Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Chicken Divan

My grandmother grew up right around the Depression and WW2 rationing and is, well, super old. I think she is 81 or 82. She doesn't quite get the concept of vegetarian and she sure doesn't like to talk about or seem aware of what happens in industrial farming operations. She seems to not be entirely aware that when a food contains meat, that makes it a meat dish. Or that chicken is a meat. I have talked about this before.

So at my family's Christmas party this year, we were supposed to be eating macaroni and cheese. It was wonderful. Nanny made a big pan of it. Mmmmm. But then there was some other old lady there who was somehow related (not sure) and she brought a pan of something called Chicken Divan. Or Divine? Anyway, nobody even mentioned the word vegetarian or talked about dietary preferences. But she kept walking around saying, "That is totally vegetarian except for the chicken!" I just chuckled into my napkin.

Then, when Nanny was dishing up leftovers to take home, she kept trying to get me to take the leftover chicken divan. I was trying to just tell her no thank you without getting into dietary choices. But she kept saying, "The only meat in there is chicken! It's practically vegetarian!"

I finally just said we didn't have room in the car to take it back with us. I wonder what my older sister would have done?

3 comments:

CS said...

The same thing happened to me this Christmas! My parents packed me a leftover bag from Christmas dinner, and I specifically requested no ham. Mashed potatoes, rolls, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes: yes. Ham: no thank you.

I came home to find a heaping helping of industrialized swine in my goodie bag.

Le sigh.

Also: Over coffee, my grandfather asked me if I was growing my hair out like a woman. In the eyes of my family I am now a liberal vegetarian drag queen.

skijl said...

so are you guys vegetarian now?

Katy said...

corey remains foodly indifferent. for about a year and a half (since I really started thinking about Omnivore's Dilemma) I have absconded from meat unless I knew for certain it was ethically raised. I pretty much don't eat meat outside our house.