Reflection

As I was eating breakfast this morning, I was reflecting on what I was having for breakfast last year at this time.  Last year Rose and I were into alfalfa sprouts and bagels ~ weird variations off of lox's and bagel, i.e. avocado, bacon, etc.  This year it is omelets with grand and glorious stuffing's, i.e. fried tomatoes, cheeses, etc.   So naturally, this led me to reflections on other such food changes  in my life.  For instance when I was a young boy of six I hated green beans.  I would go so far as to stuff them into spaces in the mechanism under the table or hid them under uneaten mashed potatoes.  One of my earliest memories is of having to sit at the dinner table until I finished my green beans.  I lasted until well after dark and by God I never ate those beans!  Now, of course, I enjoy fresh green beans.  I am probably one of the few people who actually enjoys canned green beans and have them often on my camping trips.

One of my fondest recollections of a "food event" is our family experience with anchovies.  We were not great experts on food varieties and recipes when I was young, but Mom did her best to introduce "new topics" into our inventory of experienced tastes.  One such time she found a recipe that "featured" anchovies.  For the life of me, I cannot understand why she thought her Montanan red necks would enjoy the taste of such a fish.  Of course when the time came to experience this delight, no one in the house would even touch it after the first taste.  Poor Mom.  With tears in her eyes, she gathered up the plates, scraped off the casserole mixture left on the plates into the main casserole bowl and dumped the contents into the slop bucket for Sally the sow.  I guess she figured what the heck and took the remaining anchovies out of the can, carried them out the back door, and threw them into the cat dish.  She returned to the dinner table where we all sat in silence.  As we all sat in the shared silence and disappointment of a fine dinner run amok, we watched an old yellow barn cat as it gingerly picked up each piece of anchovy in its mouth, carry it to the finely tilled soil of a nearby flower bed, and bury it.  We all erupted into laughter ~ mom included.  A culinary disaster turned into a treasured shared family experience ~ thanks to a redneck tomcat!

Gordon, et. al.

p.s. I really enjoy anchovies in salads now.  Although you have to be careful.   You don't want to get one of those little suckers caught in your throat! :-)