Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Spam - It Hits the Spot

First a nice shot of the waves at the beach yesterday.


Spam - It hits the spot.

Well, not my spot, but plenty of people out there are supporting Hormel's product of gelatinous meat product. Apparently it is a BIG deal here in Hawaii.

I would like to buy a can of the innocuous stuff, but I'm quite frankly afraid to. Even in the name of science. Why? When I was a child, I vaguely remember someone opening a can of Spam and it making that sickening vacuumed sucking sound as it - and what looked like clear to mildly yellow jell-o - plopped out onto a plate. Yuck! I am a visual person. Back then, I could hear fairly well, too, so I was an audio person as well. The two together created a deep-seated fear of Spam.

Irrational as it is, it is.

Until I went to a cabin owned by my SIL and her husband, gracious folks that they are. Her MIL made some delicious Japanese fare . . . with Spam! I ate it. I knew what it was before I ate it. I did not want to offend anyone and also, it did not look like it did "way back when". It was pretty good. A nice, salty, hammy taste and texture.

I found in the commissary the other day that they even sell the stuff in vacuum-sealed packets in single, fully cooked slices. I almost caved.

I'm just that afraid of the glop and liquid that may surround this product. I have heard that it is not like that any more . . . but still . . .

So, the kind of Spam I've been buying does come in a Spam can . . . but its contents are 130 pieces of puzzle. We have all four of the puzzles currently offered. Here's a group picture. I'm sure if we decided to eat the puzzles with a little salt, it might come close to what Spam tastes like. I'm kidding!



When I finally do "cave" to the crave . . . or mere curiosity, I will definitely blog about it.

This is what we do when we live in Hawaii and it's threatening Tropical Storm Felicia. Puzzles, sew, and wait. I do not know what we are waiting for. I do hope it is absolutely nothing. We can have a lot of fun with nothing going on.

10 comments:

  1. We used to have grilled spam sandwiched for breakfast once a week...my Dad would make it for us...I haven't touched the stuff since! ;)

    I love the new picture at the top!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh! Therese you beat me to it! I was going to comment the same thing. It must be a dad thing. I think Dad's will eat anything pretty much. But we always had spam and egg sandwiches. It was actually, as I recall, pretty tasty. I haven't had it since. The ingredients are pretty straight forward..no mystery meat and very little chemicals:
    # chopped pork shoulder meat with ham meat added
    # salt (for binding, flavor, and firmness)
    # water (to help in mixing)
    # sugar (for flavor)
    # sodium Nitrite (for color and as a preservative)
    The nitrite is never good, but that's in most deli meats. If you find the low sodium brand it's even better. Slice it thin, fry it on both sides, place some eggs and cheese on top and slide it between two pieces of toast. I think you'll like it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, I love that new header picture!!!! I never know what I'm going to find over here, your blog looks lovely!

    SPAM!! My mom made it I think every Saturday!! She would fry it though, so she'd wash off that jellowy stuff and slice it, I only liked the really thin, crisp pieces. I can not even imagine people eating it without cooking it!! Spam sandwiches, with mayo and mustard.

    Spam with soup,(canned) our Saturday meal, yucko!! Sorry, I will never buy it, it was not that good. Nowadays, we have real fresh ham to buy, things seem so much more accessable or something.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Spam sandwiches are a delicacy around our house. Sliced extra thin, fried quickly to a crispy finish, tons of mayo on squishy white bread, and iceberg lettuce.

    It's a big deal because a. Spam is kinda pricey b. we have to actually buy squishy white bread (some of the time we use our good sour dough) c. we never have iceberg lettuce. You need the iceberg and mayo to kill the saltiness.

    I have some old Life magazines from around WW II showing ads for Spam with mom serving it up on a fancy plate. The top is scored like a real ham and it even has cloves stuck in the top. What a riot...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Those pictures might serve as the next series of Spam canned puzzles. Maybe. We love the one w/ the Spam on the plate. Hilarious.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Confession time....we kind of like it around here! We don't have it that often (it is expensive believe it or not)....but, we have it with macaroni & cheese. I cut it up in small cubes and saute it until it gets slightly crispy. Then, I just mix it in with mac & cheese. The kids and the husband LOVE it! I try to keep at least 4 cans of it in my "storm kit". Just as an FYI...don't try the "lite" Spam...it doesn't cook up as well and the flavor is...well lets just say....dry. It is FULL of sodium so if you are watching your salt....this is not the food to eat. I've never tried it sliced up, sandwhich style....but I bet it would be good with eggs for breakfast.

    ReplyDelete
  7. LOL, you've discovered the Hawaiian delicacy :-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Eeewwwww never cared much for it and to me, the smell with the opening whoosh sound is even worse, but having said that, if I was really hungry..really hungry....guess its not much worse than a hot dog...but still..eewww! Ha!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I have such bad memories of spam. The smell of it makes me feel like puking. When i was a little kid the school meals often consisted of 'spam fritters'...which were actually chinks of spam dipped in batter and fried. They started cooking them at morning break and the smell of them hung around all day. Gross!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I was diagnosed as HEPATITIS B carrier in 2013 with fibrosis of the
    liver already present. I started on antiviral medications which
    reduced the viral load initially. After a couple of years the virus
    became resistant. I started on HEPATITIS B Herbal treatment from
    ULTIMATE LIFE CLINIC (www.ultimatelifeclinic.com) in March, 2020. Their
    treatment totally reversed the virus. I did another blood test after
    the 6 months long treatment and tested negative to the virus. Amazing
    treatment! This treatment is a breakthrough for all HBV carriers.

    ReplyDelete