Stealing Gina's Dinner!

Thinking about this assignment, I was actually pretty stumped. As a kid, and now as well, I wasn't a very picky eater. Sure there were some foods (like brussel sprouts...yuck) that I didn't like, but for the most part I ate whatever my mom made for dinner. Really, I was a great child :) However, I do remember one thing that as a kid I would never under any circumstances eat. Lasagna. To be more specific, the ricotta cheese inside the lasagna. I just couldn't stand it for some reason. Now, you may be asking yourself, what's the big deal? It's only really one kind of cheese I don't like. Well, it was a big deal. You see, my family is very Italian, and with this Italian-ness comes lots of ricotta cheese! My grandma uses it in lasagna, baked mostocholi, stuffed shells, all kinds of pasta, and the ever so famous canoli dessert. So, as odd as it may sound, as a kid I did kind of feel left out. My whole family would endulge in these wonderful dishes, and I would eat plain pasta. I felt like an outsider of my own heritage! My aunt would even ask me, "how can you be Italian and not like ricotta cheese?!" And I had no idea! So, I just avoided it for the majority of my childhood. Eventually, as I got older, I would slowly begin to taste some of these foods. And slowly, I grew to like them. So I think it was a big step for me to try these things that I had remainded distant from for so long! And now, I just love to eat them at family parties with everyone else!