The other day my Mother cooked a simple traditional dish of beans, spinach and potatoes, sprinkled with olive oil. With the weather so mild, my parents are still producing from their garden. April in January, it has been incredible until now. As a kid, I would gag when any sort of vegetable even touched my lips. Looking at cooked parsley in my tomato sauce, would send me into convulsions, as my world would fall apart until the exterminator (My Mother) would take it away from my sight. The Government of Canada food guide recommends vegetables as a part of a balanced diet, when I was young; I never wanted any part of them. Heck even George Bush Sr., when President, banned broccoli from the White House. Many of our immigrant parents came from war torn regions and strife; mine happened to come from Southern Italy. I heard the stories of hunger from my Father and even got to see the house he was born in, the bedroom they all slept in and the kitchen which had no running water and how about the bathroom?…Not! He would say, “Son, you were born with a Chamiche (shirt and tie)”. On the other hand my mother, the youngest of 13 may have not experienced the hunger but life was no picnic either. Work and survival were the name of the game. There were no fast food restaurants , microwaves or pizza pops. One day my Father was so upset at our ignorance about eating vegetables, he ordered my Mother to cook vegetable stew for dinner, for a whole week. I nearly died from the gagging but thanks to adding some meat to the dish and the love from both my Mom and Nonna, I survived. Recently I had a conversation with my Dad about the methods he used on us. I told him how wrong he was, when it comes to food I always ask my kids to try it, if they don’t like it, I would eat it. Regardless, he had his methods. Now I love the traditional foods and vegetables. Unfortunately it is the extra 50lbs I can do with out! Those dam kids of mine.  Sincerely-Philip Magnoli, my friends call me Don Filippo-The FX Specialist- www.donfilippo.ca

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