It’s 6:30 on a Sunday night. Dad’s on the couch watching “Pennsylvania Outdoor Life.” I knew the sound of Don Jacobs’ voice as I listened from the kitchen. Mom would be working on prepping our Sunday dinner for our seven o’clock show of “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”
AFV started to air in late 1989, so I was four years old. Sunday was always special because it was one night out of the week we were allowed to eat in the living room in front of the TV. Mom did most of the work, but I would be there as she shredded the cheese. Most Sundays we consumed nachos and cheese with Sunset chocolate malt ice cream with cherries in it. The nachos weren’t the jar cheese sauce. Tostitos nachos were laid on a plate with extra sharp cheese sprinkled all over it. OK, not sprinkled — probably more like piled. We were and still are a cheese family. But some Sundays would be pizza Triscuits or some other concoction made from a cracker, cheese, sauce, and pepperoni.
When Mom was done shredding the cheese, I felt like a little chef grabbing a piece of pepperoni. I’d then spoon a little tomato sauce over it and sprinkle it with cheese. I got a kick out of making them for my dad. There I was in my cute little cabbage patch jammies and cookie monster slippers, running in a special little one bite pepperoni pizza without the crust. Man, I wish I still had those cookie monster slippers. It’s funny because I also remember those nights as I got older when we lived on Grimesville Road. I was fourteen when we moved there. I would still make my dad pepperoni pizzas or run him in a nacho while he watched POL. He didn’t watch it as often at that point; I think it depended on the episode. Dad was a busy man with cars to wash, grass to mow, and he didn’t sit much. Still doesn’t!
There we all sat in the living room as the lead song from AFV hit the TV, and Bob Saget returned for another great week of people’s most embarrassing moments. The opening song is embedded in my head forever — “We’ve got laughs from coast to coast to make you smile, a real-life look at each of you, to capture all that style. You’re the red, white, and blue, oh the funny things you do, America, America; this is you.
“Stories from your friends next door, they never told. You might be a star tonight, so let that camera roll. You’re the red, white, and blue, oh the funny things you do, America, America; this is you!”
That song never gets old, and no lie, if I hear this song on TV and it’s not a Sunday, I instantly crave nachos and cheese! I swear my mouth starts to water. AFV and nachos and cheese just go together.
Let’s jump ahead to the late 1990s when I first met my husband. It was on a Sunday, and we were on our first date. He brought over his dirt bike so we could ride together. I had a Yamaha 250, and he had a Kawasaki 80. My bike was mammoth next to his, but his was much faster. My ole’ Yama dog was indeed a dog. She was a tank, but dang, did she ride good. We had a fun afternoon rippin’ around together. When we were loading up his bike at the end of the day, he told me he was hungry. I wasn’t sure if my mom would allow a boy I had just met to join us for dinner yet or not, so I went in and asked. She told me we weren’t having anything special, but if he wanted nachos and cheese, he was welcome to stay. I went out and told Chris, and he said it sounded good. Guys, this was the very meal with my future husband. He still says that the nachos and cheese were a deal maker, and he knew he would be with me forever. Haha! He would then join us for years to come on the famous “Nachos and Cheese Sundays.”
All these years later, we have two kids, and every single Sunday since they have been little, we do the same thing every Sunday night. Watch AFV, and if we are caught up, we watch AGT or something else. We all get our TV trays out with our plates of nachos and bowls of ice cream. Just kick back and relax before Monday rolls around again. We even have a button on our microwave programmed to heat nachos. We take our nachos seriously around here. I love how Kenzy has memorized the dog park clips. “Prepare for a pack of pooches; we are going to the dog park,” she says right along with host Alfonso. She’s hooked like her momma and hums the theme song to AFV when it comes on.
Chris and I have said to each other that we want to keep the tradition alive. Continue to have the kids, as long as they will come, as they grow older. Someday even have the grandkids over on Sunday nights. I can see them all sprawled across the floor with plates of nachos as the theme song from AFV comes on. I’ll still instantly crave a nacho and be thrilled to pass this tradition on. Tyler says he is never moving out because the food is too good here, and Kenzy wants to marry daddy, so I’m looking good for a while yet. I just know that someday, as my babies grow older, I’ll still have them to eat whenever they can come, and I hope to get some Sunday evenings in there. Maybe they will even start the tradition with their own families, but either way, I have to say that Sunday nights are one of my favorites. Sunday nights will stick with me forever.
Sunday Nachos
What I use:
– Multigrain Tostito Scoops
– Cabot Extra Sharp Cheese
Place nachos on a plate and spread out. Shred as much cheese as you want in a bowl, then sprinkle over top. Heat on low power for 1 minute in the microwave.
Grab your favorite bowl of ice cream, and a salad if you may.
Laugh, relax and enjoy some Sunday nachos.
