Everyday Things

Everyday Mommy has a weekly feature: Everyday Things.

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As a little girl, my family went out to eat every Sunday after church. We'd always go to the Paragon or Pantheon- where there would be lemon rice soup and rolls in baskets on the tables, and rice pudding for dessert. Sometimes my mom & grandparents would sit in the back of church in case service ran long so they could sneak out to "beat the church crowd" for lunch.

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The chairs at the restaurant were those caramel-brown leather seats on roller-wheels, and I can still hear the squeak as I sat down. Turn your coffee mug over if you wanted the waitress to pour you coffee from a pot making its rounds throughout the big room, weaving in & out of the round tables. The placemats were paper with a gold Greek border of some sort, and brother & I would always snatch a pen from mom's purse to play hang man, or we'd stack the creamers into a little pyramid. A tall revolving display case full of cheescake, Dutch Apple pie, and the occasional baklava greeted families as they came in, to admire the pies, most with pieces missing already, and we'd always say what we would order, even though we really wouldn't when the time came.

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You could always buy cigarrettes and gum at the register, and when you leave don't forget to get your free mint (one per person please) from the mint dispenser. The Paragon always gave out Dum-Dum suckers, too. Brother & I always ordered off the kid's menu, but were discouraged to not order the fried chicken as it would take longer than everyone else's order. I am pretty sure we ordered fried chicken every time.