Diane is a "foodie" at heart! She remembers so many favorite restaurants and meals over her lifetime. One of the early memories is from her year of working at the main library in her hometown. Her job was to fetch books from the stacks at the request of the librarians. It was a fascinating job, being able to look at every single book in the library. Of course, there wasn't much time during her working hours, but enough to have a read every now and then. But the memory she cherishes is of a small diner down the street. It was just a counter and a row of red stools along one side of the room. No space for anything else. The owner/chef was an old (or so it seemed to her) guy who was a cook in the Navy, now retired. One of the things he did she has never forgotten, but discovered that it is a common trick among diner cooks. Order a warmed Danish and he would plop a lettuce leaf on his grill, top it with the pastry, and cover it with a pot lid. In a minute or less the pastry would be warm and soft and read to eat. Amazing then, before microwaves, and still is today. The best thing about this diner was the pies, made on the premises, early in the morning. Diane's favorite was the peach pie, when fresh peaches were available. Such peachy flavor, such flakey pastry, such creamy thick juice holding it together. Along with a glass of milk it was breakfast or lunch or dinner. The memory is now sixty years old and it still makes her mouth water. No other peach pie has ever been so good, even the ones she has made herself.
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