Keith walks through the door gruffly and slaps a plastic bag on the kitchen counter.
Him: “You wanna hear something awful?”
Me, bracing myself because I really didn’t want to hear something awful but my man was clearly disturbed: “What is it, Baby? What happened?”
Him: “You can’t even get a Moon Pie at Kroger anymore. You can’t get the danged thing at Randall’s. You can’t even get one at Amanda’s fancy HEB. Not a Moon Pie on a single shelf. Good grief.”
Me: Silent. Staring. Baffled.
Him: “Do you know the only place in this town you can find a Moon Pie anymore is Bass Pro Shop?”
Me: “I had no idea.”
But, thought to myself that it might explain some things. However, I didn’t say that. He was too raw. Been through too much. This was no time to speak the truth in love. This was the time for lies.
Me again: “That’s awful, Honey. I’m so sorry.”
There was only one thing that was going to make my man feel better. Our spirits intertwined, we both seemed to know. I nodded toward the bag and he opened it. He pulled out a chocolate Moon Pie. I pulled out a banana Moon Pie. And we ate them in total silence.
But in my heart I felt that inner glee bloggers feel when you know that you’ve just had an encounter that is destined to become a spectacular blog post. It’s a rush of sparkling, clean adrenalin. Keith was just about to head to the ranch so I said, plotting, of course, “Honey, do you want me to just send you with a couple of these and save the rest?” (He’d gotten a large bag full. After all, they’re hard to find.) So, he said, just as I knew he would, “Yep, that’s what we better do.”
So he headed out the door and down I-10 with a ration of one-a-day and I headed to work with a bag of Moon Pies. On my way, I called AJ and said, “Bring your camera to lunch. I have some pictures I need you to take for a blog post. It’s going to be great.” Only, when she came to lunch, between the baby and all the commotion of the restaurant, she didn’t have time to take the shots.
Her: “Can I take them home with me and do it there?”
Me: “Yep, and then be sure to give them to Curtis.” And that was the exact moment the plan went totally awry. MY MEANING WAS: GIVE THEM TO CURTIS SO HE CAN BRING THEM BACK TO WORK AND I CAN RETURN THEM UNSCATHED TO THE KITCHEN OF KEITH MOORE, MY MOON PIE MAN.
Thinking we clearly understood one another, I promptly forgot.
Until last night after Keith got home from the ranch and I heard the biggest ruckus in the kitchen followed by colorful choices of words.
Me: “What on earth is the matter?”
Him: “I can’t find my Moon Pies!”
Me, but only to self: “Oh my gosh. Please, no.”
So I text AJ: “Your father is tearing the kitchen apart looking for his Moon Pies. Where are they?”
Oh, the painful finality of her response. At times of crisis, all you can do is turn to Scripture.
“She took of the [Moon Pie] thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.”
And swore I’d told her to.
It was a rough night at the Moore house. Sometimes a man doesn’t need his woman. He just needs his Moon Pie. The man has the taste buds of a ten year-old.
Thank goodness, the sun came up again this morning even after a moonless night. But there will be a reckoning at Bass Pro today.
Here are the moon pies before things went wrong – very, very wrong.
And the bag from Bass Pro.
So, OK, Siestas. So it made me think about you. What treat from your childhood do you still long to have?
Cracker Jacks in the box and Mountain Dew in a glass bottle. . .I don’t drink Mountain Dew now, but it was a special treat (every week) from my Grandpa Orr. We would get in his old pick up and drive to the country store, and that is what he would buy us. I was only 9 when he died, but I remember him. He was a hard worker, but he always had time to give us Cracker Jacks, Mountain Dew and a silver dollar.
My mom says there’s always Moon Pies at the 99cent Only stores in Arizona. And from their website, there’s plenty of them in TX. Worth checking out! My hubby’s dangerous when he heads to the Bass Pro Shop…
And when we lived in Arkansas, there was a restaurant just over the border into Missouri that served bean soup with a Moon Pie on top–still in the package.
Childhood favorite treat would have to be anything from Haribo gummis. I grew up in Germany.
Amity
The long defunct potato chips called "Chipos". They were tiny, tiny waffleweave design, and very salty.
Oh, and M&Ms before they took away the tan ones and replaced them with that awful blue.
I have never in my life even heard of a Moon Pie.
Now you’ve got me all curious as to what I’m missing!
