This has nothing to do with PeopleCount, just about food. I’m just writing. Though to add a keyword, I could say: There’s no accounting for taste…

My family is weird about food, starting with me. In general, food was plentiful and good when I was a kid.

Food Background – from nothing to desserts

My parents fled Nazi Germany. They escaped when they were 8 and 12, their families a few weeks apart in November, 1938, landing in NY. They grew up poor, in Brooklyn. They never had desserts. My mom said that once in a while they’d go out to a place to have an ice cream soda.

When Dad left the navy, he went to college on the GI Bill, and even got a masters in electrical engineering. Then Mom and he got married and the next day took a train to Seattle where Dad started work at Boeing.

I grew up with a brother 15 months older, then a second brother almost 4 years younger, and my youngest brother 6 years younger than me. Mom decided her upbringing was wrong. Kids should have desserts. My parents started out with nothing, but Dad had a decent salary. I helped my mom clip coupons and label prices on packages at the box store to save money, and we bought only the cheapest ice cream. But we always had sweets, and often wonderful pastries and fresh rye breads.

The worst – coffee and tuna fish

I don’t like coffee. I even dislike its smell. I love sweets and chocolate, but I won’t eat mocha- not even if it’s baked in a cake!

I remember disliking coffee as a kid- the house had a bitter smell. Here I am, age 59, and it just occurred to me: I was 4 or 5 when I stopped letting my parents kiss me. I’ll bet it was due to the smell of coffee on their breath…

Tuna fish smelled even worse. When my mom made tuna sandwiches for my brothers, I couldn’t even stomach going into the kitchen in the morning. She’d leave my lunch next to the front door. I’d shower, dress, grab my lunch and head out.

Vegies, wheat and milk

Vegetables turned me off. When Mom boiled brussels sprouts, spinach or cauliflower, I’d almost gag. Luckily, they didn’t force me to eat them. In fact, I almost never ate vegetables as a kid, except in stew or spaghetti sauce (though the mushrooms felt gross.)  Grudgingly I’d choke down a bit of salad with a vinaigrette dressing. (I began eating vegetables in college, after discovering stir-fry, and now eat most…)

In my 20’s I had a health problem that was cured by giving up sugar (for a while) and wheat. I stopped eating wheat for a long time, and now eat it rarely. I became lactose intolerant sometime in my late 20′- I never eat milk or cheese.

My wife and kids

My wife also doesn’t like coffee, but had no problems with food. But after pregnancies, my wife was allergic to wheat, milk and eggs! My kids, too, were allergic, but the older one was okay with eggs. So we never have milk or wheat in the house. My younger son seems to have gotten over it.

He has always had this weird habit of leaving a bit of food on his plate- like 1-2 more bites. It always bothered me that “he wasted food.” And my dog‘s a bit similar…  More about him next time…