I Was Here First

A certain amount of zeal leaks from my spirit when I learn other people have the same favorites as I do.

Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy kinship. Like my friend Michelle turning me on to the Sookie Stackhouse books and True Blood. But I don't call her after I finish every chapter (or even after I finish each book) and say "WOW!!! This is unbelievable!! Let's talk about it for the next six hours because I've never liked something so much in my whole entire life!!!" She got me into it, she knew I would like the series, so I thank her for knowing me so well by not being the crazy friend.

But when I am at a Stevie Nicks or Fleetwood Mac concert, and Stevie pulls up her stool, sports the acoustic guitar, starts to tell a story and looks for someone in the first few rows to dedicate the song to (so I've been to a couple of Stevie Nicks/FM shows), and Stevie announces that yes, she is about to perform - omg here it is! - Landslide, and some random girl in a tie-dye shirt who can't be more than 18 years old says "THIS IS MY SONG!!!", my husband holds his strong hand over my mouth, or my lurching arm, to keep me from reminding that girl, no, *****, this is, in fact, my song. Been listening to it since I was a little one, next to the antiquated, big-ass wooden speakers on an actual LP. So I claim it. And you can't possibly like Landslide as much as I do given my experience versus yours.

So back it up.

And don't like what I like. It gets under my skin. If everyone knows about it, or everyone loves it like I do ("it" being many, many things), the appeal for me is extinguished faster than a roadside brushfire in Southern California during an Indian Summer.

Tonight I googled my favorite salad of all time, Tuna Tarragon from Souplantation. Some friends of mine worked there through high school and college, but I have bugged them too many times for it. Their e-mails in response to my plead for the recipe now only read...

BUY. SPINACH NOODLES. TUNA. AND RELISH. GOOD LUCK, AGAIN.

So I found Tuna Tarragon on the web. It yielded 3,380 results. Fine, but almost all of the pages I clicked on to download the recipe said something like "this is the most requested recipe ever!" or "the most popular thing at Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes restaurants."

Here we go again. I have to tolerate my fondness for something with people who can't possibly appreciate it as much as I.

But I do like to share. My Sookie Stackhouse books are now making their third round in my community. See, I'm kindly. As long as I feel I am perceiving these things, having a deeper experience with, and that I feel "it" on a different level than my fellow zealots, as long as I have some concrete chronological evidence that I am not conforming to you, that you are actually later on the bus than I, we can all co-exist and like the same things.

But let me issue a warning; if you are in line with me at Souplantation and you feel that your need for Tuna Tarragon usurps my own, and Heaven help you if you take the last of it on the buffet line causing me to wait for the teenage Souplantation employee to bring more while conversing with other youngish employees, WATCH OUT.

I get kind of irrational when I feel I might be nearing the territory I call "like everyone else", and I have the appetite, album collection (that's al-bum, as in vin-yl), and knowledge of Supes to prove it.

So here is the recipe. Damnit.

TUNA TARRAGON SALAD

Makes about 12 cups

1 tablespoon salt

5 cups small shell pasta

1 1/4 cups penne pasta

1 cup (3-inch pieces) spinach fettuccine pasta

2 tablespoons canola oil

DRESSING

2 (6-ounce) cans tuna packed in water

2 cups sweet pickle juice

1 3/4 cups mayonnaise

1 1/2 cups diced sweet pickle

1 cup diced celery

1/2 cup sour cream

1 1/2 tablespoons dried tarragon leaves

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

For the pasta: In a large pot, bring 3 quarts of water and 1 tablespoon salt to a full boil. Add pastas and cook for about 10 minutes until al dente. Immediately strain pasta and cool by running cold water over pasta in strainer. Drain pasta completely and place in a bowl. Coat pasta with canola oil to prevent sticking.

For the dressing: Place tuna in a large bowl and break down into small pieces. Add the remaining dressing ingredients and thoroughly whisk to combine.

Combine the dressing and cooked pasta and mix thoroughly. Allow salad to marinate for 8 hours. Season to taste with salt, pepper or more sweet pickle juice.

(From Souplantation)