LETTERS FROM PRISON: KYLE FITZSIMONS 021324

Howdy,

I hope you got to enjoy some good food and company and catch the Super Bowl.

There is always a lot of creativity that comes out in the form of culinary preparations around events like this. Just imagine some of the Super Bowl spreads you may have seen in your life and the time and care taken in preparation. Well, being locked up changes the menu, the techniques and appliances used but the urge to share great food and enjoy it while watching the game is still the same for us on the inside.

In the FEDS there is no access to a microwave, stove top, or oven and you would be amazed at the recipes that can accommodate that lack of tools and compensate by using only the supplied 190 F hot water spigot. Using available items for sale at the commissary here men made snacks from pizza, to burritos, to loaded nachos, cheese cakes, chocolate pies, and great soda mixed with cool aid cold drinks.

Flour tortillas are wetted and laid down to form a crust and a ketchup based tomato sauce and mozzarela cheese form a base to load upon with cut up sausages, pepperoni, and salami – then left to warm under a hot water bag. Packets of shredded beef and pork mix in with refried beans and sausage bits make a meaty dip for tortilla chips and Doritos. Precooked dry rice mixed with sazon and the juice from a packet of pimento stuffed olives, the olives themselves chopped up, and the dry cheese powder from a mac and cheese package all mixed together with 190 degree water and let sit to meld under a blanket to hold the heat in. Potato chips crushed up and turned into a paste and rolled out and wrapped around a filling of meats and rice. Raman noodles, refried beans, meats and rice formed into a long loaf and and sliced up into serving portions. Oreo cookie crust chocolate pies using pudding and candy bars as a filler. Coconut macaroon crust cheesecakes set up with ice made with mozzarella cheese, creamer, and sometimes flavored with a lemon drink packet for a sugary finish.

The food didn’t disappoint and neither did the game.

What is your favorite party food?

You can bet there is a way to make it inside.

Kyle Fitzsimons