Growing Up In Wisconsin

Growing up in Wisconsin, I have been exposed to very many different types of food. The most prevalent food, and perhaps the stereotypical food of Wisconsin, is the dairy group. Wisconsin isn’t called the dairy state for nothing. Food products probably account for a large portion of the state’s productivity, and at the top of that list is dairy. There are countless numbers of dairy farms across Wisconsin. My aunt and uncle used to own a dairy farm, and I often visited it and was introduced to their large number of animals, especially the cows. Nearly every elementary and middle school is Wisconsin has at some point taken a field trip to a farm or dairy factory and has learned the process of creating both milk and cheese. The bottom line is that food is a huge part of Wisconsin culture and during my time in the state, I fully embraced that culture.

            Dairy was a staple in my diet during the first 18 years of my life. From cheese and milk, to yogurt and ice cream, there was rarely a day that passed that I did not consume some sort of dairy product. If I had to pick my favorite dairy product it would for sure be ice cream/custard. Ice Cream is my go to dessert and could definitely be considered a comfort food. When doing word association’s ice cream came to mind when I thought of both myself and happiness. In class when I had to choose a food that I could be, I would be ice cream due to the fact that it is delicious, there are so many different types of ice cream, and just about everybody loves it. Ice cream is easily my favorite food. I cannot think of a single time that I have turned down an offer of ice cream. Before coming to Denver, I worked at a restaurant that served custard and after almost every shift I worked, I was able to take home a free pint of custard. To say the least, it made the job so much better. Those were the best nights, when I was able to take home some free custard. A few nights, I would just put the pint in the freezer for another day, but more often than not, I would put on a movie, and eat the entire pint. You see, when it comes to custard, it is so much better when not completely frozen. When it is “fresh” it is smooth and creamy and tastes a little bit like heaven. The best nights were when I would take home either chocolate chip cookie dough, cherry chocolate chip, or brownie thunder, a flavor that included brownie chunks, vanilla custard, and caramel, three of my favorite things.

            Not only is ice cream very delicious, but the fact that I am able to eat it is amazing. From birth, doctors believed that I was allergic to many things, including dairy products, which would have put a real damper on my dietary habits. However, a trip to a specialized hospital in Denver changed everything. It was here that I found that I would be able to eat nearly anything I wanted, which was great news. One of the first things I did when I discovered I was able to eat all dairy products was to get a nice big bowl of ice cream. I’ll never forget that meal. We went to a restaurant downtown Denver, somewhere on 16^th st. I can’t recall the name of the place, since I was only 6, but I can recall the meal very well. I went out and got a huge steak (or at least I thought it was big when I six). The meal came with mashed potatoes, another one of my favorite foods, and a big glass of chocolate milk. This was my first recollection of being able to drink chocolate milk, and as far as I remember, it was delicious. To finish it all off, I ordered a bowl of ice cream. The ice cream came with chocolate sauce and rainbow colored sprinkles. It was delicious. It may have been just an ordinary bowl of ice cream, but the experience was incredible. It was my first memory of eating ice cream and it stuck with me forever. Ice cream has been a huge part of my life and has really affected me in so many aspects of my life.

Classmate observations

After viewing a few of my classmates posts about their most recent meal, I came to a few conclusions. The first and most defining conclusion was that most everybody does not enjoy the food on campus. The posts either talked about how unsatisfying their meal on campus was or how lucky they were to be eating a decent meal that was not on campus. I can identify with these feelings because I often find myself struggling for something decent to eat in the campus dining halls. A second observation that I was able to make was that meal times are one of the best times to interact with those around you.Whether they were family or friends, most posts discussed how meal times were a great place to catch up with your friends or family and talk about what's new in life.

Connections with Food

Before reading these two pieces, I had not realized how much of a connection some people had with food, but after thinking about it for a little bit, I realized that I too had a connection with food. Both Ahn and Nicholson had connections to food that stemmed from their parents. Nicholson’s connection was between white food and his mother and whenever he consumed white food, it reminded him of her. Ahn on the other hand had a connection with Korean food that reminded him of his roots. For Nicholson the white food helped him to remember his late mother as well as his cultural background. He associated this food with his time growing up in England and he remembered all the food he ate growing up as a child. He also made the connection to the time after his father passed away when his mother increased her consumption of white food. This was similar for Ahn’s connection with food. There was a very heavy cultural significance for Ahn. He observed his Korean origins whenever he ate Korean food. Though around other people he did not observe his cultural background, when he was in his home, he immersed himself in it, observing his mother while she cooked, and enjoying everything that she would make. As an adult, he came to understand the significance of remembering his roots when he had his own child. As I said before, I did not think that I had much of a connection with food, however when I think about it, food has always been a very important part of my life. As a child, doctors told me that I was allergic to nearly every food. However I later found out that this wasn’t the case and that I was only allergic to peanuts. This gives me a reason to value food and to really appreciate it having experienced life without it. Then as I grew up, my dream job was to be a chef, and though that dream died off, I continued to work in food service. I enjoy these jobs because I love food and loving the feeling of creating a food masterpiece that I can look at and just be proud of. So when I look back on my life, I can really see that food has had a very large impact on my life.

My Most Recent Meal

My most recent meal was breakfast this morning. I ate at about 9:20 so I had time to eat before my 10 o'clock class. I ate over at Nelson Hall for this meal. I ate this meal with my room mate and my friend from across the hall. When I got into the kitchen area, I realized that the selections were not that great. Normally I have some sort of potato, meat, and then pancakes or something. However, today the pancakes looked dry and hard, and the meat was turkey sausage patties, so I didn't get either of those. I got a few scoops of tater tots and then a bowl of strawberry banana yogurt. My friends both got omelets, which was a much better choice, but I don't really like eggs all that much. I then saw that one of the kitchen ladies was making strawberry smoothies, so I took one of those as well. I soon found out the smoothies were not that good because they were very watered down. To fix this, I took some of my yogurt and added it to the smoothie. After that, it tasted much better. The rest of the meal was very uneventful and was in no way remarkable. I really hope that breakfast tomorrow will be better.