Fluffernutter madness

Personally, I am a complete and utter sucker for pretty much any product that's made in Massachusetts - especially the non-boring ones, like food-products. This has nothing to do with the ecological virtues of buying and eating, say, locally grown turnips that are hand-walked in from the farm.

No, I just like the idea that there are some things that are actually still made here. Plus I like regional variation and hope I never see the day when there's no local color.

Thus, I drink Polar soda - Orange Dry, Cranberry, and a mix of the two. (Made in Worcester.) I only buy Everett's own Teddie peanut butter. And I prefer my fast food to come from chains that had their humble beginnings here: Friendly's, Dunkin Donuts, Finagle a Bagel, Bertucci's. No Texas Roadhouse for me, thank you!

So I have mixed emotions about the proposal to name the Fluffernutter the official sandwich of Massachusetts. (By the way, also on the same legislative agenda: making the Necco wafer the official candy, and the Charleston Chew the official candy bar. Personally, I didn't even know they still made Charleston Chews. The moment you experience your first loose filling, you abandon any thought of the Charleston Chew, the Sugar Daddy, or Bonomo's Turkish Taffy. Plus, every time I'm on the train to Salem, I pass the abandoned Charleston Chew factory - which I think has been converted to condos - leading me to believe that the Chews are no longer made around here.)

On the Salem train, I also pass the Lynn factory where Marshmallow Fluff  - one of the two main ingredients of the Fluffernutter - is still made.

Ah, the Fluffernutter.

Many the happy lunches of my childhood that included a big, goopy Fluffernutter. In our house, they were made with Peter Pan, not Teddie. If I were to make one now, it would be made with Teddie. But that's big if, as I will pass quite happily out of this life into the great unknown even if I never have another Fluffernutter.

Which is not to say that I didn't eat many of them over the years. Not to mention that one the most vivid memories of my young adulthood was watching Grimbald, the family dog and chow-hound supreme, gulp the Fluffernutter right off the plate of one of my brother Tom's friends before Fran could even take a bite out of it. The poor mutt! Sure, it served him right, but between the fluff and the nutter, Grim's mouth was almost glued shut for a couple of hours.

If you're unsure just how to make a Fluffernutter, there's a YouTube that'll demonstrate how for you.

Since I seem to have a god-awful time embedding video, just google fluffernutter, and pick the 3:35 minute one, which provides a full Fluffernutter tutorial. In real life, a Fluffernutter takes anywhere between 5 and 15 seconds to make, depending on the freshness of the fluff. Also be warned that when you get to the bottom of the fluff barrel, it turns to the consistency of set grout, and requires a chisel to get at.

No comment on why our state legislators are taking up any of their time yaying or naying the Fluffernutter's status. Maybe it's because we're pulling out of the recession faster than a lot of other states. (See yesterday's post.) And perhaps it's just as well they spend their time on fluff like this, rather than - say - stripping funding for the disabled and homeless shelters, which they have been known to do.

And does this mean that the state song will be the Fluffernutter jingle?

Oh you need fluff, fluff, fluff to make a fluffernutter,
Marshmallow fluff and lots of peanut butter.
First you spread, spread, spread your bread  with peanut butter,
Add marshmallow fluff and have a fluffernutter.
When you enjoy, joy, joy your fluff  and peanut butter,
You're glad you have enough for another fluffernutter.

(Although the music is in my skull forever, I did remember all the words. Thankfully, there's a site for this sort of memory lapse.)