Your Monday Photo Shoot: Your Collection

"Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it french; sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon makes it Greek; soy makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good."

-Alice May Brock






Your Monday Photo Shoot: Let us see your collection of whatever it is you collect.Thimbles, NASCAR collectables, Star trek figurines...what it is, let's see those tchotchkes!

-John Scalzi

Here it is, finally, my collection of restaurant menus. When we first moved into the cottage we are in now, I was really feeling really sad. I was feeling about as creative as a plain baked potato. I was experiencing a strong case of Anhedonia and the thought of all the unpacking and decorating of a new place was overwhelming. Well, the first few days in the new place we long ones, it was May of 2001, and the hot weather was beginning to kick in. I was alone for about 18 out of 24 hours and I began to get a little anxious about getting the place into shape. One night I was looking through a box and I found a Denny's menu. That is really how it all began.

June and I had stopped in at Denny's for lunch one afternoon about 3 years earlier. We were discussing all kinds of important things about family and upcoming projects we would be doing and there were papers and folders all over the table were we sat to have lunch. When we got up to leave, June accidentally picked up her menu along with all the papers. We didn't realize until we got back to her house that she had made that mistake. We had such a good laugh. She was so embarrassed about having lifted the menu, she couldn't bring herself to take it back. I offered to take it back for her, but that didn't feel right either. I offered to take it home and maybe in a week or so we could go together and return it the next time we went there to grab a bite.

Oddly enough I couldn't get her to go back. LOL. June was getting on in years and she simply couldn't face such a silly mistake. I forgot about the menu , and had apparently placed it in a box of other kitchen items because when I opened the box in 2001, I found some pot holders she had made me and some other little items I had collected like a hamburger press and a Godzilla egg timer. LOL. And there was the menu...looking all shiny and yummy. I thought it might be a hoot to see it on the cabinet door in the kitchen. When Alan came home and saw it...he smiled. It was the first remotely creative thing I had done in months. Now I have a different menu on each of the cabinets. Johnny Rocket's, Chilli's, Bancheros, Doug's Place, TGI Friday's, The Olive Garden, IHOP, LOL. All looking yummy as they inspire me to make my culinary creations. I like collecting menus, they aren't likely to be stolen if some demented circus people (like my family) should break into my home looking for prized possessions, yet those menus mean a lot to this collector. :)

NOTE: Just so you know, I don't steal menus, all I have to do is ask the manager for one, and they usually provide one for free or for a nominal charge. :)

-OndineMonet
Berkeley, California
My Kitchen
November 21st, 2005
Afternoon