the weekend. We are set with everything we need in the event of a power outage, we'd be good for a week or more. But any time there is a threat of weather, I like to be prepared. Meals made that can easily be re-heated on our propane stove, laundry caught up, candles and matches at the ready. Maybe it's just me, but honestly, the thought of losing power seems almost cozy! It's the perfect excuse to slow the pace of life, and just, perhaps, a lovely start to the New Year!

Until then!

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