So this morning, as is my custom, I settled in to the....umm...."library" and carefully chose my reading material. Too late I realized I had already read all the words off of every page. DOH!
Then, I must confess, I did something that I'm not at all proud of. I....I....*gulp* I picked up one of K's ladies magazines and took a peek inside. There. I said it. *Bye-bye Man Card*
It was More magazine, which based on my quick peek inside was short for More Ads, because that's what was in there. More Ads to look at than anything to actually read.
But among the few articles was one that was really pretty interesting. It was by Linda Yellin and titled "When did kale get a publicist?" She wrote that she went to the store to buy a bag of potato chips and instead found an entire section of kale chips.
And not just plain vanilla kale chips, but in flavors like Bombay curry, zesty nacho, and one scary-sounding variety called mango habanero.
Now please keep in mind that I was born and (mostly) raised in Texas when I ask, "What the #%&* is kale?" The only "kale" I know spelled it with a "C", and he was an old-school NASCAR driver. (All hearsay, of course. I'm not into NASCAR.)
I used to kill stuff growing wild in my yard that looked more appetizing than this.
Even the author said she never ate it because "it's hard to wash and tastes like rubber." (So was kale the inspiration for Gummy Bears?) Up until now I always thought the parsley growers had the best PR guy in the business, but now I'm thinking this kale guy has him beat.
Think about it: With parsley, that little green weed-looking thing restaurants put on your plate so they can get a few "presentation points", all you do is look at it, then
With kale, their smooth-talking PR guy actually gets you to put it in your mouth and chew it (and chew and chew and chew if Ms. Yellin's description is accurate) and eventually swallow it.
He's GOOD! But as I see it, any vegetable that needs its own PR guy must be a real loser.
Like the author said, back in her day (and my day) your mama would slap down a plate of meatloaf and say, "Eat it!" The food we ate back then didn't need a fancy PR guy. Just an "enforcer". :)
S
Put down the magazine and s l o w l y walk away. We don't need to discuss this again.
ReplyDelete*head hanging, looking at shoes* Yes sir.
Deletetried kale once....made kale chips ..... lot o work for 15 seconds of eating....
ReplyDeleteFifteen seconds? For me it was only a nano-second.
DeleteKale is a vile weed. I should know because my mother swears by it and I grew up on the stuff. Merry Day After!
ReplyDeleteYES! I remember you writing about it. Yours and Ms. Yellin's word are good enough for me. No kale passes my lips.
ReplyDeleteHa! I immediately thought of Stephen's mother as I was reading this.
ReplyDeleteI've used kale in soups. I really should look up some recipes with kale in it. It's supposed to be one of those superfoods.
Speaking of vegetable PR...I remember reading once that more marketing money is spent on Altoids in one DAY than on broccoli in one entire YEAR.
Kale is IN. Being from TX, I like turnip greens, fried okra, and spinach. Kale is disgusting. But being IN, it is served everywhere, and people rave about it,while choking when i mention my old faves. Who made that decision????
ReplyDeleteI tried to make kale chips once - YUCK! Too bitter for me. Mike ate it for me :)
ReplyDelete