Thursday Night Nostalgia

Usually, my nostalgic writings are about memories of things from the ’80s and ’90s, but I’m getting to the age now, and enough time has passed, that I’m getting nostalgic for things from the early 2000s as well. Recently I became quite nostalgic for 2001 in particular.

Back then, my wife and I had only been married for one year. As most young couples, we didn’t have much. We lived in a small place, both worked regular, low-paying jobs, and we didn’t have much disposable income. But we were happy with little things, so we didn’t mind just spending nights at home together instead of going out.

I was cooking a new dish for dinner a few weeks ago. It was a recipe I saw on Facebook called No Peek Chicken. When I took the first bite of it, I was instantly transported back to 2001 and those quiet dinners at home with just the wife and me. It reminded me of some old box meals that are no longer available, but we used to love them. Cambell’s Supper Bakes and Stove Top Oven Classics.

We used to enjoy these meals once a week. There were several varieties and we ate them in a rotation for months on end. And it was in 2001 that a friend of ours from another town over appeared on season 3 of Survivor. Big Tom Buchanon, the lovable country bumpkin. The wife and I had never watched Survivor before but we knew we couldn’t miss seeing Tom on there. We were also fans of CSI, so Thursday nights became a much looked forward too, at-home, date night for us. We’d make one of the boxed meals for dinner, and settle in on the couch side-by-side to watch Survivor and CSI.

So when I took that bite of the No Peek Chicken, all of that came rushing back to me. I told the wife about it and we sat for a while that evening reminiscing about those days. Then an idea hit me. In this modern world of streaming that we live in, those shows are at our fingertips. We decided to relive those days all these years later.

Every Thursday we make dinner together, settle in on the couch, and stream an episode of that season of Survivor, followed by the episode of CSI with the same air date. We’re up to week 4 now and have been having a blast. It’s quickly became the night we look most forward to every week.

All in all, it’s proof that you can have a great time on a very small budget and maybe all you need is a little nostalgia.