Tell Keith to come on up to TN…we have an RC cola Moon Pie Festival. I have been trying to get my dad to come up for that because that is something he always talked about growing up… RC cola and a Moon Pie!!LOL
you can always find moon pies at Cracker Barrell. There are one of my father in-laws favorite!
Delaware punch was an awesome treat for me.
Boy, I am getting a hankerin’ reading all these posts! I can’t decide:
1) Valentine’s conversation hearts. Love that they trot them out in early January.
2) Bottle caps, especially the root beer flavor.
3) Those silly candy necklaces. Love ’em! Pure sugar. yum.
DYING. I am dying from laughing and crying my eyes out, totally sympathising with this situation.
My husband’s childhood food of choice are Little Debbie’s Fudge Rounds. Can’t.Get.Enough!
Absolutely 100% SMORES!!!! Is there anything better on this side of Heaven than a Graham cracker, melted chocolate, and a gooey marshmallow. I’m convinced they will be in Heaven!
Christy
My favorite are scrumptiously delicious “Lucky Cakes” found in Alabama as a child with a coke…the little ones in the bottles! What a treat right after school! Don’t know how I ever managed to focus after that sugar rush or why my momma let me eat it at all! Little Debbie’s don’t hold a candle at all to those “Lucky Cakes” that mournfully I fear are no longer around.
Peps Mints Chocolate disc. Still love good mint Chocolate.
Those little chic sticks and a grapico! All time favorite!!
My husband also loves moon pies and RC cola’s.
My ultimate childhood snack is fritos and bean dip. Not the big scoop fritos, but the little skinny ones, so that you can really scrape the bean dip from the sides. Of course, chased down with a real coke over ice.
Jill S
Oh my goodness! I was just dying laughing… my stomach hurts and I've got to wipe tears from my eyes… too funny…
Um, lets see… my grandma would make these wonderful sweet & sour dill pickles and I just love to eat them straight. In the summer we eat them on ham and (home-grown) tomatoes sandwiches and at Thanksgiving we eat them on (left over) turkey sandwiches for supper. I tried to make them once and they turned out horrible! Not sure what I'll do when I can't get them from my mom or aunt any longer.
Thanks!
Anna
I loved “Rock n Roll” cookies as a kid 🙂 It’s a ginger cookie with pink icing smeared on top…Mmmmmmm. Every time I go back home to New Orleans, I have to have them. I feel Keith’s pain because I can only find them in ONE store…and they have since changed the name to “Big Planks.”
Oh it’s got to be Frozen Zero candy bars at the swimming pool. I so long for them. Love Nita
Ahhh…Moon Pies. In Georgia, where I’m from, we always ate them with RC Cola.
Here’s the official Moon Pie site…you can order them from here any time!
http://www.moonpie.com/
My favorite childhood sweets is Sweettarts!!!! LUV THEM!!!
Thank you for the laugh!
Tammy,
Garland, TX
Beth – I read this entry and after a good laugh I thought to myself, “Boy, I can’t remember the last time I saw a MoonPie.” At the store this weekend I saw a new VERY LARGE display of Moon Pies and picked up a couple in honor of Keith. My husband and I shared a moment together and the Moon Pies sure were good!
My husband’s favorite snack is an RC Cola and a moon pie. Mine is a Valomilk that I have to buy each time we eat at Cracker Barrel.
I have seen them at Bass Pro before…now I know why they were there. At the RA campout, there were boxes and boxes of Moon Pies…you can get them somewhere besides Bass Pro too!!!
Oh wow – this just made me crave an ice cold marshmallow Coke from Coleman’s Drive-In (a Pizza Hut now sits where it used to be, I can’t even drive by it)…yum, yum.
MacIntosh’s Toffee! It was a special treat when I lived in Quebec as a young girl. Haven’t eaten it for nearly 40 years but the thought of it still makes my mouth water!
LOVE the Moon Pie blog post!
Lori in MN (tolkienfan)
ORDER ONLINE!
Beth, did you know you can order Moon Pies online from Hometown Favorites.com? I just found the website:
http://www.hometownfavorites.com/searchprods.asp?txtsearch=moon_pie
(I have no connection with this company or website!)
Lori in MN (tolkienfan)
This post just cracked me up. My favorite childhood treat was my grannies strawberry jello with fruit in it. But I have the best recipe for Crock pot Candy.
