I don't recall really having a favorite food growing up. I don't recall being that picky either. I do remember sitting at the kitchen bar for hours one night because Mom was making me finish my slit pea soup and I didn't want it. I remember everything being cleaned up except for my bowl of soup, my spoon and my cup. Everyone else had moved on for the night, except me. I don't know if I ever finished that bowl of split pea soup, or if I went to bed hungry, but I do remember the experience. I think I had that experience a few times. I didn't like meat loaf either. I think it might have been the name that turned me off from it.
I do recall liking Shepherd's Pie. It was a mix of beans, meat and tomato sauce with potatoes and cheese over the top of it. I remember liking casserole dishes. One that Mom made regularly was with egg noddles, tuna and peas. I still really enjoy casserole dishes. I remember that we ate pancakes quite a bit for breakfast. Occasionally, we'd have eggs and something else. I really liked when Mom made poached eggs. She put lots of salt and pepper on top and it made them delicious.
I really enjoyed fish sticks growing up. I don't think there was any real fish in the things, but they were quite good. I always dunked mine in ketchup just like french fries. One day a school at Roy Junior High we were having these for lunch. After I gulped mine down, the next class I started feeling a little sick. It was getting a little hard to breath and I felt a little funny. I went to the school nurse and I ended up calling to get a ride home. Grandma came and got me because Mom wasn't home for some reason. This same thing happened to me quite a few more times through my teenage years. It was never life threatening. I would usually go and lay down on the couch, or go to bed until the issues breathing passed. After some allergy tests they decided I was allergic to fish.
I think I got on all right being allergic to fish. I liked fish, but it wasn't a huge part of what we normally ate. Then, I received a mission call to Korea. While we didn't know much about what they ate in Korea, we assumed there would be a lot of fish. I remember going to Korea with two EPI pens that I could use to give myself a shot just in case my throat swelled up again. I also remember receiving a blessing, maybe as I was being set apart as a missionary the night before I left, that I would be able to be able to be a part of the culture of the Korean people including eating their foods. While I didn't eat tons of fish in Korea, it was a part of their every day life. I ate fish once a week or so as a side dish and never once had a problem. I have never had a problem to this day since receiving that blessing. And I love fish.
I have only cried a few times over food. I may have cried the night I was supposed to eat the split pea soup. I also cried one night at Sushi with Kelly. It was my first time at a little Sushi place in downtown Salt Lake City. I don't remember what we ordered, but the mixture of flavors dancing around my mouth playing will all of my taste buds brought me to tears. It was delicious. To this day Ginza remains as one of my favorite restaurants.
I don't know if it was living in Korea and eating foods that I would never consider even getting close to if I wasn't required to eat them as a missionary, or if it was all of the "missionary training" dishes Mom put in front of me growing up, but there is rarely a dish put in front of me that I don't enjoy the entire dish. I love exploring new foods. I enjoy fresh, whole foods in their simplicity. I have a hard time with processed foods and have limited my body to those types of food to the extent that now I get a little sick if we eat at a fast food restaurant. We've introduced more of this into our bodies with kids now, which is probably going the wrong direction, but it is only an exception to the norm that we stop and grab a quick bite somewhere. In the same regard, we've started doing more homemade baking and preserving than I ever remember growing up. Kelly is excellent with baked goods and it is rare that we don't have fresh bread in our home. Instead of ready mixed foods, most everything we make is from scratch. We're lucky to be able to and enjoy gardening with quite a few fruit trees as well. This keeps us supplied with quite a bit of fresh of the vine foods.
I now love split pea soup and meatloaf. There is rarely a dish I can't enjoy.
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