Red Crow Kitchen

Red Crow Kitchen

As kids, we lived out on the ranch, and our house was situated just about 50 yards away from Grandma's. It was convenient because our parents could leave us with Grandma whenever they had errands to run. I have a vivid memory from when I was around 5 years old. It was during the summer, and my mom had to take my brothers somewhere, so she entrusted me to Grandma's care.

We went to the Red Crow Kitchen, a cafe in town, Inside, there was a long bar with tall stools. Grandma lifted me up onto one of the stools and ordered a hamburger for me. While Grandma didn't eat anything herself, she played a game called punch board. They were small boards, similar in size to cribbage boards, with tiny holes filled with colorful, accordion- style paper. When opened, they resembled Chinese fortune cookie fortunes, but instead, they had different amounts of money written on them. Grandma would give the cashier $5, and in return, they handed her a board and a small silver key punch. She would then punch out the paper from each hole, hoping to find a big winner.

Eventually, my hamburger would arrive. However, Grandma would scold me if I reached for it right away.

First, she would take a napkin and wrap up the hamburger so that my "dirty little paws" wouldn't touch it. Only a small portion would be left sticking out for me to bite. After ensuring that I only touched the napkin with my hands, she would hand it to me.

As I ate my hamburger, I would watch Grandma play the punch board. On one occasion, she won a significant amount of $10, and as a special treat, I got to have fries! It may be hard to believe, but back then, hamburgers didn't always come with fries. They were an additional delight that you could order separately.