Ate crow & it wasn't very tasty

I didn't realize it then, but when my nonna or mom would slave over a meal, the last thing I should have done was turn up my nose at it. This hurt look would cross their face & inevitably, there'd be talk along the lines of: "We had half an onion, half a potato & 3 beans...and that would last us THE ENTIRE DAY! We didn't have cannelloni. You kids today don't know what it is to be hungry!" And I'd listen to them drone on & on & on while I prepared myself a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. Apparently, making PB&J after rejecting a home cooked meal is the quintessential insult. Then, I'd happily eat my sandwich while the remains of my meal - a labour of love - made it's way into a Tupperware container.

Fast forward 25 years or so... I poured all my heart and soul into an Irish stew last night. In addition to that, I baked fresh Irish soda bread with caraway seeds & all. This was served up while I beamed over the fact that I was serving my family a healthy & hearty supper. That's when they shot the arrow through my heart: "This looks like pooh. It's pooh stew. We won't eat pooh." *gasp* After a few gulps of Guinness & a slow count to 10 so I wouldn't say anything rash, I scraped up the remains of their meal into a Tupperware container while my husband told them, "When you're older, you'll appreciate these things that mommy makes for you."

This morning, I awoke bright & early thinking I'd bake some fresh muffins for breakfast. Oatmeal, eggs, sugar, flour...the whole shebang. They smelled divine. I felt like June Cleaver. Surely, no one could reject oatmeal chocolate chip muffins & some hot cocoa. It's the breakfast of angels. Right? RIGHT?!?! Wrong!!!! A few halfhearted nibbles & the pushing away of the plate was enough to reduce me to tears. To add insult to injury, I heard "We'd like some pane e nutella." A NUTELLA SANDWICH OVER MY HOMEMADE MUFFINS?!?! And so, my tirade began. "You have no idea how hard mommy has to work to make these things. You don't' appreciate anything I do for you, do you?! Maybe I shouldn't make anything for you anymore! You could eat Kraft dinner for ever & ever. How would you like that? Eh? Would that be nice?" Oh....yes...I sounded just like my mom & nonna, after a babel fish translation.

And so, 25+ years on... I regret ever having turned up my nose at the cannelloni, eggplant parmigiana, slow cooked sugo, polpettone & everything else that I wish my nonna would make if she were still alive today. Thankfully, I am redeeming myself with my mom. Anytime we have a meal at my parents' house, I savour every morsel. I appreciate the labour of love that is a home cooked meal.