Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Just Grapes & Sunshine + A Sheep Or Two



when i was a kid i didn't eat fast-food, didn't drink soft drinks and the chocolate i ate was made not from cocoa but from carob...

i remember the first time i when to the "golden arches" for a friends birthday party.
all my friends had been-here, done-that and were like "i'll have a #2 happy meal" or "i'll have a #4 with a sundae".
i stood in line having no idea whatsoever on what to order let alone how to order.
mmm, wonder what a "smile" is like, it's free.

don't get me wrong, i didn't have a sheltered upbringing, but my mum was, and still is, a bit of a health-freak.
i grew up eating loads of vegetables (usually straight out of my grandfathers garden) and dessert usually consisted of fresh seasonal fruits.
when i went to a friends house for a sleep-over i was stunned when dinner was served; it consisted of meat meat and meat.
i soooo couldn't finish that meal because in my eyes all i could see was a cow sitting on my plate...
dessert on the other hand was amazing.
my eyes nearly popped out of my head when i was given a bowl of ice cream! and to top it off i thought i had died and gone to heaven when my friend poured chocolate (made from cocoa!!) over my ice cream and it hardened within a few seconds! wow!

but now that i'm a "grown man", i respect and love my mum for feeding me the way she did.
i have a deep rooted love for fresh healthy produce.
which brings be to the reason why i'm rambling away here.

i woke up with a sudden urge for raisins. why? i have no idea...
but i forgot how great they taste!
as i nibbled on a raisin all these memories came flooding back to me.
i remember that this was what my mum used to give to me for a snack, or she'd tuck one of these little boxes into my lunch box, or i was often given a box as a little treat before dinner.





the box design hasn't changed since 1970 (apart from a website address printed on the side) and the red-bonnet-ed girl (a real person called lorraine collett petersen!) is still holding those freshly picked green grapes.

you know, when i was a kid i used to think sheep sh*t and raisins were the same thing. it was only the adults who thought otherwise.
i guess that's what you get when you grow up in a country that has more sheep than people!

14 comments:

Badass Geek said...

I always thought that the Raisin lady was hot.

pascale said...

do you know hard it is to do what your mom did for you? (obviously you appreciate it, good for you!)
Going to the M's is so easy... :)

My mom is somewhat a health-freak too if that's how you call them (but I have a lucky feeling that I went to the M's before you).
When my friends had chocolate bars or cookie packs in their backpack for their snacks at school, I had those small red boxes of raisins... how ashamed I felt and how I envied them... haha

My mom still frowns if I order coke at the restaurant and coke bottles (I got addicted after I left for college) mysteriously vanish away when I stock them up :p

Thanks for showing me the raisin box, brings back lots of good memories of my childhood :D

Unknown said...

haha, I like this post! so warm!
i guess... your mother will faint if she knows my eating habit... =..=

lea said...

hey, that sounds more or less like my childhood memories of small packs of raisins only i don't remember thinking of them as sheep droppings : ) i so envied those kids with chocolate bars and sugar drinks but like you i appreciate my parents' efforts to limit my sugar and junk food intake as a child. a pleasure reading this post!

world of sekimachihato said...

* Badass Geek
mmm, bonnets don't do it for me.
too much "little red riding hood" going on there.
you can see the original girl here:
http://www.sun-maid.com/en/about/sunmaid_girl.html

world of sekimachihato said...

* pascale
now that you're a mum i guess you can really relate to how much work our parents put into everyday life for us.
i used to also envy the kids who would buy their lunch at school rather than bring a packed one from home.
back then i didn't realise how lucky i was!

world of sekimachihato said...

* Mandy
considering i nearly fainted when i saw what you eat. i'm sure my mum would too!
but after she faints, i'm sure she would whip you up a nice home made healthy meal.
she knows all the tricks on how to hide the vegetables...

world of sekimachihato said...

* lea
i once swapped my apple and orange for a soft-cream donut when i was in primary school!
i couldn't believe some kid would even want my apple and orange!!
did you also get sunmaid raisins??

Luuworld said...

how funny that you should do a post on this brand of raisins. i haven't had them for years, but two weeks ago, i got a couple of packets to snack on at work. great minds think alike, apparently. lol.

btw.sounds like you had a great upbringing (food wise)

GL said...

Ah I'd really like to learn your mums recipe. Right now I need a lot of cheese to camoflauge the green and that's far from healthy!

world of sekimachihato said...

* Luuworld
the same thing has happened to me when i've read your blog! so great minds must really think alike!!
i hadn't had raisins for years, but they do make a pretty good snack at work. and healthy too!
yeah for sheep sh*t!

world of sekimachihato said...

* GL
actually cheese (well white sauce) was once one of my mum's camouflage techniques!

"is that cauliflower?"
"no, that just lumpy white sauce"
"..."

Unknown said...

I WANT TO MEET HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-> GL
why u need the cheese to camouflage the green?

world of sekimachihato said...

* Mandy
one day. one day.

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