My mother is the daughter of a peanut farmer. She and her 5 siblings were raised on peanuts, and they were also raised to wash them down with Coca-Cola. One trick that she learned growing up was to take a package of salted peanuts and add them into the bottom of your glass bottle of Coca-Cola. There was a practical purpose to this: if you were biking home from the corner store, you only had to hang on to the Coke and could leave the peanut bag behind. But also, believe it or not, Coke and salted peanuts, together, TASTE AWESOME!
I know this to be true because I was raised on this, myself. We would often put together this fine concoction on car trips down to the beach, or even just over to the mall, two towns past our own.
Have you ever tried Coke with peanuts? If you haven’t, do me a favor and the next time you stop at a convenient store, buy them both and give it a try. That little bit of salt added to the soda gives it an extra burst of flavor, and by the time you get to those peanuts at the bottom of your bottle (a plastic 20 oz is fine, but I swear the glass version tastes best), you’ll get to enjoy peanuts that have a nice, sweet flavor. Try it; you’ll see!
While the flavor of Coca-Cola and peanuts is good in and of itself, what I enjoy most of all is the memories that seem to come flooding back every time I do this (which isn’t as often as I should…usually just once a year, or so). I am instantly transported to the back seat of my parents’ car, or to the front yard of my grandfather’s house, or even to one of MANY peanut picking parties that we have every year when the peanuts get harvested. My father brings home a truck full of peanuts on the vine, and we always sit outside and pick them off for hours on end.
I also can just imagine my own mother, peddling along on her bicycle in the late 1960s, with a Coca-Cola in her hand, feeling the sunshine on her face and enjoying the treat she got from the corner store. Coca-Cola and peanuts, together, always remind me that sometimes it is the simple things that can bring the most joy. I look forward to the day when I can teach Darah how to pour her peanuts into her Coca-Cola for something extra special! 🙂
I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Coca-Cola® blogging program. If I am one of the first 100 blogs received by SocialsMoms, I will receive a $25 gift card. For more information on the program, click here.
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