The Pizza Night Bonus

Pizza night took a new nostalgic twist last night.

A friend of my husband's (and mine, but he was my husband's friend first) came down our place last night. He didn't care to share our pizza and picked up some dinner for himself at Long John Silver's. As soon as I caught a whiff of it, I was taken back in time.

My sister worked at Long John Silver's when she was in high school, and her managers were pretty generous with the leftovers at the end of the night. I loved it when she had to close, because she'd almost always come home with a couple of takeout boxes in tow. The first time she brought hush puppies, I was in heaven. Hush puppies had always been my favorite LJS food (deep fried dough -- who couldn't love it?), and having access to so many was a dream come true. I told her so, so the next night, she brought a box full of nothing but hush puppies. I gobbled them up (not all in one sitting, but you know), so the next time she closed, she brought another box. Then another, then another....

It didn't take too long for me to have had my fill. I thought I'd never want to look at another hush puppy again, and for awhile, I didn't have to. After awhile, she didn't bring so many leftovers (although she always brought the free-or-cheap tsotskes from their promotions -- we still use the LJS holiday crystal every Christmas) and eventually, she stopped working at Long John Silver's. I hardly ever eat fast food now, and I haven't been to LJS for several years. But the smell of those hush puppies last night took me back to those days.

"Have as many as you want," my friend said. "They were 12 for 99 cents, so I thought I'd just go ahead and get some in case you guys wanted any."

I knew I shouldn't, but I couldn't help it. I had one. Then another, then another. It was like tasting childhood. I hadn't enjoyed this deep fried bliss in so long that I just couldn't help myself. I didn't eat the whole box, but I probably could have if I'd really wanted.

I don't really need to gain 10 lbs., so I'm going to try to forget that Long John Silver's is offering such a killer deal on those deep fried bits of heaven. But after rediscovering just how wonderful they are, it's going to be tough.