"So good, it's almost CREEPY."

Why food is forever associated with sexual images, I will never fully understand. Above is an old McDonalds advertisement for the Ranch BLT using the tag line "So good, it's almost embarrassing". The image, a rather obvious picture of a man having 'lustful thoughts' about the sandwich and the tagline hinting twoards self-pleasurement. The only real guilty pleasure with eating such a sandwich is the high amount of fat and calories that one would be consuming. This particular ad however, puts the emphasis wholey on the fact that it's taste is something to fantasize about.

Focusing on the man in the picture he appears to be in his mid-twenties, for the most part, clean shaven with a bit of stubble, and altogether average. His facial expression is one of distant thought, the drooling mouth attributes to the idea that he is fantasizing. However if you were fanatasizing about a McDonalds sandwich, that alone would be embarrassing enough, much less having 'lusturous' thoughts about it. The target audience is most likely for young adults who are looking for the next taste indulgence. I suppose that the ad is trying to allude to the fact that the sandwich's taste is so pleasureable that you will fanatsize about it long after it has been devoured.

One of the most important details however, is the wording in the bottom left corner. Notice how none of it is about the lettuce or the tomato or any of the health facts. It only attributes to the argument that it tastes good. They in no way try to cover up the fact that it is probably one of the worst possible choices on the menu, what with bacon, ranch, and breaded chicken. Times have changed in these six years and now advertising natural, fresh, and healthier aspects of a meal item have proven more affected. Perhaps it's because we have become a society of health-nuts, leaving or naughty food thoughts to our dreams.

"Pierogi"

Pierogi are a butter soaked, raviolli-like food that my polish Babcia makes. Babcia is polish for Grandma, and her pierogi recipe comes straight from her homeland. My Babcia and Dziadzio are polish immigrants who now reside in Connecticut, making our visits short and rare. When we are together though, my Babcia always makes us pierogi. Made out of a soft dough and filled with anything from potato, cheese, meat, or even blueberries, pierogi are hand shaped to look like little rising suns. You have to let them sit awhile, like my Babcia says; "He need to rest". From there they are drenched with butter and onions and tossed into the oven together where the butter boils the noodle and caramelizes the onions. When it's done, they look and smell delectable.

Another Polish tradition is to empty your fridge of food and place it in front of your guest. My Babcia will offer us anything with our pierogi including whip-cream and strawberry ice-cream which obviously don't go well with butter and potato. Polish hospitality can be deadly when we visit our family in Connecticut, breakfast will be laid out for us long before we wake, and we can have anything from bagels to lasagna. No one has ever weighed the same after a visit to Babcia's house. Even if you deny her offerings, she will continue to pile things onto the table for you and even beg you to eat something. It's a painful sort of love that Babcia shares.

However, one cannot deny the way we miss both Babcia and her pierogi when we leave Connecticut. In a way, pierogi are something to look forward to every time we go back east. Food is the last incentive to visit them again, for the love our large family has for one another is enough to keep us coming back for years. I often think about moving out there with them, but I know I would never fit into the same size jeans again.