Bena Mae’s Kitchen: Prom Night

 First it starts with the asking. Once you’re assured of a date, the planning begins.  Searching for the right dress, making appointments for getting hair and nails done, checking out limo service, planning the after-prom party. That’s the way it’s done today.

But way back in 1945 things were vastly different. I already had a date for the junior-senior prom. The next big hurdle was getting permission to go from my parents. Daddy said to ask my mother. My mother said to ask Daddy. And that’s the way it went for a whole week, leaving me to hang by my fingernails. I vowed to run away from home if the answer was no. Finally they agreed that I could go but with the stipulation that I was to come straight home after the prom. Not one minute past midnight.  

The next big hurdle was THE DRESS.  World War Two  was still going on and finding a suitable evening dress was next to impossible. So I settled with having one made for under ten dollars. The top was orchid and the bottom was black sateen under a net overskirt. I thought it was the most beautiful dress I had ever seen. (Ugh!)

When my date came to pick me up, Daddy put him through the third degree…who were his parents, what church did he attend… if he was Baptist, that was a sure seal of approval. After what seemed like an eternity of orders from my father, we finally made our escape, my date in his best Sunday suit and me in my orchid and black evening dress with an orchid the size of a football pinned to my shoulder.    

The prom was held in the high school gym which looked like a gala ballroom with the decorations we juniors had put up the day before. Since my date was president of the senior class, the two of us were given the royal treatment. We were seated at a special table and were asked to lead off the first dance. I don’t think my feet touched the floor as we danced to the music of a real live orchestra that played the popular songs of the Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey and Harry James bands.

I felt like Cinderella when the band started playing "Good Night Sweetheart," which signaled the end of the wonderful evening. It had been a magical night and now it was time to take off the glass slippers and get home where my parents would be waiting up for me.

It had truly been a night to remember. 

Olive Garden Oven-Roasted Potatoes

2 medium baking potatoes

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium green pepper

1 medium red pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped

1 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced

4 teaspoons fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 cup Romano cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel potatoes and dice into 1/2-inch pieces. Core and seed peppers and dice into 1/2-inch pieces. Set aside.

Mix olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper in a bowl.

In a small baking pan, toss potatoes and peppers with the oil and herb mixture. Bake for 10 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. 

Sprinkle potatoes with parsley and Romano cheese.