Oh spaghetti!
1 Meals at my house were always luseclous,but my favorite was spaghetti. Nobody could cook spaghetti like Mom. The sauce was always thick and hearty with a thin slick of oil floating on top. Poured over pasta cooked with a little butter, sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese, it was more of an event than a meal.
2 Wadnesday was always spaghetti night at our house-unil Uncle Sylvio had his heart attack. When Dad came home from visiting Uncle Sylvio in the hospital, Dad was a different man.
3 "It his arteries," he told Mon. "They're all clogged up. Sylvio's doctor showed me pictuers of clougged-up arteries. You know what causes clogged-up arteries? Foods with animal fats, and eggs, meat, milk, and cheese! We'Ve got to change the way we eat! We've got to cut out all the animal fats!
4 Dad stopped off at a book stand and picked up a vegetarian cookbook on his way home from the hospital.
5 "There!" he said, presenting it to Mom wtth a flourish. "This is going to save our lives! And you,Maggie..."
6 "Me?" I squeaked, jumping a little.
7 "You, my daughter, are going to live to be the picture of health! If you start now, you can ensure your arteries will be clear until your hundredth birthday!"
8 He went to the refrigerator, and before we knew what was happening, Dad began writing down which foods we needed to cut back on-eggs and butter, beef, cheese, and chicken.
9 My younger brother, Timmy,watched solemnly. His vocabulary was limited, but he knew what he saw.
10 "No more bed food," Timmy exclaimed.
11 "Wait, isn't this a bit rash?" Mom objected. "Shouldn't we at least ease into this, and do it in moderation?"
12 "Do you think Uncle Sylvio would want us to eat this food?" Dad replied reproachfully.
13 Dad always threw himself into things completely. But this time he was throwing in all of us with him.
14 Breakfast were simplified: You could have anything you wanted as long as it was fruit. Dad cut up and ate two grepefruit for breakfast every morning. For a while, school lunches saved my older brother Matt and me. We could buy fries, a milkshake, and a hamburger at school. Then Dad got wise and started getting up early to prepare us vegetarian lunches-which was fine, but we certainly missed our occasional burger!
15 suppers were particularly unpalatable.matt began eating at his girlfriend's house.and he didn't have a girlfriend .mom would study the cookbook and start chopping vegetables and. at six o'clock when dad came home.would serve a great heap of cooked and raw seeds.stems,roots,and leaves. timmy,who was at least allowed a cup of skim milk with each meal.was the first to voice or general discontent.after one particularly green meal.he asked.in a small,wistful voice.Ham-bur? even my poor bady brother yearned for the days of the burger.
16 after a month of this. l was famished.i was more than ready for some traditional food-a steak,some fried chicken,chocolate chip ice cream,and scrambled eggs and bacon.l began spending a lot of time at my friend juanita's house in the hope that her mother would invite me to stay for supper. (of course,the only time she invited me they were having a vegetarian meal)
17 usually dad's enthusiasms wane after a while.we waited hopefully for this to happen with the new diet.lt wasn't happeing this time.as far as he was concerned, this diet was permanent. and we couldn't argue with him.the fact was(and i looked into it.believe me)he was right.the food we were eating now was a lot better for us.as much as l appreciated his efforts.i couldn't help but think a balance could be struck between our old and new family.meal menus!