Friday, January 17, 2014

Sharing the Tippens Humor with Brussels Sprouts

Missy, here. I'm sorry my post is late. My aunt passed away Thursday, and I spent the evening on the phone with my parents. My Aunt Mary Ann was my dad's baby sister. Out of 12 kids, there are only two left now--my dad and his younger brother. Life is so precious. I hope we can all appreciate it.

So today, to celebrate life, I thought I'd share some humor over…

Brussels Sprouts.

I love them. But they are a vegetable most hated in the Tippens household. In fact, the only thing more hated is celery. I love that, too. I guess I'm an anomaly.

I may be an anomaly, but I'm also persistent. I've been determined that if my family will just TRY Brussels sprouts, they'll grow to love them. :) Especially if they're fresh and cooked in some yummy way.

So after watching what looked to be a delicious recipe on the Food Network, I bought a bag at the grocery store. I smiled as I tucked them in the fridge. I would have VICTORY this time and prove them all wrong!

The next morning, I opened the refrigerator and found this…


Yes, my husband is a real comedian. :) :)

So I finally gave up on the marvelous recipe (which included BACON, by the way, so it was THEIR LOSS). And then I decided for a different method.

Sneakiness.

I decided to hide the sprouts among other vegetables and roasted them (rubs hands together evilly).


I chopped/sliced this locally grown special kind of sweet potato (I'm sorry I can't remember the name of it), and zucchini, and portobello mushrooms...



And added sliced Baby Dutch yellow potatoes. I mean, who would notice a tiny green martian head (what we called them sometimes as kids) mixed in with fancy potatoes??


I coated it all with olive oil, sprinkled with seasoning salt and roasted at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.


I gave it a stir to do my best camouflage job and served. And immediately heard, "Is this those Brussels sprouts??!!"

Well, I guess a mom/wife can't be sneaky enough to hide them. They have a pretty distinctive look. Oh, well. At least one person in this family has good taste! :)

Do you like martian heads?

Missy

19 comments:

  1. Sorry for the loss of your aunt, Missy. Wow -- only two living siblings out of twelve! It must be hard for the surviving siblings for sure. Prayers for you all.

    Re brussel sprouts: I was terrorized by them as a child. Boiled until they were nearly charred and then served up with rubberized roast every Sunday for years. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. And Missy, you just can't disguise that smell as they cook so just give up the camouflage attempts and leave your poor family alone. LOL Give them chocolate instead. :-)

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    1. LOL Kav! My husband was traumatized by them as a child too, which is why he is so resistant now. Bless his heart, he even tried to eat one this time and ended up shivering. Lol

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  2. sorry about your aunt. I don't go out of my way to eat those things either - my sil told me not to eat the stem area because that's where they'er bitter...I still have to cut them in half or 4ths when I eat them and if I squish all the juice off I can get 'em down. most things taste good roasted so maybe I'll try that if I ever get the urge to eat them again...probablyahve some freeezer burned one in the freezer...

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    1. I saw that same thing recommended Susanna. I tired cutting the core out once before but it was too much work! I think it did help though. :)

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  3. oops that anonymous is 'me' Susanna! :-)

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  4. Roasted brussel sprouts (halved, just like you did) are a big thing in NYC. It's a popular veggie side AND appetizer, Missy!!!!! Drizzled with truffle-infused oil and dotted with garlic and salt and pepper, they are amazing! I use the seasoning blends from "Kissed by the Sun", a little home-town firm near Buffalo and they're perfect for seasoning roasted veggies. We do the same thing with broccoli and cauliflower now, too.... Only my oil is regular mushroom infused olive oil or just regular olive oil.... Missy we love them here! You are among friends, my darling girl!!!!

    And Susanna, I love that after all this time you're still "anonymous".... that's kind of crazy funny!!!!

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    1. See! I'm so hip! Now if I could just convince my family of that...

      :)

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    2. yeah I have a blog on blogger but don't keep it up all the time plus it's boring - more like a diary/vent LOL and I cerated one on word something or other so I could post on seekerville but keep forgetting the username/password combo so just gave up. and forget google - google is stalking me or something and keep wanting me to log into everything with their id...sigh..can't get rid of google.
      Susanna

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  5. Your husband is quite the comedian! Still, I love fresh brussels sprouts roasted. You did the right thing, ,Missy!

    My condolences, Missy. Praying for you.

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    1. Thanks, Piper. Yeah, I got a good laugh out of the note. :)

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  6. First of all, I LOVE Brussels Sprouts! They're best if you harvest them fresh out of the garden, just after the first frost!

    I like them roasted, steamed, sauteed... Just don't boil them to death! Ugh!

    And my sympathies on losing your aunt. It's so hard....My mother-in-law is one of thirteen children, and every time they lose another sibling, it's so hard on her.

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  7. Thanks, Jan.

    I'm glad to find a few brussels sprouts fans here! I was afraid most of you would think about them like so many of you think about cilantro. hahaha

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  8. I'm so sorry to hear about your aunt.

    And no. Those are tiny cabbages. I had wayyyy too much cabbage in Poland. I may have been game for a bunch of Brussels sprouts before then... but not now.

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    1. LOL, Virginia. I love cabbage! But I can imagine how you'd get sick of it. :)

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  9. Missy, I just roasted me some Brussels sprouts last night for dinner. Of course, I was the only one who ate them.

    Growing up, Brussels sprouts were the frozen variety and usually covered with cheese. Just like the broccoli and cauliflower. All the things I love roasting now. Well, except for the cheese. :)

    Sorry about Mary Ann. I'm curious, though, where do the remaining two fall in age? Oldest, youngest, somewhere in the middle?

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    1. Mary Ann was the youngest. My dad and his brother are the next two.

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  10. Hmm... I am not a broccoli (trees), califlower (snow trees), or brussel sprouts (mini cabbages) person, but I know they are healthy. I think I've got to work on the roasting veggies thing. People keep saying they taste so good that way, but they haven't turned out too good when I do it. Hubby and son hide when I try to share - I'm still holding out hope for my little guy since he DOES try to be brave and eat what mommy says is "yummy". I'm still working on the yummy part myself, so I can't fault my boys.

    Condolences on your Aunt. Losing relatives is always tough. My mom is the oldest of eleven and they are all still living. Grandma just hit 95 and her goal is to hit 100 (so she says with a big smile).

    Oh, and that fridge note is a hoot. I can see my hubby doing something similar.

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  11. p.s. Ruthy, mushroom infused olive oil?? is that a store bought thing or is it done by yourself. never heard of that and i think my SIL would like that. she's the family gourmet.

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    1. Deb, I got it from a vendor at a festival.... but I bet they have it at the cute little oil and vinegar shops popping up all over. I got the best balsamic vinegar, ever, too.... It's called "Plum crazy" and it's plum flavored balsamic vinegar. I have it on my salad with no other dressing. No calories and almost no carbs, like "2" per serving. So it's the perfect thing!!!!!

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