Sometimes I pat myself on the back for knowing something, and other times I stand around waiting for someone else to do it because you know, you don't want to look too proud, but this is one of those times that I simply must toot my own horn because I was not only right, I was dang-flat-out right, and na-na-na-boo-boo to the kids I went to high school with who made fun of me; you know who you are!!
I was that kid, and maybe you know one or two of us, I was that kid who ate licorice, chewed clove-flavored gum, and couldn't get enough of those sticky good sesame seed candies from the Asian store. I couldn't wait to visit my grandparents because I could sneak out of their backyard, cross a few streets and fields, and make my way to the part of town my parents whispered about; Oklahoma City's own "Chinatown". They had a live fish market, and they had weird food for sure. One of the things they had were sticky sheets of candy that you weren't able to bend and break, you had to cut through it. It was made of sugar or corn syrup I'm sure, but 99% of it was nothing but sesame seeds; gloriously stuck together with love. I could not get enough.
Because I didn't want anyone to know I had gone by myself to the stores we were all forbidden to go to, I could only buy enough to eat on the way back, and then hope Mom didn't find the tiny seeds in my pockets later on; but that was never happened. She knew. Moms know. When I got a little older she would take me to the stores to buy it, but she wouldn't share it with me; she thought it was disgusting. I have to this day, no idea who introduced it to me, but I can't stop eating it.
In high school, we had a few cafeteria ladies who swore by sesame seeds as well, and they added them to several of our food items. I loved it. My friends hated it. I remember saying how good sesame seeds were for you, and I think I even said then that they could be the reason I'm so chill - - and now I know through research that I may have been right all along about that! Sesame seeds and sesame oil literally help to reduce anxiety and stress levels in both animals and humans! Not only that, it helps with pain, promotes and releases serotonins and it lowers bad cholesterol. WHAT? Will you look at that? Little Jude knew something way way way back in the day!! Do the dance.
Not many people like black licorice either. My mom would say it's like eating tar. I never really tried tar before I was four, but after the 10th or 100th time my mom made the comparison I decided to try it, and she was wrong. Yep, that woman was absolutely and completely wrong. Licorice was so much better than street tar, which was the only type of tar I could find. Licorice had a better taste than tar, a better texture, a better consistency, and it went down so much better than tar ever could. I don't think I actually tried tar more than a few times, but yeah, I had her dead to rights on that one!
Today, because I'm a grown-up, I drive my own car, and I have the rights of an American citizen, I can get into my own vehicle and drive my happy self to the Asian section of our city, which is no longer referred to as "Chinatown OKC", but we do distinguish it from the rest of the area by calling it the "Asian Market Area"; where some of the best food is served and they still stock my favorite treat -- but not in sheets these days. I have to go the other side of town to get "rounds" of it, but at my favorite store to pick it up, I get bags consisting of bars of sesame seed candy. Some brands are better than others.
Let me just say - - and I say it with such a happy face -- next to chocolate, sesame seeds candy ranks right there; which is next to chocolate. I'm not stupid. Chocolate will always be King! (dark over light, and if it has raspberry anywhere near it, I'm all over it.) Now, I'm thinking of a new recipe; one that will have chocolate-covered sesame seeds rolled in raspberry mash, then dipped again in chocolate - - and rolled in sesame seeds. Dare I dream?
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