Rice-A-Roni and Mom

I have mentioned before that growing up, my mother made a lot of the same meals on a rotation throughout the week. Meatloaf, Pork Chops, Spaghetti, Salisbury Steak and Hamburger Helper were among the frequent rotation. She would arrive home from work and start cooking in her Weiss Market uniform which was light blue and yellow. Polyester, of course. Once I was old enough, Mom would ask me to start gathering her ingredients when she walked in the door. She would get the pots and pans out that she needed. Gathering the ingredients was a fun chore for me and I felt like I was helping. Mom didn't take too many shortcuts, I must say. She never indulged in the instant mashed potatoes and she didn't buy things like Minute Rice. She peeled her own potatoes, even on a weeknight and she chopped her own vegetables for the salad.

Not only did we have a rotation of main dishes, but we also had the side dish rotation. Certain side dishes were reserved specifically for holidays, like Broccoli Casserole and Fruit Salad. The everyday side dishes would be Mashed Potatoes and Rice. One of my favorite meals at Mom's was her pork chops (still on the bone) and Rice-A-Roni. Helping my mother cook the Rice-A- Roni will always be a memory for me, because she seemed to be as excited as I was to eat the rice. Normally we had plain, white rice and this was such a treat for us. Mom would tell me to get the butter out of the fridge and she would brown the rice out of the box and then add the water.

My favorite part of cooking Rice-A-Roni was that Mom would sing the song with me while we were stirring. The song was from the commercial and went like this:

"Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco treat! Rice-A-Roni, the flavor can't be beat! Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco treat!"

We always ran out of the Rice-A-Roni at the dinner table because we all had second helpings even though Mom made two boxes. She would normally serve our pork chops with Rice-A-Roni and a vegetable, like corn. Dad used to mix his vegetable with the rice and soon, my brother and I followed suit. If we were lucky enough to have leftovers, we would mix them together and it would make a great snack or lunch the next day. I would even eat the Rice-A-Roni clumped together right out of the refrigerator.

Whenever Mom and I saw the commercial, we would sing along and the guy at the end would say something like, "Rice-A-Roni, the better alternative to potatoes!" I always saw the trolley in the commercial and wondered if Rice-A-Roni really was the San Francisco treat. I wondered if people there always had Rice-A-Roni instead of potatoes. Even now, when I visit the city and see the trolley pass by, I can't help but think of my Mom singing that song with me in our little, yellow kitchen in Hurley, NY.