A Little Garden Walk and Talk

 

 

Gary helped me in the yard this weekend and we enjoyed some pleasant memories and conversation. One of the things I love about him is that his background is similar to, but not the same as mine. He grew up working in the fields, but his family owned the land. We grew up in the same general time period, but he is seven years older. We experienced many of the same things, but since his family was wealthy, at least compared to mine, his experiences are just a bit different. We went to high school in the same town, but at different schools.

So I like it when we work together and talk. Besides, Gary does some of the things I hate to do- like raking. As he raked the grass and I watered plants, we talked about food.

First we talked about salt. Last week Robert loaned us his copy of season three of Mad Men and one of the episodes shows the grandpa salting his ice cream. Neither of us could recall ever seeing anyone do that, but we did remember our parents salting green onions, tomato slices, watermelon, lemons, and cantaloupe- all things that we would never salt now. Of course Gary’s family had little glass salt dishes on the table for dipping things like green onions. My family just poured little piles on their plates, directly from the cardboard carton.

We also talked fondly of white bread. Friday I bought a loaf of cheap white bread for the raccoons and I left it on the counter near the microwave. The rest of our bread is kept in the refrigerator because Babe loves, and steals, bread! She will rip it right out of the bag. Since I wasn’t concerned with what she might do with the raccoon’s bread, I didn’t even put it away.  So the fridge contained sliced sourdough bread, whole wheat buns, thin bagels, and whole wheat sandwich rounds. Gary came home at 11:30pm and made a sandwich with –you guessed it, the white bread. Lol I scolded him the next morning and reminded him that eating white bread is like eating marshmallows! I don’t think he cares. J He reminded me during our garden talk that we both grew up eating tons of fluffy white bread. In fact, we ate sliced bread at nearly every meal, and usually it was covered with mayonnaise, not butter.

Then we discussed salad dressing because that was something that I can’t recall Mom ever buying. She always made it from scratch if we used any at all. We didn’t eat a lot of traditional salads, just lots of sliced veggies from the garden. My grandmother loved Thousand Island dressing and my grandfather liked French. I hated both!! Still do. Gary’s family ate Roquefort.

 

One of the health newsletters I subscribe to sent me an email this morning about the seven foods you should NEVER eat. The first on the list was doughnuts. That’s one thing Gary and I have always been in agreement on- don’t really like them, don’t buy them, don’t often eat them.  The exception is a potato doughnut I occasionally make from scratch. But Gran loved doughnuts and I often stopped on the way home from work to buy a dozen for her. And I helped her eat them. Now I find them much too sweet and greasy.

Anyway, enough babbling. We all have funny memories about foods and the eating habits of our families. I’d love to hear yours!

Have a great day!!

  
 

 

Comments

[Megan]

I never understood why people salted watermelon. Never. I am married to a person that salts everything and it drives me nuts. Wanna add tobasco? Cayenne? Go for it. But put down the salt shaker.

I prefer my veggies as close to raw and unaltered as possible. Butter/salt/pepper is just a distraction.

Be nice about marshmallows! The big ones are a fantastic treat at only 25 calories. LOVE marshmallows. LOVE LOVE LOVE marshmallows. Forget the Hershey bar and graham crackers, just give me a marshmallow.

White bread is boring and I've raised my kids to explore with their food. They're always wanting to be the first to try a new wheat/grain bread I bring home.

I grew up on thousand island and ranch dressings. Totally prefer roquefort (rock on Uncle Gary!) as a grownup but am adjusting to eating salads totally plain and finding them delicious and free of several hundred calories.

I love your health posts!