Peanuts and Coke

The central Florida region has been plagued with Gastroenteritis lately. Unfortunately, my son and I both got it. For him though, it lasts 12 hours, and for me, a week. I have not been cooking at all. When I am under the weather, I like to eat comfort foods. Things that I don’t have to make. I rely on my husband to do the cooking, or at least be in charge of the take out. While most people revert to only eating soups and broths, for some reason I have different cravings. Over the past week, I have indulged in hamburgers, subs, pizzas, and even a chocolate covered doughnut with sprinkles.

Today I have indulged one more craving, a frozen burrito, probably the most unhealthy thing in the frozen food isle, besides a hungry man dinner. But I rationalize my bad behavior because I only do this maybe once a year or less, and I have dropped 4 pounds over the past week. My craving right now is for the ultimate sweet salty convenience store snack. I have to find an 8oz bottle of Coke so that I can empty a little bag of salty peanuts into it, and then enjoy the sweet salty goodness.

I learned of this southern delicacy from watching my Dad. I watched him many times empty a small bag of salted peanuts in a small (8 oz)  glass bottle of Coke. I carefully watched him take the first swallow of Coke out of the bottle to make room for some of the peanuts, then carefully get a swallow of Coke with a few peanuts. The peanuts make the Coke bubble alot, so you have to put them in a little at a time. The trick is to get a swallow of Coke and a few peanuts so that there are no peanuts left in the bottom of the bottle. I would follow suit, emptying my own little bag of peanuts in my Coke. Watching the bubbles is so much fun! I would then carefully tip the bottle of Coke upwards, letting the peanuts fall towards my mouth before grabbing a few with my mouth full of Coke. The sweet and salty combination was the perfect treat for a hot day.

I didn’t have this snack for years after Coke stopped the bottle return program, and stopped using the old fashioned small bottles. I didn’t have the treat again until we found the old fashioned 8 oz glass bottles in the grocery store. Hopefully I can find a glass bottle today.

Have you ever heard of or enjoyed peanuts in your Coke?