No, I am not a Home Shopping Network fan or junkie, I think I’ve seen anything on the HSN twice in my life and for about 30 seconds to a minute max.
When I was in college, I got a job at a specialty food store, Lloyd’s of Long Island in West Hampton Village. I called it an upscale deli once and got hit on the back of the head, I learned my lesson.
I remember being exhausted when I got home every night, I think I even fell asleep in my food at the dinner table one night!
I know my parents didn’t think I would go back, but I ended up working there for all four years of college, even after it was sold and became Paula’s. It was quite an experience, catering to the rich, the very rich and sometimes the famous. I got to make sandwiches for Paul McCartney, I served Marvin Hamlisch and Glynis Johns, you know, the mom from Mary Poppins! just to name a few, yes, I just name dropped!
We had a cappuccino machine with a plethora of flavored coffees, I was a “barista” before there were baristas! For someone that doesn’t even like the smell of coffee, I could make a mean cappuccino! Hot or cold, you name it, I could make it!
As we were catering to the wealthy, we had high dollar prices, $9 for a pound of tuna salad, $28 for a pound of shrimp salad, but along with the high dollar prices, we had really good food! I know it was good because I ate it and after a few days of being in the case, it was either take it home or throw it away, guess who’s family ate well during the summer!
I really liked working there and loved the owners M & D, aunt and niece. They took a chance on me and I’m not even sure they thought I would come back the next year, but I did and our relationship got stronger, enough that they gave me more and more responsibility, I was honored. Eventually, I was the one who worked solo during the week, with one or both of them, we would do inventory, rearrange, cook, just have a good time.
I remember when M met her husband, he was a tall, handsome biker with a great mustache and used to say “Cool Beans”, I hadn’t heard that before and use it still to this day, and then when her son was born… what a doll baby.
D had the cutest little boy, J. I babysat a few times, most memorable? His ‘noo-noos’ with butter, that would be noodles for those of you not in the know. I would make it and he would take the pat of butter and put the whole thing in his mouth, I got wise fast!
Ok, now, I’ve told you when I was in college, you’ve figured out how old I am. Let’s just say, this was early 1990s, how old do you think I feel thinking about those kids?
The cool thing is that Lloyd was the matriarch’s maiden name and everyone in the family, male and female, had the middle name of Lloyd, except for one of the grandkids, who’s first name was Lloyd, isn’t that an awesome tradition?
There are so many memories, most of them good, that I have from that time, I will definitely treasure those memories. I know some of you are shocked, but I still have a Lloyd’s of Long Island tshirt or two, so does my dad!
One of the businesses that was next door was the high end jewelry store, Joan Boyce, Fine Jewelry. Joan and her husband Allen (I know I use initials, but if you go to the site and look at the gallery, you’ll see his name) were always very nice to me. When it was lunchtime, I would bring what they ordered and mine and then sit in the back of the store or on the stairs in the showroom and have lunch, I was kind of hiding out until it was time to go back to work, I was able to get thirty minutes of quiet, anyone who works in the food industry knows how precious that is.
http://www.joanboyce.com/
Not to worry friends, I am tying this all together, and here it comes!
I was flipping through the channel guide and I saw a name that I knew and immediately flipped it on because I had to know if it was the same person and it was! She hadn’t changed or aged a bit!
I was surprised by what she was selling, well, not completely surprised, but it wasn’t what I thought she would be on there for. When I knew her, way back when, she was selling high end jewelry in a very high end town, West Hampton Beach, NY. I thought she would be selling her jewelry, but she was actually selling velour track suits and a few other things, not my taste, but I did check it out for a minute. She was as vibrant and boisterous and I remember, I expected nothing less! After looking her up on Google, she has HSNs for jewelry and shoes, there you go.
Seeing her and hearing her voice brought back so many memories.
Peaches Prattlings 