Staple Foods

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Bread

Cheese

Potatoes

No matter where you go, there they are.

I love these three foods. They aren't technically "favorites," but they have a special place in my mind.

Bread. Cheese. Potatoes.

They're simple foods, the three foods that do their job in a clean, wholesome way. They're staple foods, the three foods that traverse the boundaries of time, place and world.

Les Miserables ~ Jean Valjean steals bread to feed his sister's children.

Farmer Boy ~ Almanzo and Alice split a baked potato.

Catcher in the Rye ~ Holden eats Swiss cheese sandwiches.

The Bible ~ Jesus turns five loaves of bread into enough for 5000 people to eat.

A Christmas Carol ~ The Cratchit family eats mashed potatoes with their Christmas meal.

Hansel and Gretel ~ The children use breadcrumbs to mark their path.

Dharma Bums ~ Ray offers to share his bread and cheese with a hobo.

Lord of the Rings ~ "Po-ta-toes! Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew?!" - Samwise Gamgee

Bread. Cheese. Potatoes.

I spent 80% of my childhood somewhere other than the middle class home of a small white family.

Probably 20% of my childhood was spent traveling dusty roads and sleeping in covered wagons.

About 15% was spent in abandoned cabins with my six brothers and sisters, making our way without adult supervision.

Another 20% of my childhood was spent fleeing on bare feet from various captors with various beasts by their sides.

10% of my childhood was spent in damp stone castles or the surrounding peasant villages.

5% each was spent in the Shire, Lothlorien, and on Tatooine.

But no matter where I was or what I was doing, three foods were always present:

Bread. Cheese. Potatoes.

Isn't that interesting? Or maybe it's just me. It very well might just be me. But every time I eat one of the Staple Foods, a little extra warmth lands in my belly. A little extra comfort envelops my mind. A little extra sparkle creeps into my eyes.

So next time you eat one of these staple foods, I hope you'll stop and remember how awesome they are.

Or at least how weird this blogger named Stephanie is XD

~Stephanie