Question Time!

[oakenguy]

Random Question #1: Do you like peas?

I do...however, I have to confess I like the growing and prepping of them more than I actually like eating them.

Peas are FUN. They're especially fun when you're a small child. The poles for them in the garden are taller than you are, and you get to watch the vines twine upwards and keep an eye on each pod as it grows. (Compare that to carrots, where you never really know WHAT'S going on, no matter how many times you dig them up to check.) And then once they're ready, the shucking process is very kid-friendly. Maybe the first cooking chore I ever remember doing is being given a tin pan and a paper bag and taught how to pop the pod open and run my thumb down the inside to get the peas out, and the satisfying "ping! pung! plang!" as each pea came loose and fell into the bowl.

But once they're cooked and on your plate, the kid-friendliness ends. The suckers ROLL, yo. Yet some families expect you to eat them with your fork. Otherwise sane families. Families who would never look at you and say, "Oh I see you're eating Cocoa Puffs. You should use a fork for those!" or, "Blueberries? Eww, don't use your fingers! Eat each one with our specially-designed blueberry spike." Families who believe in clean plates, families who want their suppers to last less than an hour: please reconsider making small children eat peas with a fork. (Or have a large dog under the table.)

Comments

[lisefrac.livejournal.com]

Peas *are* fun :) They are actually one vegetable I prefer the frozen or canned version of to the fresh, though. I know, I'm weird.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Not weird! I don't care for fresh peas (bitter), but I was raised on canned and frozen peas and I still love 'em.

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

I won't judge, since I've discovered I feel the same way about green beans. :)

[palusbuteo.livejournal.com]

This whole post was tremendous.

I too was confused when the parents demanded I eat peas with a fork, but cheerios was with a spoon.... *aroo??*

I despise canned peas, the darkish green colored ones, they get too squishy and taste icky to me.
Frozen pees, the slightly smaller kind, I do like those and haven't had them in a while on my own
but will get them with chicken pot pies at restaurants and the like.

And yes, eating blueberries with a fork, the fork was designed with blueberry spikes, right?...RIGHT??
Otherwise they go down the chute by the overflowing hand-full. *gulp*

[wellstar.livejournal.com]

Peas on earth! They are my favorite vegetable ever. Fresh-picked especially. Although I am in a mixed marriage--if not fresh, I go for frozen but my wife goes for canned. Yuck! At least she's not a mushy peas fan like her mother. Crazy Brits.

Did I digress? Yum peas. I think spork is the ideal implement for eating them. And now I need to teach my daughter the word spork. The end.

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

I see cans of mushy peas whenever I'm in the International aisle at Star Market, and I'm always a mix of intrigued and disturbed!

It's tempting to blame the, ahem, uniqueness of some parts of British cuisine on the rationing and cut-off trade during the '40s and '50s, but I'm reading a Churchill biography and was disturbed to learn that during a trip to South Florida in 1942 he passed over the fresh fruit there in favor of Bovril on bread. (He apparently loved swimming nude in the shallow water, paddling along looking like "an over-bottled baby". And there's your fun mental image for the day.)

[beowabbit]

I’m fond of peas, myself.

Cheerios, by the way, are clearly designed to be eaten with a skinny Japanese-style chopstick.

[learnedax.livejournal.com]

Random Comment of Several Days Later: if you cook your peas down into a porridge (preferably with some smoked meat added), they're great, and no one would try to make you eat them with a fork.

Just sayin'.