Adam’s Ribs

The one negative about moving 3000 miles is the cravings you have that can no longer be fulfilled. There isn’t a Popeye’s Chicken or a Golden Corral within 25 miles of me. These people are uncivilized, I tell you! But the thing I’m craving most at this moment is my best friend’s mother’s arroz con…

The one negative about moving 3000 miles is the cravings you have that can no longer be fulfilled. There isn’t a Popeye’s Chicken or a Golden Corral within 25 miles of me. These people are uncivilized, I tell you!

But the thing I’m craving most at this moment is my best friend’s mother’s arroz con pollo. She once made me a huge batch when I was living alone and down with the flu, and I swear it’s the only reason I’m still alive. It most certainly gave me a reason to live.

arroz con pollo

My best friend posted this picture of the meal in question on his Facebook Page. (I think this is just mean.)

Now that I’m on the opposite side of the continent, odds are very good that I’ll never experience her chicken and rice again, and that realization is enough to make me weep in despair. I really hadn’t thought about what a sacrifice I was making when I relocated. Had I done so, I might have reconsidered. Some things just cannot be replaced.

This made me think about an episode of the show MASH called Adam’s Ribs. After 11 days of being served the same thing over and over and over again, Hawkeye cracks and incites a rebellion in the mess hall. (See the MASH Rebellion here.) Later, he decides that even though he’s in Korea, what he really wants is a batch of ribs from this place in Chicago, and the whole episode is all about the crazy deals and cons they have to do to get these ribs. I enjoyed that episode in the 70’s, but now I’m living it.

If only I had Radar and Klinger here to move mountains for me. I’d be sitting down to a feast of Arroz con Pollo a la Rita by nightfall.

12 responses to “Adam’s Ribs”

  1. Sounds like you need to ask or that recipe!

    1. There’s some indefinable Rita-ness in everything she cooks that can’t be duplicated. 🙂

  2. I love that episode…

  3. Let’s invent a recipe called M*A*S*H potatoes…

    1. Great idea! There’s copyright issues already, though.

  4. My memory tells me, and Google Maps has confirmed, that there is a Popeye’s here in Renton. It is just north of the Walmart, and within 25 miles of Ballard. I will look in a couple of days or so and make sure it is still there [never been inside.] You can get to Renton on the 101 bus, get off on S 7th at the edge of the South Renton park and ride, and just cross Rainier and go another block west. About a quarter mile west is the DK Market, or as I call it the Weird Store, which has uncharted miles of Oriental and Middle European groceries, and there is an Uwajimaya in this town too, though the one in the Int’l District will probably be more convenient for you.
    Maybe you could have your mother;s friend send you that recipe?

    1. Yes, I found that one. It’s more than 25 miles away from me, sadly. I’m just north of Seattle. Definitely not convenient for last minute cravings. Spoiler alert: Popeye’s will ruin you for all other fried chicken. What’s an Uwajimaya?

      1. Uwajimaya is a big grocery store specializing on Oriental food and related items. You will find things you never heard of before. Happy hunting.

      2. Yes, I sometimes feel like it’s a different country here. 🙂

      3. I miss Uwajimaya. 🙁

      4. Nice to not know it, then. I miss enough stuff as it is. 🙂

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