I am making Gumbo today. I am making it for several reasons the most important of which is I just like it. Additionally, my parents are coming up this afternoon to spend a few days with me. On top of that, Isaac should make landfall today around New Orleans and in support of NOLA, I will make Gumbo. One small problem arises from this. Mom is not a fan of shrimp or Gumbo. So, I need to figure out something else to fix that she will enjoy to go with the Gumbo.
The ironic thing about this is that growing up, we ate what Mom fixed or we did without. That was the rule in our house. And by the way, doing without wasn't really an option either since we had to sit at the table, get a spoonful of everything and eat everything on our plates. To this day there is nothing I won't try and very few things I don't like as a result. Anybody close to me knows that the only two things I won't eat at this point in my life are chicken and strawberries. I would eat them if I was required to and in fact I eat them from time to time even by choice. But I generally do not like to eat either of them.
Sometimes I'll get a salad that has chicken in it. I know that chicken is better for me than beef so I try to make myself eat it from time to time. I just don't like to eat it. And let's face it. Strawberries are just too iffy. Sometimes you get strawberries and they are sweet and really quite good. But other times you get strawberries and they are very bitter and totally disgusting! Life is too short to take chances on whether or not you will get a good and sweet strawberry as opposed to the really miserable bitter strawberry. So, I don't take the chance.
My Dad will eat anything as far as I know. He is a fan of everything from the turnip green to lobster and doesn't skip anything in between. I think I am very much like that. Yes, I choose not to eat two things. But if I had to, in order to save my life, I could eat piles of them. My Mom on the other hand is actually kind of a picky eater. And that is what's ironic. As far as I know I can eat liver and onions. I have only had it once in my life when I was a kid and we lived on Nottingham Dr. She made it for supper one night. If she made it, that meant we all had to eat it. But my Mom doesn't like it. I don't remember if she ate all of hers. She probably had some diabolical plan where she ate just before we got home from school that day and wasn't hungry so she ate a few obligatory bites. But now I know that she was not a fan of liver and onions because she has said so in recent years. I remember thinking that it was kind of gross looking. But I ate it. I haven't had it since. It just doesn't seem like something that anybody would eat by choice. But I do not doubt that if I had to, I could eat a plate full of it.
Both of my brothers are like me. We all can eat most anything we come across. We were raised that way. I think it is a good thing. While it doesn't help a person with a weight problem, it is nice to be diverse as far as your tastes go. I am annoyed by picky eaters. I understand not liking something if you have tried it before and discovered that it does not appeal to you. I am intolerant of people who refuse to try things. My Dad's argument was always "How do you know you don't like it if you haven't tried it?" and I believe that is right. Even if it sounds unappealing, if given the choice to eat it or starve, would you choose to starve? No? Then try it!
I say that both of my brothers are like me. But that wasn't always the case. There was a time when Ronnie would sit at the dinner table for hours because he refused to eat his cream style corn. Sometimes, Dad would do this thing where nobody was allowed to leave the table until Ronnie ate that stupid corn. I didn't understand how Ronnie could just sit there and make us all suffer. But he didn't seem to have a problem with it. It was only a few bites but he would just sit there like if he sat there long enough it would evaporate or something. It didn't! He always whined that it tasted like coffee...... Really??!?!?!? Coffee??!??!?! I never understood it, but that was what he said.
Once my cousins were at our house for the weekend and the fair was in town. It was over at the old fair grounds in Nacogdoches by Lone Star on Butt St. After dinner we were all going to go to the fair. We were so excited! My Mom had made this English Pea Salad that she liked to make with canned peas, mayo, relish, diced onions and of course some Paprika sprinkled on top. One of my cousins, either Kelly or Paul, I am not sure which, (maybe it was both) but I think it was Kelly, didn't like it (and really who can blame him?} But he refused to eat it. So, my Uncle Kenneth said he couldn't go to the fair that night if he didn't eat it. Kelly took a stand and didn't eat the pea salad. He had to stay home while all the other kids went to the fair. For years after that, when the Glenn's would come up for a visit everybody made a big deal about whether or not Mom had made the pea salad.
I know a lot of people who don't like foods because of their "texture". That is my Mom's deal. She doesn't like certain textures she says. She doesn't like shrimp or almost any shell fish if it is grilled, broiled or boiled. However, she likes fried seafood and crab stuffing. This makes no sense to me. If you don't like the texture, then how does frying the seafood change that. The people who don't like fish because of the "texture" also don't like mushrooms. I don't know of any instance where this is not true. Meanwhile, my favorite thing about mushrooms is the texture of them. A food with a totally opposite texture from mushrooms is water chestnuts. I have a friend who does not like either mushrooms or water chestnuts and she says it is because of the texture. While a mushroom is sort of slimy and soft; a water chestnut is rough and crunchy. So, how can both be unappealing due to their texture? I don't get that at all. I don't understand how texture can ever override taste when it comes to food.
But I guess the fact that we don't all like everything makes us individuals. So, I will respect that some people are picky eaters. I am sure that there are people who think I am a picky eater because I choose not to eat chicken and am very vocal about it. That is okay. It doesn't bother me if they think I am a freak. You just keep eating your chicken and I'll keep thinking everytime you take a bite that you are eating an animal who lived his entire life sitting in his own poop and sometimes eating it.
Right now, I am going to figure out what to cook for Mom if it kills me. Maybe some good old fashioned homemade Macaroni and Cheese would do the trick..... Mmmmmmmm..... mac and cheeeeeeeese.......
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