Before the meal was finished cooking, it was the smell that took me to another place.

I didn’t have to taste it. That smell is so distinct it has a permanent place in my memory.

All of a sudden I was taken from my kitchen in Virginia back to the tiny thing in our Maryland apartment that fit the loose definition of a kitchen. I’m still not sure how more than one of us stood in there at the same time.

The trip back to College Park was made possible by the meal that quite literally got me through grad school — hot dogs. Or more specifically, Bar S hot dogs.

The absolute cheapest hot dogs you can buy

I’m not sure I want to know how many of those things I ate during my time at the University of Maryland. I was working two part time jobs and subsisting on a steady diet of peanut butter & jelly, pasta and Bar S.

The hot dogs — at 10 for 99 cents — were such a staple that I didn’t even write them on my grocery lists. I automatically picked up two packs of hot dogs and two packs of buns. I’d say I easily went through at least a pack a week between lunches and dinners (and snacks).

Since I lived there for a year, that would work out to eating more than 500 of them.

I was at Giant last week and actually had hot dogs on my list. Since none of the quality brands were on sale, I thought I’d take get nostalgic with a nice pack of Bar S (which now come in packs of 8 and cost more like $1.50).

It only took about 20 seconds in the microwave for that very distinct smell to come wafting through the kitchen. I’m sure my roommates at Maryland, Jon and Jason, would immediately recognize it as well.

Though they’ll probably live much longer lives having not ingested so many of the “quality” products. I think I will give Bar S some more time before trying them again. Nostalgia needs a break.