Velveeta

Okay, one more. Velveeta ...

Some of you (sad) (regular) visitors to this site know that I've been doing a desultory series of posts about food staples from my boyhood. You've already read (surely!) about my fond memories of Bisquick, hot dogs, Kraft Dinner, etc. And now ... another. Velveeta.

I don't remember any other cheese (product) in my early boyhood home though, later, when Dad and Mom became more sophisticated and drank wine before supper, I think they also had some exotic cheese around--like Swiss and Tillamook Cheddar (my dad's favorite--it's from Oregon, his birthplace, his idea of heaven).

But for us boys? Nuttin' but Velveeta, which came in a yellow brick (I feel a song coming on---follow me?) and required a device to slice off the sort of chunk your recipe (or hunger) required. We had the kind you see pictured below--but not nearly so ... fancy. A frame, a wire. That was it.

And what were the uses of Velveeta? Grilled cheese sandwiches, hot dogs (small slices of cheese inserted in a cut in the hot dog), cheeseburgers, veggies (Velveeta melted and poured on top). And, of course, just random slices to ingest when there was nothing more appealing in the house (like Oreos--but we'll, uh, get into them in a subsequent post).

I have to say I loved Velveeta--believed (for far too many years) that it was the best cheese in the world, none of which I'd ever tasted, of course. When I left home to begin my teaching life (fall of 1966), I still bought it regularly, and after I was married (December 1969), the tradition continued: Joyce had also grown up with it--and loved it.

Then, gradually, it disappeared from our shopping list. I'm not sure why. But we haven't bought any for decades.

The other day, doing our weekly grocery shopping, I looked for some--but did not find, in our local Acme, any of the yellow bricks I remembered. There was some pre-sliced and -packaged Velveeta available, but, somehow, it just didn't seem right to buy it. I wanted to travel the familiar yellow brick road, not venture a journey down some road that just wasn't right, you know?

So, I will look elsewhere. And if I find it, I will probably buy some. Just to see. Just to taste. Just to put on a grilled cheese--just one more time.

Unless, of course, I like it ... and then what?

* The official list of Velveeta ingredients is as follows: Milk, Water, Whey, Milk Protein Concentrate, Milkfat, Whey Protein Concentrate, Sodium Phosphate, Contains 2% or less of: Salt, Calcium Phosphate, Lactic Acid, Sorbic Acid, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Alginate, Enzymes, Apocarotenal, Annatto, Cheese Culture.