After-school snacks have a magic that sets them apart from other food
17 recipes that capture the spirit of 'just-for-you' eating and the comfort of coming home
At the end of an inevitably tumultuous day of high school, my friends and I would fall into a secure routine: heading to someone's home to scrounge for snacks. They weren't anything fancy but they were often something warm, like canned spaghetti that we'd microwave on high so the sauce would create a sticky ring at the edge of the bowl — a welcome texture, actually. Or maybe we'd have scrambled eggs with cheese whisked in. Whatever the dish, we'd eat it while flopped across couches, still in our dishevelled school uniforms.
My post-elementary-school routine was grounded by an eating ritual too, minus the friends and the scrounging. I'd come home to hot dogs that my mom had cut into cocktail size and sautéed in a signature paste of ketchup, vinegar and cayenne; curried goat rolled in pressed-thin slices of pan-fried toast that oozed with butter; or always-handy Jamaican beef patties pulled from the freezer.
Often when I think of any one of these foods, the rest come to mind — as if I'm scanning a special menu made up of my beloved after-school snacks. Each was an absolute favourite for the brief period it appeared in my life, because its deliciousness went beyond its taste. These were things I ate when I felt totally ravenous and at a time of day I relished: the demarcation between a public and an intimate world — "coming home" foods. They restored me in more ways than one, which I think is what sets after-school snacks apart from any other food of the day. And so does something else.
Whether you had fend for yourself or your food was ready and waiting for you, there's a good chance that your after-school snacks were crafted with you and only you in mind.
For instance, maybe while you changed into house clothes, a caregiver was assembling your special oddball sandwich and most certainly cutting the crusts off. If that was you, you'll recognize a similar spirit in the two recipes below from Joanna Fox's Little Critics cookbook. The headnote of Paul Toussaint's recipe describes memories of clamouring by the stove while his grandmother prepared a favourite dish, while Aman Dosanj's recalls snacks made to fit her hand while she played. They might be geared toward kids, but I'd wish for them as quickly as I'd wish for my mom to make me those spicy hot dogs again.
Or perhaps you raided the fridge every afternoon to make the kind of plate you could only get away with when no one was watching, then ate it peacefully zoned out in front of the TV. Could there be a better case for making extras of flavour-packed food today — say, Ye Misir Sambusa and Chicken Liver Mousse — for a distinctly delicious pairing tomorrow? Or for signing off work before anyone else in your house beats you to the kitchen?
Of course, with the business part of my day ending at 6-ish now, there's not a ton of snack time before dinnertime. And that hour doesn't bring the shift in mood that 4 p.m. used to when I was in school. But I'm still nostalgic for all the items on my "menu," and sometimes eating something similar takes me right back. Perhaps making something like what you ate after school holds magic for you too and can transport you back to that golden hour. Only one way to find out.
You won't need a recipe to recreate your old personal faves, of course, but for inspiration — or if you're now cooking for a lucky little kid — here are some recipes that I can imagine making transformative after-school snacks.
From Little Critics:
Grab-from-the-fridge food:
Make once, enjoy all week:
A cheesy twist on a classic quiche
Make in minutes:
Hot bites:
Sweet things:
Chocolate Cherry Skillet Brownies
Flourless Lemon Ricotta Cake with Almonds
Dark Chocolate and Molasses Cookies
Endlessly customizable:
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