Catfacehorse

When Meet me at Mikes had an open invitation to share stories about school lunches, I thought I would join in too. There are so many gorgeous, hilarious stories, if you can, you should read every one. A few of my favourites are Pip’s of Meet me at Mikes, Claire’s of Loobylu, and Nanette’s of Rummage.

For several years, when I was too little to make my own lunch, my mum had me on a really healthy diet. When the other kids in my class had white bread sandwiches in clingwrap, I had soda bread in greaseproof paper. Where they had Tiny Teddies and Le Snaks, I had banana chips or carob. I would dread the sound of ‘eeeeuw, what’s that?’ as the other kids would peer into my lunch box. I craved Tiny Teddies, but I didn’t have anything that I could reasonably get anyone else to eat to swap for those precious little biscuits.

Once every eternity though, I was allowed a ‘lunch order’. The lunch order was a white paper bag printed with the canteen menu on the, with boxes to tick. I would put my coins in the bag, and off the bag would go with the lunch monitor. (Like Pip, I never knew what happened then - it was a deeply mysterious process.) The bags would come back filled at lunch time, change rolling around in the bottom.  I remember eating my  party pie and sausage roll on the deck outside the class room - every single time dropping my straw between the slats so I had to drink my lime flavoured mineral water straight from the can.

Now,  I would love soda bread for lunch but I rarely get around to cooking it. I am so impressed that I had these lunches made from scratch for me every day - thanks Mum!