Of Pumpernickel and Peaches

As I have said before, my memory from the earlier time of my life is scant, to say the least. Oftentimes the pieces aren't even scenes or vignettes, but rather just snapshots, as if I only remember the specific moment in time, or saw an actual photo wherein my whole memory of it is based. Of what I do recall, music and food seem to be the focal points, or triggers of those memories.

One such memory is of... Pumpernickel Bread. It was a small square loaf of a dark, rather dense and perhaps almost chewy bread from the grocery store. I liked it toasted, with butter, eaten with mom's canned peaches. On a side note, I remember when I got a bit older, I used to help mom in the kitchen when she was canning. After the peaches had spent sufficient time in the hot water bath, I would stand at the kitchen sink and carefully peel off the skin for her. I don't think that I was allowed to cut them in half and remove the stone though. (The peaches were fresh and firm, cut neatly in half and the stone removed cleanly.) Ah... fresh peaches... More memories flooding back. Every summer we used to take a family road trip so that mom could pick up tonnes of peaches and tomatoes for canning, and we'd get to take home a big glass jug of local Apple Cider and bottles of different fruit syrup for pancakes. It was always super hot when we went. I was just remarking the other day to an old friend about this. I don't remember any one trip in its entirety, but I remember the scenery, the highway, and the food. Mom would pack snacks and lunch in a cooler. The only thing I recall is... Brownies Fried Chicken (our local version of KFC) and... the riceballs she used to make ... Yum!

Oh... I got sidetracked... Pumpernickel Bread... I was at the local bakery checking out... stuff... and noticed a new bread sitting in the display... It was... Pumpernickel... Expensive, at $4.29, but I had to. And besides, it was a rather large loaf... not like the one we used to get from the grocery store. Anyways... mom's canned peaches just can't be simulated by the canned stuff you get at the store. (Is canning a dead art?) But... what I discovered was pretty damn good... Pumpernickel bread toasted, with peanut butter and... Orange Marmalade. Sigh.