Growing up with an Oklahoman grandfather who loved classic country music, I was introduced to artists like Patsy Cline and Roger Miller at an early age. I occasionally have a “hankerin'” for some Roger Miller, and I listen to his tracks for a few days consecutively, until I tire of them again. One day, I was listening to his eclectic song, “My Uncle Used to Love Me But She Died” (don’t ask, I don’t know). I noticed that some of the lyrics to the song are “hamburger, cup of coffee, lettuce and tomato.” I thought to myself, “what a peculiar mix- coffee and a burger.”
A few weeks later, I was at IHOP, and I ordered a black coffee, thinking I would get some pancakes and eggs to go along with it. Upon looking through the menu, the breakfast hamburger (which includes an over-easy egg) sounded much better. I almost changed out my drink order for soda- but remembering the song lyrics, I decided to go out on a limb and try it, so I stuck with my coffee and ordered the burger. It was amazing, and since then, I’ve ordered many burgers (with and without eggs) alongside a plain, black coffee.
It’s a strange but delicious combo that has outlasted my beef-eating days. Today, I happen to be enjoying a burger made with Trader Joe’s “beefless ground beef…” with, of course, a cup of locally-roasted coffee. That concludes the story of how my grandfather’s music influenced my diet some 20 years later.
John Steven Olmstead 