Pistachios - Monday Memory

Photo courtesy of
jtlewis, StockFreeImages.com

I first learned about pistachios from my brother, Bob, who was (and still is) 11 years older than me.  While in high school in the 1950s he worked at Beazel's, Mineral Ridge's only grocery store.

One afternoon when I was perhaps 7 or 8, we were driving to I don't remember where when he pulled into Beazel's parking lot and told me to wait in the car.  (You have to understand that this was a small town--a village, really--in the 1950s, when kids waited in cars without parents or older brothers being concerned.) 

Bob walked out of the store a few minutes later with a clear bag with something red in it.  He told me they were pistachios, a kind of nut, and offered me some to try.  Oh my goodness, I loved them immediately.  They were delicious and I think we finished the bag.  If you've ever eaten red pistachios you probably remember how they turned your fingers red.  It seemed strange but I never asked why.

Though I loved them, they weren't something I spent my money on.  What little money I had came from my allowance and mostly went to buy either ice cream cones in the summer, or M&Ms.

It wasn't until years later, as a young adult, that I rediscovered pistachios at a health food coop.  I was surprised that they weren't red but pleased that they were as delicious as I remembered. 

They've become one of my favorite snacks and these days I spend my money on them--and shun M&Ms..
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Did you eat red pistachios as a kid?

I anticipate that Monday Memory posts will become an irregular series focusing on my childhood and young adult memories.  If you are a child of the 1950s, perhaps you will identify with some of the memories I share.

-–Nancy.

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