Once upon a time, after all their children had left the nest, my parents opened their home to Jeff, a college student who had been hired as the church’s summer youth director. He was a nice young man, and they enjoyed getting to know him. But as summers tend to do, it flew by, and it was soon time for Jeff to return to college.
The Gifts
The day he packed his car to leave, Mom gave him two tins of chocolate peanut clusters. (For those of you who don’t know, peanut clusters are simply peanuts stirred into melted almond bark before being scooped out to harden in small clusters.) One tin of candy was for Jeff, but the other was for Mom’s friend, Barbara, who worked at the college.
The “Oops”
Jeff promised to deliver the candy to Barbara as soon as he returned to campus, and Mom waited for her to call. Several days passed, but no call came. Finally, Mom broke down and called Jeff.
She discovered the reason Barbara hadn’t called was because she hadn’t received the candy. Jeff confessed that when he returned to campus, he’d forgotten it. He’d left the candy tins in his car and the candy had quickly melted. DYK, August in Texas can be just a tad hot?
The Embarrassment
When Mom filled the tins, she added cut-to-size dividers of wax paper in between the layers of candy. So rather than one large lump, the candy had melted into several round, tin-size layers. To Jeff’s horror, the pretty peanut clusters now looked like cow patties.
Embarrassed, he’d hoped Mom would forget all about the candy. She didn’t. But to his relief, she laughed and told him not to worry. She knew Barbara would find it funny, too.
After hearing the story, I began to refer to peanut clusters as “cow patties,” to tease Mom. Unfortunately, the name stuck in my mind. DYK offering someone a cow patty to snack on can be embarrassing?
The Morals of This Story
How food looks, or what it’s called, isn’t as important as how it tastes.
Unless you’re allergic to, or simply don’t like peanuts or chocolate—and yes, believe it or not, there are some people who don’t like chocolate—if you’re offered a “cow patty,” don’t hesitate to accept. They really are tasty.
Sounds intriguing – that might have to go in a book one day 🙂 My husband makes a sort of Rice Krispy bar (no marshmallows) topped with chocolate/butterscotch chips – someone eating one once said they were delicious and joked they sank to the bottom of your stomach – they’ve been called Sinkers ever since!
“Sinkers?” I love it. It’s so descriptive. Isn’t it funny how things and people get their nicknames? But we forget how confusing they can be to anyone not in on the joke. Maybe one day this example will end up in a book. Lol
Well, just happened to go back & read your cow patty story from July 16. AM I the Barbara in the story? If so, I am honored! A friend at our church always makes little candies for different things at church that call for goodies. The little candies are made from oatmeal, nuts and I don’t know what else….easy to make, no cooking needed. Anyway, they look like it and I always asked her if she made the cow patties when we have eatin’ meetings at church, and we always get a laugh. I must have come up with that from your mom’s peanut cluster cow patties…and the rest is history! 😊
Yes, Barbara, you are the “Barbara” in the story. But the “cow patties” came from Jeff. He said that’s what the peanut clusters looked like after they’d melted. He must have confessed that to you, and you stole it to use for your friend’s candy. Lol