I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

Wow! I am amazed at how many of you have had cantaloupe with ice cream. My father was from West Virginia, wondering if it is eaten more on that side of the United States?

Looks like the welcome mat is still out for me. I'll get a G&T from the bar and go make dinner. Grilled pork chops, herb and butter rice, arugula salad(from my garden) and of course, chardonnay.

This discussion is hilarious!  Beet wars?  Go figure. (More to follow.)

I've pretty much liked every type of vegetable except hominey. There's a story behind that, but it's not appropriate for dinner conversation.  Let's just say my chemoreceptor trigger zone (http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Medullary_chemoreceptor_trigger_zone) is way too sensitive to certain things.

My dad grew the very best cantaloupe (a.k.a. "muskmelons") in the whole world.  Once they were ripe, he would pick a still-warm muskmelon out of the garden, brush the dirt off the outside, whack it in half with a chef's knife, plop a big scoop of vanilla ice cream into the center ... and sit back to enjoy his handiwork.  Nobody grows muskmelons like my dad did.

I will quietly tip-toe over to the Beets-for-Dinner side, even though I'd never tasted fresh beets before I moved to the southeastern U.S.  Beet greens would be eaten here, but mostly people prefer turnip greens, allowing turnips to be grown and eaten year-'round.

And, as for how long to cook meat...  My mom had this thing about pork chops. No matter how they started out, they had to be subdued by beating them thin, and then fried (yes, fried) until they were firm as leather and gray through-and-through.  I quizzed her about this many times, and she insisted it was the way pork had to be cooked to keep us from getting worms. I tried to explain how hogs were raised now (market hogs aren't fed garbage anymore), but, ... 

Fast-forward to my early-30's when I visited some college friends living in Iowa. Dinner was thick-cut pork chops, grilled over charcoal just as you would with a good steak.  Dripping with juice, pale pink in the center -- they were fantastic!  It took me another 20 years to convince my mom that pork chops could be safely prepared that way.

Tonight is a chicken breast night.  I thawed some by accident last night when the power was off, so now we have to eat them.  Mr. otter fixed a custard pie (speaking of cholesterol). Yum!!!

otter

[ETA: misspelled "cantaloupe".  Jancie, that sucks. I hope it's nothing but irritation. Cytoxan can cause chemical cystitis, but I get it with other things, too ... like too much tea or coffee.  The procedure sounds yucky, but I've had it done and it's not as bad as some other things we can think of.]

Cherry, I'm having a G&T myself right now. Cheers!

Beets diced and roasted with other diced root vegetables is a whole different experience than canned or pickled beets.

I use salt or ice cream with canteloupe but nothing on watermelon and don't like honeydew.  Hah!  Finally a food is mentioned that I don't like...but I will eat it if it's served. 

Oh the worms. One year I grew cabbage cooked the stuff and found worms in it. Never again will not grow the stuff nor eat it.

my mom's worst dish was here lasagna.. and she was so proud of it and would serve it every 4th Sunday (more on my mom's food schedule later).

It was so awful.. canned tomato sauce.. the little cans one could get for 19 cents and ground beef and lots of salt and a bit of cheese.. omg.  Thank goodness I sat next to my garbage can.. never could get enough food ever bro.

Oh, of course cabbage has worms.  You just have to pick 'em off.  You can avoid the worms if you sprinkle (some kind of) pesticide on the plants; but if you skip that step, you're gonna have worms. Oh. That's not what I meant.

OTOH, along with worms in pork, my mom insisted that pie crust dough was not to be eaten raw, or we would get worms.  I think she said that even when she made it with Crisco instead of lard.

I just heard the timer go off -- that means something is done.

otter

Ah Kira ... it was just a little added protein

My parents made sauerkraut one year.  Oh my ... a couple looks at that crock full of what looked like a bubbling witch's brew and I thought I'd never touch the stuff again.  But it was goood.

Jancie ... sorry you have to have a procedure.  I think you are smart though to do it and find out what the problem is.

True confession ... I still cringe at pork that isn't pretty well done.  I think it's going to kill me but I don't remember exactly why.  

WR, my mom made sauerkraut one year two, it was too much work to ever make it again and I don't remember it being any better than what you can buy in a jar.  I still eat pork well done too, but not burnt to a crisp...it's a fine line.

Jancie, I hope you find out what the problem is. 

Hi, Alyson.  I wish I could send some of our heat to you.

ETA message to Alyson. 

good morning apple, and thanks for your input, it was as valuable as the input of so many others who chose to comment. if you have the time to spare, maybe you could put my user name, or even my real name, in search, and you will see how many of my posts since joining are argumentative....or, you could do as i did, as i did have the time yesterday, and search the member's usernames who frequent this friendship thread.

so am i to take it that the outcome of my attempt at putting an end to bullying here has resulted only in my being refered to as a gnome?...oh well.

I am very full after going to a place called Krammerbooks and having some nachos and key lime pie.

Nachos and key lime pie sound better than my spring greens with tomatoes, cucumbers and tuna.  I think I need some ice cream or something.

That,sLife, gnomes keep bats away and evil gnomes cast spells

i like marmite too.. It's expensive in KS but oh so good. like 7 dollars for a tiny jar.