Thursday, August 9, 2012

Peas! I Hate Them!

Thanks to Mama Kat’s Writing Prompts, I’ve decided to write about this (my friends are visiting so my time is very limited):
1.) What’s for dinner Mom? Describe a meal your Mom cooked that you dreaded eating growing up.
But I almost decided to write about this:
2.) Your morning routine.
Writing about my morning routine feels a little bit TMI so I’ll stick with food.
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I grew up in an Italian family. Food was good. Always. And it wasn’t just good. It was fantastic.
My mother served delectable meals for dinner, at family gatherings, and for parties. I was a very well fed girl.
Apparently she wasn’t born that way which I learned from my father. She wasn’t allowed to cook in her Italian household growing up because her mother did all the cooking. I bet my dad, who dined regularly with my mom’s family during their courtship, thought he was marrying a world-class cook. That was not to be the case.
My mom, married young, learned by experimentation…on my father. He was so sweet because she burned, from what I hear, almost everything. For some reason when she'd burn something, he’d call it “Spanish” whatever it was. “Spanish” rice, “Spanish” chicken, “Spanish”…you get the picture.
By the time I was old enough to chime in, she was darn awesome.

Except for one teensy, tiny thing…PEAS! She made me eat peas and I HATED THEM.
In the earliest of pea times, I would sneak some into my mouth and excuse myself for the bathroom (we ALWAYS had to excuse ourselves from the table any time we left per dad’s rules). I’d spit them out, take another bite a few minutes later and repeat. They weren’t dummies and were on to me in no time. Hence, no more potty breaks for me!
My next idea was to spoon my peas, when no one was looking, onto the table and distribute them under the rim of my plate. I’d excuse myself when I was finished and run out the door as fast as I could before my mom cleared the dishes (I bet she wondered why I didn’t clear my own which was required). She actually did me a favor and waited until my dad left the table before she did it herself. Again, she was on to my antics.
Her only recourse, when all else was failing, I was not allowed up until my peas were finished. So I sat. And I sat. And I sat for so long after my dad left the table with my mother glaring at me that she got tired of waiting (I suppose I was stubborn back then. I don't think I am as an adult). I think she eventually decided that she would rather go read her romance novel than sit for another hour with me in a standoff. She’d finally say, “Oh, just go out but come back before it gets dark.”
I guess I won that battle, if you can call it that, and I still dislike peas to this day. However, I will eat them if in a dish but never just a big spoonful. YUCK!
Is there any nutritional value to peas anyway? I didn’t bother to “Wiki” that little tidbit of information.
Mama’s Losin’ It

22 comments:

  1. I am giggling b/c I was also that willful child refusing to eat but like you, I had a reason. When I was full, I was done. My mother was born into the idea that no food should remain on the plate. Do you know how many starving children are in Africa who would LOVE to eat the rest of that food? It didn't matter what the food was; it could be something I loved. But if I was full, I was not eating anymore and you can't make me because I am 7 and I WILL sit at this table all night, lady. (I fell asleep many a night at the table but not before I learned to have the dog sit under my seat for things I didn't like. He was the perfect quiet food disposal).

    Also, peas are toothless people food.

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    1. That's right, for babies and old people and I'm not either! We definitely had to eat everything we took OR ordered at a restaurant for the same reason. My young dog has always sat under my son's seat. Hmmmmmmm...

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  2. I've never liked peas either, which is strange because I LOVE just about every other vegetable.

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  3. Peas were invented to torture kids. When was the last time you saw peas in a restaurant? Point made. Peas are a parent's revenge for sleepless nights, poopy diapers and leaky breasts.

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    1. You are so right! No restaurant I know serves peas. I have one kis that loves them and one that doesn't. Go figure.

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  4. LOL!! You made me remember something that I need to jot down for a future post. I think it was funny how you hid the peas under the rim of your plate. I never tried that. I hate peas too. I will push them in mashed potatoes while thinking, I'm ruining my mashed potatoes.

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    1. I'm glad those nasty peas inspired something! Rimming the plate, I thought, was a stellar idea...that is until they got wise to it. No pea will ever even come close to my mashed potatoes. And that brings up an idea for a future post of mine. I have a peculiar eating habit that most people who eat with me definitely notice and never fail to comment.

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    2. LOL! I can't wait to read about that.

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  5. I love this post. Too real. Funny though, I hate most vegetables, but peas are just in the "don't like too much" category. But don't even think about serving me a beet. I'd gag!! Not much for tomatoes either, but I like ketchup ;)

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    1. Well thanks, Lumdog! Beets are awesome! Tomatoes, I could eat like an apple sprinkling with a bit of salt. You are a picky eater. Who doesn't like ketchup and that's not a tomato, anyway.

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  6. You would not believe what a picky eater I am. Ketchup is not made from tomatoes? BTW, my favorite vegetable is pizza ;)

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    1. You are missing out, my friend! Ketchup may be made from them but not even close.

      Pizza is my everything!

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    2. Who needs vegetables when you can eat pizza!

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  7. The sit here until you finish them standoff part is awesome. I can recall one vividly over lima beans. I figured if I sat long enough, my father would give up. Eventually, it seemed, he had...until they showed up the next morning! Awful.

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    1. Oh, man! The "come backer"! My mom never did that but it probably would have worked on me...or not!

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  8. How clever you seem to always have been!! I love it! My sister was the same way with some foods and still hates peas.

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    1. Apparently I stuck to my guns when I was young! I'm so much more compromising now! And I'm with you're sister on the peas!

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  9. Loved this, and could so relate! We had all the same rules at our dinner table and just the smell of cooked peas made me sick and we got the "kids starving in India" reprimand, lol. But then I had cold peas with cold corn mixed with mustard in France and fell in love with them...I don't think they have any nutritional value though and apparently are very starchy--after all that!

    xo Mary Jo

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    1. Any food served up in Europe tastes different and far better than here. I think so many of us grew up the same way!

      XO

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