Food Crush

Today I was reading up a little bit on just how truly crazy my meat aversion is. Surprisingly, the answer is, ‘not at all’. It seems that my body is trying to protect the Potential Person from all sorts of stuff, and meat can be bad for such a multitude of reasons (meat-borne pathogens, ew!) that I guess The Parasite has just said no. I made a delicious Chicken Pot Pie last night, and thoroughly enjoyed the potatoes and crust, while carefully avoiding all my delicately seasoned chicken pieces. Quiet commented, “You’re welcome for your Irish baby”, which startled me because I constantly forget that The Growth has some of his genes; I work so hard to think in terms of ‘Me and the Baby’, and ‘My Baby’, and ‘Yeah, So What, I’m a Single Mother, Suck It’, that whenever I do remember Quiet’s key involvement I am always surprised. I have to remember that the Potential Person is not only Canadian-Southern, but also German-Irish, and quite likely to be a terrifically pale, blond, alcoholic, tempermental McBossy Pants.

In addition to feeling better about my recent fear and disgust of protein, I was also comforted by finding that I share quite a few odd cravings with some of the other women out there. Beets were on several lists, as well as cranberry juice, cantaloupe, McDonald’s cheeseburgers and sundaes, and Kraft Dinner. The strangest thing to me this week though is apples. Growing up on a farm we had lots of apple trees, and my mother was a firm believer in diluted apple juice, so as a result I have hated apples (unless they are in something, like a bad-for-me pie) pretty much since college. I use to buy them for Quiet last year when he went through a phase where he’d eat two for lunch each day, and I never touched a single one. This weekend however, at the Farmer’s Market, the apples were calling to me, so I got a Mix ‘n Match bag for $7. I still miss the Macintoshes of Ontario, but I now love the local Galas and Emperors that grow here. I used half of ‘em in a pie, which was a mistake, because I soon learned that all I want is crisp, cold, fresh apples. Salted, or with mild cheddar, or maybe Alpine Swiss, peeled, or just plain – mmmmmmmm. Screw the pie. I also got some interesting Apple Mint at the market, and made some herbal iced tea and freaking tore through it.