1988: A staple for my first Summer on my own

As the Summer of 2018 winds down, I tried this canned “delicacy” again because it’s what kept me alive most days in the Summer of 1988. I hadn’t eaten this since I was a kid and it was rarely ever in our house, my parents weren’t fans of Chef Boyardee. Thanks to the drought in Wisconsin, it was hotter than normal (what would be typical in Austin) so I took to just eating the ravioli straight from the can. This grossed people out which I thought was stupid, this junk is precooked. Well pour it out of the can, you’re just heating it up via a saucepan or the microwave. During a heat wave, why do I want to add to the discomfort? Boyardee went on to be a staple for the rest of college years, a can of this was well under a dollar at the grocery store (anyone remember Pick n’ Save?) and when I looked this up at HEB (the best place in Austin!), I was surprised to see it remains under a dollar, I think 90 cents/can.

In order to get Helen to post a comment, I will let her share a funny anecdote regarding the necessity of canned ravioli.

I usually stuck with the ravioli since the spaghetti was too sweet and anything by Franco American must be filled with sugar, blech.

How does it taste today? I couldn’t find plain ravioli so I had to settle for the overstuffed. The cans have pull-off tops now but thankfully I can afford a can opener nowadays, this was nice. The taste? It was off from what I remembered. A bit on the sweet side which means this goop caters to children. I may have better luck finding a plain can to try. Before you ask, yes, I ate it as is.

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