I love Coca-Cola in the little 8-ounce bottles. I don’t know why, but Cokes taste better in those little bottles.

My favorite diners and cafes still serve Cokes in 8-ounce bottles. Recently, I was at Walkers Drive-In in Jackson and the waitress brought a Coke in an 8-ounce bottle accompanied by a glass of ice. As the waitress started to pour the Coke over the ice I stopped her immediately. “Please don’t ruin one of the last pure and uncorrupted pleasures I have left on this Earth by adding ice to my little Coke.” She looked at me like I had just put a booger in her Bordeaux.

I am serious about my beverages, above all my 8-ounce Cokes. I kept her busy the rest of the night as I must have drunk a dozen more little Cokes, without ice. It’s not “the real thing” that I like so much; it’s the real little thing.

I was glad to see another restaurant serving 8-ounce Cokes. They are hard to find. The last vending machine I can remember that sold bottles of 8-ounce Coca-Cola was the machine at my church. As a kid I used to play hooky during Sunday school and watch “My Favorite Martian” and “Roy Rogers” with the church custodian.

We sat in a room that was located next to the Coke machine with a small black-and-white rabbit-eared TV in it. He and I would drink our 8-ounce Cokes and watch Roy and Trigger rustle up the bad guys on the tiny, snow-flecked screen.

Over the last 20 years soft drinks have grown larger. I was a senior in high school when the 7-11 convenience store chain introduced the Big Gulp. The Big Gulp seemed like an obscene amount of beverage at the time. It was 32 ounces. That amount won’t even get you in the door today. Nowadays, one quart is a medium-sized beverage at your local fast food grubbery.

Don’t get me wrong; I am in hog heaven in these days of super-duper-sized soft drinks. I drink a couple of gallons of Diet Coke every day. That would amount to multiple cases of the little 8-ounce Cokes. Even though I drink all of the Big Gulps of the world, I never turn down a little Coke.

I don’t know what has changed in our society that has led to the era of the gargantuan drink. But if I had to guess, MTV, body piercing, rap music and tattoos are probably at the root of it. Could it be that all of this supposed global warming subconsciously has made us think we are hotter and therefore thirstier, which ultimately has led us to crave liquids in obscenely large amounts? Or is it a convenience store conspiracy? Time to call Mike Moore and sick him on the soda pop industry!

Coffee portions are larger, too. However, with coffee, the price has grown faster than the cup size. In 1979, if you would have told me that people would smile and be grateful to fork over $4 for a cup of coffee and $1 for 16 ounces of water in a plastic bottle I would have told you that disco music, too, most certainly would live forever.

Detroit must have seen this oversized beverage trend coming. Car drink holders are much bigger than they were just 10 years ago. The first car I owned didn’t even have a drink holder. It was a 1978 dull-brown Pontiac Sunbird and one of the ugliest cars ever made. It looked like a rolling cow patty with four wheels and a hatchback. While cruising in the manuremobile, I used to have to hold that Big Gulp cup between my legs, which could be an uncomfortable and icy situation in the summertime, especially back in the days of super-short cut-off Levi’s. Imagine having to drive with one of today’s 64-ounce Mega drinks between your legs. Slamming on brakes is another story altogether.

The number of cup holders in automobiles has increased, too. My current car has eight cup holders, four of which are in the front seat. Go figure, two front seats, two passengers … four cup holders. The Ford Motor Co. knows me.

The problem with the new and larger cup holder size is that, although they are perfect for that 64-ounce Mega drink, my little 8-ounce Coke is too small to stay put. Progress at the expense of the pure and uncorrupted little 8-ounce Coke is truly distressing.


Creole Cheese Fritters

3/4 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
3 eggs
1/4 cup parsley, chopped fine
1/4 cup green onions, medium dice
1/4 cup horseradish
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Crescent City Grill Creole Seasoning
1/4 teaspoon red pepper, crushed
1 cup flour
1/2 tablespoon Crescent City Grill Cayenne & Garlic Sauce
10 ounces pepper jack cheese, grated
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated
6 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated

Heat cottonseed oil to 350 degrees in a cast-iron skillet. Place first 11 ingredients in an electric mixer and combine at medium speed. Add the three cheeses and continue mixing until well blended. Drop golf ball-sized spoonfuls of cheese fritter mixture into hot oil, making sure not to cook too many at once. Serve with Comeback Sauce for dipping. Makes 24 to 30.