Enter the half-dark gloom of Riddlesperger's store and adjust your eyes. If your nose is a-twitching, from this exercise, perhaps you'll come to notice the musky odor from the old ice box on the sidewall. The center-hinged, double door on top means you can open either side, and like as not the RC you're seeking is hiding on the other side. Those floating chunks of ice have created an environment all their own and the pleasant smell is one that years later can be recalled. Cold, my God, that ice water is cold. One doesn't go bobbing for apples in it and the bottles tend to just sort of float around until the one you want comes into view. Years ago the drip pan underneath the box became just too much of a problem, so the only solution was drill a hole in the pine floor and let the water go where it pleased. Don't look, the drip pan may still be there holding its charge of water, and who knows what stray mouse may have fallen in as well.
Take your RC to the counter, fetch a bag of Tom's peanuts from the jar and ask for a moon pie. None of those new ones with the artificial strawberry flavor - they don't taste like strawberry anyhow. Pull out your quarter and get some change, a good solid nickel; don't sound like much until you think, that's bout what you earn for half-hours' work. Open the Rarra-C with the opener on your knife, the handy beer-can opener provided for free or perhaps the pull on the side of the ice box from which the RC was chilled to near freezing. Now go out and get a place on the wooden bench where everyone sits and spits and whittles. (Maybe you'll be lucky enough to find a spot.)
First the RC. Just enough bubbly to suggest a properly aged champagne, acid as provided by the carbonation with a trace of sulfuric or phosphoric acid, sweet but not as sweet as Coke and Pepsi with their 16 or so percent sugar contents, a generous serving larger than Dr. Pepper, Orange Crush or whatever, and in a clear bottle with RC boldly displayed. Ah! Raise the bottle and let the liquid cascade down you throat. It's good.
Now that you have been tempted, you are ready for yet another culinary delight. That same RC has a companion. The bag of Tom's peanuts which you bought for just one nickel beacons you. Tearing into the bag is just as difficult as opening a moon pie but when you succeed, caution is necessary to avoid spilling a single nut. Sample one. They're just as tasty as when they emerged from the oven and with just the right amount of salt.
With that first draught from the big RC you have made way for the peanuts. Pour the whole bag into the waiting opening and quickly cover with your thumb. Shake the bottle to give a good mix of the peanuts in that cold liquid. Then quickly bring the pressured bottle to your mouth. The charged container provides its own motive force and the cold liquid spews forth - hopefully into your waiting mouth. Now set the bottle aside, keeping a close eye on it to be sure that it doesn't, with a mind of its own, erupt again.
Time to open the moon-pie. The cellophane wrap doesn't give up easily. Best to grasp it with your teeth and start a tear. Once begun it's no problem. If you expect to get the smell of dark chocolate and truffles, you'll be disappointed, this treat is one where the combinations are for the tongue, not the nose. The smooth texture of the chocolate wrapped fully around this sandwich yields up a pleasant mouth feel by holding the layers of graham cracker like crispness at the proper moisture level. The marshmallow center with just the right sweetness and sponginess completes the orgy.
It doesn't get any better than this and for twenty cents, it's more than just a meal, it's a Southern delight. One hasn't experienced the best that life has to offer unless treated to a cold bottle of Royal Crown Cola, a bag of Tom's peanuts and a cellophane wrapped, chocolate covered, marshmallow-centered sandwich! They may not meet the nutritional requirements specified by the current class of dietary gurus but they do something else instead. They satisfy.
Now kick back, relax and watch the cars go by.
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Please note; Tom's, RC, Dr. Pepper, Coke, Pepsi Cola, Orange Crush, Moon-pie may or may not be trademarked. They're all gooood.
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