When I went on home leave in December and January, sure there were people to see and things to do, but my longest list was of food to eat.

I started working on this list months in advance—I didn’t want to forget anything because I was in a hurry.

My list was broken into restaurants in Ohio and Salt Lake City, food that could be eaten at home, and food to bring back to eSwatini.

I ate nearly everything on my list, although I did actually eliminate one restaurant and never made the time to make buckeyes, and had I had more time in SLC, I could have easily eaten everything on my list there.

My first meal was at a Mexican restaurant in Akron, Ohio, near my parents’ house. For dinner that night we had pulled pork sandwiches with crinkle-cut potato chips and preserved banana peppers from my grandfather’s garden.

Here’s my list:

Ohio restaurants

Melt Bar and Grilled
Sand Bar
Ice cream: Toft’s, blizzard
Chipotle
Mexican
Buena Vista chicken, jojos, mac and cheese
Wings

Food to eat in Ohio

Mozzarella sticks
Corn dog
Raisin bran
Bob’s Red Mill muesli
Aldi’s Nürnberg sausages
Buckeyes; I made a peanut butter pie, instead
Wheat Thins
Cheeze Its
Cheeze Its Ridges white cheddar
Chocolate almond milk
Pulled pork
Coney dog
Tater tot casserole
Beef stroganoff
Brown rice
Chex mix
Tortilla chips

Food in Utah

Red Iguana for both mole and enchiladas potosinas
Porcupine
Kathmandu
Wasatch Pizza
Wing Coop
German restaurant
The Store tortilla chips

Food to take to eSwatini

Trail mix
Jerky
Annie’s boxed mac and cheese
Pasta Sides
Pistachios, almonds, cashews
Cheeze Its Ridges white cheddar
Puppy chow
Masa
Corn tortillas

What food from home do you miss the most?