When I was a teenager, I lived in Knoxville, Tennessee for a few years. The reason we moved there was so my dad could manage a Holiday Inn just up the hill (literally) from the University of Tennessee campus and a nice walk from the 1982 World’s Fair site.
This was the same hotel where my sister and I were friendly enough with the guy who came in weekly to collect the quarters from the video games in the arcade that he would set up the machines with hours worth of free play for us.
We got season’s passes to the World’s Fair that summer and often rode in to work with Dad just so we could walk to the Fair and spend the day there. The 1982 World’s Fair is where I fed my appetite for British royalty (at the UK pavilion, of course), learned about AC/DC and the Little River Band (at the Australia pavilion), watched robots paint amazing pictures (at the Japan pavilion), tried shelf-stable milk in strawberry and chocolate flavors (in a building that spotlighted new products, like Cherry Coke!), collected pickle pins (at the Heinz booth), and tried Petros. I did all of these things and more, over and over and over again all summer long.
Petros made their debut at the 1982 World’s Fair and eventually opened a small chain of restaurants in East Tennessee; I can’t believe they are still exclusive to that area. Every now and then when I need a quickie dinner idea, I pick up the ingredients for Petros because memories and because YUM.
What are Petros? Glad you asked. They’re also called Frito Pies; does that help?
Here’s what you need to make them: Fritos, chili (I use canned because I’m lazy but you can use homemade if you want. Seems to defeat the purpose if you ask me, even though you weren’t asking me…), shredded cheese, green onions, lettuce, tomatoes, and sour cream.
This could not be easier. Cook the chili and chop the onions, lettuce, and tomatoes.
Cover the bottom of a bowl with Fritos, and then stack all of the other ingredients on top in whatever quantity you want.
That’s IT. Bonus: kids love Petros.
Put that in the meal plan next time you need something that is less than twenty minutes from prep to serve time. YUM.
