E.T. & The Sloppy Joes

Was anyone looking for a band name? Because... YOU'RE WELCOME. I know this might seem a tad strange and random, but what is a blog for if not letting people in on the things that make you you?

E.T. phone home! (x)

So something you may not know about me is that my whole life I have had an aversion to the following things:

1. E.T.
2. sloppy joes

The story goes a little something like this: My mom, bless her, wanted to have a fun girl's night in when we were elementary school kiddos. She was going to introduce is us to the magical world of these two things and be a super cool mom while doing it. I mean, I remember being really excited that we got to sit on the floor. As we ate dinner! In the family room! This may well have been my first taste of rebellion, even if it was my mom's idea. But the thing is, I was so terrified of E.T. that I've never been able to eat sloppy joes since. 

Well now that I'm in my mid-twenties and currently facing zero time to stir up well-crikey-I-should-have-my-own-cooking-show wonders, I found myself asking, "What can I make that will last me a whole week, but takes barely any preparation?" I almost cringed when I heard my cool mom say the dreaded words... "Sloppy joes." (enter slow-mo mode) No!!!!!!!!! 

Then I asked myself how a girl who has started watching the series Hannibal is letting herself be defeated by a little alien from the 80s. How ridiculous! So I broke down and made them. But I didn't stop there. Oh no! I couldn't stop there. I'd gone too far. I rented E.T. too... 

With this hardwood floor as my table and 2/10 on plate presentation, I have no current plans to go into food blogging.

At first, it seemed like elementary school me- in her infinite wisdom, bowl cut, and horse shirts- had a very good point. E.T.'s fingers are creepy and he waddle-runs in a way that still strikes fear in my heart and then there's the whole extendable neck business, which is the very definition of terrifying. I have the heebie jeebies just thinking about it! But then there was baby-faced Henry Thomas (you may have heard me coo over him before) with his bad pizza delivery skills and frog-saving heroism. There was also an epic score, a little girl named Gertie, and scenes that really tugged on my heart-strings. And I eventually warmed up to E.T., perhaps due to the weird purring noise he makes or maybe, quite honestly, having a sheet thrown over his head... So this qualifies me as 'not entirely heartless,' right? Anyway, having previously blocked everything about this film except Reese's Pieces from my mind, I now completely understand why this is a classic and am glad to have it under my belt. That being said... it's still a no on the extendable neck business. No. No. No. No. No.

E.T. Sloppy joes. Maybe not your typical recipe for fear. But it was certainly one of mine and I'm glad I gave it another go! 15+ years later and, it turns out, I have a taste for it after all! Do you have any "haunting" memories from your childhood that keep you from doing certain things? Try them again! They just might become a new go-to years and years and years later!