My Favorite Things, Part Deux

I enjoyed last week's post so much that I decided to go ahead and do another set of favorites this week. You will probably notice that a lot of my favorites involve food. Food is my favorite thing to eat.

• Favorite summer food: This is an easy one. Homegrown tomatoes. Anyone who has eaten a real fresh from the garden tomato knows that store-bought tomatoes taste about as much like real tomatoes as I do. And I don't taste like tomatoes at all. Fresh sliced tomatoes with a little salt are one of the greatest joys of summer. They're also amazing on sandwiches or cut up in salads. They even make better sauces and creamed tomatoes, which, when put over home-baked biscuits will bring a tear of joy to the eye. 

• Favorite vacation spot: This one's pretty easy too. I love pretty much anywhere with an ocean view, but number one would have to be the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It has areas that are full of tourist-y things, like shops, restaurants, and goofy golf, but there are other places where it's nothing but seashore. It's the place where, when I go there, all stress evaporates. I just love it. 

• Favorite Christmas tradition: I'm going to cheat and do a twofer. First, it's my blog so I can do what I want. Second, they're directly connected, so it's only cheating a little. To me it's not Christmas until two important events have happened at my school. First is the tree lighting. It's not an actual tree. It's lights on the front of the building that look like a giant tree with a star on top. Every year at the beginning of December, there's a neat ceremony involving caroling, cookies, hot chocolate, and a visit from Santa (played gleefully by yours truly). At the end, all the other school lights go out and the tree is lit. It's positively magical. Second chronologically, though not in significance, is the choir Christmas concert. More specifically, the traditional processional that involves the choir coming in from the back, candles in hand (sadly, electric candles now), singing "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." If you hear that and don't get chills, you're probably dead. 

• Favorite sandwich: This is kind of a sad one. My favorite sandwich doesn't exist anymore, at least not anywhere near me. There was a restaurant called Bennigan's in the mall in Charleston, a city a little over an hour's drive from my town. They served a Monte Cristo that was nearly beyond description. I've had Monte Cristos in other places, but none compare with this. Granted, it's a once-a-year kind of treat, but oh my gosh it's good. In case you don't know, this is a club sandwich that's battered and deep fried served with powdered sugar on top and raspberry jam to dip it in. It's the perfect combination of savory and sweet. Unfortunately, Bennigan's is no more and no other restaurant's rendition comes within miles of being as good. 

franchisetimes.com

• Favorite movie: I struggle with this one and, if I did this post in a few months, I might change my mind. But if you asked me ten times what my favorite movie is, about nine of those times the answer would be Casablanca. It has it all: love, patriotism, self-sacrifice, suspense, and one of the most beautiful women to ever grace the planet--Ingrid Bergman. If you haven't seen it, you're missing out. Humphrey Bogart play's Rick, an expatriate bar-owner in Morocco who has given up on love--until Ilsa, his one true great love walks in one night, hoping Rick, whose heart she broke, will help her and her freedom-fighting husband escape Nazi-occupied Africa. The supporting cast is a who's who of great 40's stars: Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, and Paul Henreid. Lorre and Greenstreet were also in another great Bogey film, The Maltese Falcon. This movie is famous for, among other things, having quite possibly the most misquoted line in all cinema. People almost always say the line wrong by saying, "Play it again, Sam." The line is actually, "Play it Sam." It also has another oft-quoted line: "Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine."  I could go on and on, but I'll end by saying that everyone needs to see this film. 

Bogey and Bergman were phenomenal

Okay, there you go. Five more favorites. I'll do something different next week, but stay tuned: I'll have more favorites soon.