Sweet and Sour Spam - Just Because

Photo by Rob Robitaille

Nothing makes sense these days.   I walked past our koi pond on the way to my truck, which sits outside the garage because my motorcycle is out and ready to go...if it ever warms up.  The pond was mostly frozen over again and I had to scrape off the windshield because we had record (or near record) lows last night.  I would love to see some warm rain instead of sleet, snow, and ice.  May is just a few days away, dammit!  But not everything that fails to make sense is a bad thing.

The other evening, after working on some remodeling projects, I realized that it was getting late and I hadn't eaten.  As it would happen, I didn't have any meat that wasn't frozen.  So, I started looking through the freezer for something that would thaw quickly and satisfy my craving for meat.  Nothing.  I was just about to give up when I spotted it sitting on my pantry shelf.  A can of Spam.  Now, there appear to be two groups of people in the world, those that love Spam and those that hate Spam.  But, after talking to enough people over the years there are actually four:

1. Those that love Spam and are proud of it.  They may even ask a person at the grocery store where the Spam is, even though they know exactly where it is.  It is their way of letting everyone know they eat Spam and are not ashamed of it.
2. Those that hate Spam, and really do.
3. Those that say they hate Spam, but have never even tried it.
4. Those that say they hate Spam, but enjoy it at home, with the curtains drawn.  They buy it at the store, looking around to make sure no one sees them, then they snatch several cans, put it in their cart and cover it up with the organic tofu and soy milk.  The only person that sees it is the cashier, so they nervously tell them that it is for their grandmother, who just "loves the stuff" because she grew up during the war.

I digress.  So, Spam in hand, my next step was what to do with it. Sweet and sour Spam!  Just what I really wanted, I came to realize.  I think I saw this on a travel show once, but can't remember exactly.  The beauty is that it is really simple, and to my surprise, was very delicious indeed.  After all, isn't cooking all about creativity?  It kind of makes sense, but kind of doesn't, which usually means it has to be good.  It just shows you that you can make something out of seemingly nothing.  What's next?  Maybe Spam Parmesan from the M*A*S*H episode Too Many Cooks.