2- 16oz jars of dry roasted peanuts 1 salted 1 not1 bar of Bakers sweet German chocolate1- 16 oz package of semi sweet chocolate chips1 -1/2- packages of almond bark ( white chocolate) you will use one and a half packages of the white chocolate Put in crock pot in layers in this order do not stir.Cook on LowDo Not Open LidCook 2 hrsThen remove lid stir, and drop on wax paper or parchment paper by spoon full.Let cool
Enjoy,
Alisha Baughn
Richmond, TX
Love RC cola and a chocolate moon pie. The font on the new blog makes me squint.
You can get a 24-count box of moonpies (choco or banana) at Sam’s Club. Hope this helps, maybe. . if Sam’s is closer than Bass Pro. 🙂
Susannah in GA
My grandmother ran and owned a little country store. So, country that if you wanted a bolonie sandwich she would go to the cooler lug out a role of bolonie wrapped in red and slice it for ya, but not before you told her how thick/thin you wanted it.
I loved those hotter than fire fries but were considered a chip!!!
That is too funny! When my son was first learning to talk, my mom would send us Moon Pies from Georgia because we lived in CO at the time and you can’t get them there. Over time, he began to call her “Gramma Moon Pie” because she always included them in the boxes she sent, and she is now called Moon Pie by both of my children!!! Could it be that Keith will become know as Grandpa Moon Pie??
Carrot Cake with cream cheese frosting, and a glass of ice cold milk.
Good, well-done potato chips.
Yes ma’am!
Hubba Bubba Orange Bubble Gum!!!
My fave? Charleston Chews. Put ’em in the freezer, then eat cold. Mmmm…so good!
I think the bigger travesty is I have never had a moon pie!
my body!
My greatest comfort food is a maple bar. We had a bakery in our little town and when I was really little my mom would take me to town and if I was good while she did her shopping she’d take me to the bakery and buy me a fresh maple bar. Love them to this day.
Not sure if anyone has posted, but the last time I went to Sam’s they sold Moon Pies by the case. My hubby is a fan also (of course with a DP to go along with it). He has asked that I stop purchasing them because he eats them too fast.
My childhood treat would be Twinkies-before they messed with the filling and made them “healthier” or whatever they did with it. Actually a lot of the treats from when I was a kid have been made “healthier” or are made with corn syrup instead of straight up sugar.
Chocodiles and Chocolate Peanut Butter mmmm mmmm!
You people are making me hungry. Stop it!
Banana caramels (NOT Laffy Taffy-they are not the same!)
They were a penny a piece and I would be able to buy 10 a week as I budgeted my little allowance of fifty cents a week! I would get a good book and read and eat my caramels!
Nothing better than a Moon Pie and an RC Cola. Just goes to show that ya’ll need to move to Nashville. 🙂 The Moon Pie factory is only an hour and a half away in Chattanooga . . .
Love this! I’d have to say my favorite snack from childhood is Fudge Rounds, mmmm! 😉
They used to have “hockey pucks”, which were 2 oatmeal cookies w/ ice-cream in the middle, covered in chocolate shell. UMMMM But sadly, no more!
OMG!!! I just went to COSTCO and found MOONPIE Heaven!!!! Never, ever, ever have I seen them there!! I took a picture with my phone just to show you all, but I can’t post it. 48 count box even!! Made me LOL right there in the aisle all by myself!! I don’t know if you all have Costco in Houston, but I do know that if they don’t have an item there that you want, if you make a request at their suggestion box they will get them for you!!!!! Maybe even in time for Father’s day!!! Just think you could give him CASES of Moon pies!!!
Blessings,
Shannon
you know, I got some pretty heavy Amish roots, and I think these are what we call whoopie pies…
the Amish make moon pies too, but they are in the shape of a half moon…pie crust with snitz inside (like an apple butter type of thing)…aren’t you going to Lancaster? you may want to check that out…I have some relatives that live right in the middle of Intercourse, the town…they own a wood-making/furniture shop there…ask them.
there is nothing like home-made whoopie pies…and they are really good frozen too!
Beth,
Tell Keith I was in the Cracker Barrel in Greensboro NC last night and they have moon pies, along with NuGrape sodas and Teaberry gum. It was heaven. If you have a Cracker Barrel check it out. I could mail you some.
Sherrie Watson
Oak Ridge NC
I can still remember my granny giving me ten cents so that I could go to the market for and RC Cola(granny pronounced it RoC coler) and a Moon Pie. Is there any other treat that compares
My husband and I love reading stories about you and Keith together!
Boston Baked Beans for me.
Brach’s Jelly Nougats for him.