HRH and I were out driving today as we ran a few errands….in the middle of which the Princess called to say she was out of her medication for the asthma nebuelizer that we keep at school. We made a quick trip home for the meds and took them to her middle school so she could take a treatment. On the way home we passed by a large local farm and saw cars lined in the field by the seasonal selling stand. People were standing in line – waiting patiently – for this…
There are only a few things in the food realm that I have absolutely no desire to ever – EVER – have cross my palate ever EVER again. This food is one of them.
I used to urp up spinach even when I was a baby getting it from a jar. My mother was constantly trying to feed it to me because I was always testing low in iron. And I continued to urp it up unwillingly. She finally gave up. I never had to eat it…..and I barely forgave my cartoon hero for chugging it straight from the can.
But Popeye had a friend who loved hamburgers and so did I so the spinach thing was redeemable.
Almost.
And I have long made my peace with spinach. I enjoy it tremendously today…..as long as it isn’t cooked.
As long as it’s leafy and green and speaking to me from a salad bowl.
Spinach I can handle.
But NOT asparagus.
I don’t care if its fresh or canned. I don’t care how it is cooked. I don’t care if you DO know of a wonderful way to prepare it that is GUARANTEED to delight me and get me over this phobia. I don’t care if its wrapped in bacon or dribbled with lemon butter or served with the juciest cut of sirloin or grilled to perfection with saucy ribs.
I don’t care.
Asparagus can stand in the field and bloom into delicate little flowers and
I.
WILL.
NOT.
CARE.
I can’t stand the way they taste…..or smell….or look.
And I can probably thank my mother for that. And my cousin. SHE is the one who loved asparagus.
And I happened to love liver. My mom’s liver recipe. Liver…pan fried to stiff sweet perfection and drowned in carmelized onions. Yum.
My cousin hated liver. I hated asparagus.
So my mother’s dinner time dilemma of pleasing one and not the other was always solved by serving both….at the same time. While D complained of the liver and relished the asparagus, I was loudly whining about the asparagus and chowing down on the liver.
I could never understand WHY she just didn’t serve either when we were together?
Just like I have no idea WHY people will stand in line – in the rainy cold – to fill their plastic bags with fresh asparagus from the farm stand?
Why?