As a kid I called Brussel sprouts “baby cabbages” and broccoli “tiny trees”.
My mother while a good cook overall, tended to overcook most veggies, cook them to death so today I love broccoli but I like it “lightly” steamed - steamed enough as to not be raw, cooked but yet still have a bit of a crunch and still “green”, but not steamed to the point of becoming a grey stinky mushy mess.
I like Brussel sprouts too, fresh not frozen and especially when roasted with some good olive oil and some balsamic vinegar and sea salt, but like broccoli and cabbage, it can get bitter from overcooking.
Someone mentioned lima beans. I hated them as a kid and still do today. I think it’s more of a texture thing more than the taste. While I do use beans (black and cannellini beans, never kidney beans – I don’t like them either) in my turkey chili, over all I don’t care for beans all that much. I think it’s the texture of the skins I don’t like.
Or peas, especially those big mushy overly salted, slightly grey in color canned peas my mother used to serve. And when my mom made split pea soup using left over ham, it was so thick it could have been used as wallpaper paste. I recall just to get it down took near a half gallon of milk as it was so thick, otherwise it would get stuck halfway down my throat.
And again with the texture, I don’t like raw celery and absolutely hate rhubarb and okra – it’s the stringiness.
And then there was liver and onions. And if my mom made liver and onions and served it with lima beans as she often did, and then tapioca pudding for dessert (again – the texture) it was like being sent to the Third Ring of Hell for me as a kid.
My Mom on liver and onion and lima beans and tapioca pudding night - “You don’t have to have seconds but you must finish everything your plate. You need to be grateful for your food. Don’t you know children are starving in….(name the country or region) who would love to have a meal like this?”
Me – “So can we box this up and send it to them then? I’m willing to make the sacrifice and go to bed hungry if it saves only one life?”
My Mom – “Go to your room!”
Me: “Thank you!”
A trifecta of doom., lol.
Three foods that will get a instant gag reflex from me: Liver, hominy and creamed corn.
tapioca pudding; my dad called it fish eyes and glue.
Early in my marriage my husband from the middle west said he did not like vegetables very much. One day I cooked fresh string beans to tender crisp with butter and a little garlic salt. He ate some and said, “Wow, these beans are really good.” I asked what string beans were like when he was a kid. He explained that they picked a lot of them in the large garden on Saturday, then mother cooked them all for Sunday dinner, then she served the remaining cooked beans on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, always reheated. Turns out that was how all the vegetables in his home were cooked.
My mother could be domineering and argumentative. Once my husband said: “You can forgive your mom a lot for her cooking.” I learned and love to cook. I had a Saturday post Thanksgiving dinner. I was given a turkey carcass and a big ham bone by the people who cooked the Thanksgiving dinner I ate. Brought them home and made soup. First I trimmed the remaining shreds of easy to cut meat from both. Using separate large pots I boiled each carcass in water with some vinegar (to pull the calcium out of the bones) for at least 3 hours. I put beans in with the ham bone, then while at a full boil I kept the lid on and moved them to the back of the stove to rest and cool overnight. They were sterile from boiling so long as the lid stayed on. I was up until 1 pm cleaning up and trying to fit all the leftovers in the refrigerator. The next morning I picked out the bones and removed all the remaining shreds of edible meat (more than a cup each one) and threw the leftover meat and the shreds from the bones into the pots (the bones were discarded). I brought both pots to a boil again, added more water and chicken and ham bullion cubes. I put Trader Joe’s rice medley and lentils in with the turkey, and added lentils to the ham and beans pot. While both pots were simmering I cut up onions, carrots, and celery, and added to both pots to cook for 1/2 hour more. Then I put crushed garlic and seasoning into the pots and tasted repeatedly until they were just right. I added lemon pepper salt, garlic salt, adobo, and sea salt, also a touch of lemon juice.
These soups were the first course for my Saturday dinner. Judging from the enthusiasm of some of my young guests, I think soup making from scratch is a lost art. Hope somebody enjoys my recipes.