I was an only child until the age of nine. Well, nine and a half really. I met my real Father at the age of fifteen. My stepfather was the only Dad that I had. I do not remember not having him as my Dad, I was that young when he entered my life. He even adopted me when I was six. I’m sure you are wondering why I am telling you this right? I had a family but did not know it. Kind of sad really.

I always wanted a brother or sister growing up so you can imagine how happy I was when my parents told me that I was going to have a sibling! And when my sister was born, I was soooooo thrilled! Woo-hoo, I have a sister!

Me and Michelle

I look so happy don’t you think? Here’s what they do not tell you when you are getting a little sister or little brother. Your life is going to change in areas that you can not imagine. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I love my little sister! I always have and I always will but they don’t tell you that you will now have to eat whatever your little sister wants! They don’t tell you shit like that because I have got to tell you, I may have said no thanks if I knew that from this point forward you will eat only mashed potatoes and canned peas with some form of protein!

Yeah, my little sister would ONLY eat mashed potatoes and canned peas! Sometimes she would really mix it up and want mashed potatoes and canned peas and carrots! And it didn’t matter what I wanted to eat because if she did not get mashed potatoes and canned peas, she would not eat anything! So I was forced to eat mashed potatoes and canned peas every day for years!

Now, I was a good kid but I was a picky eater. I didn’t like it when things touched on my plate. It was about texture too. And when my little sister wanted her mashed potatoes and canned peas, they had to be mashed all together. This went against two of my rules people! First, things were touching! And second, have you eaten canned peas? Why, why, why are they so mushy? Peas are not mushy so why does the canning process make them that way? I don’t understand! Frozen peas are not mushy. I do not get it.

So after years of pure torture, you can imagine how resistant I was to EVER eat those mushy buggers again. I never bought canned vegetables – except creamed corn of course because duh? – only frozen vegetables. I steered clear of them at family events and during the Holidays, my plate Was always too full already. See how I avoided them? It was not really hard and I never offended anyone by not eating them. Win Win!

Then when I was dating Scott, his stepmother used to make these dill peas that were all the rage with everyone in the family. So despite the many, many years of pure torture with canned Peas, I decided to give them a go. I fell in love! Hertha’s dill peas are awesome! And they are made with canned peas! At every holiday, I loaded up my plate without looking like I was just pouring the whole bowl of dill peas onto it. And let me tell you that I wanted to eat them all!

I’m thinking that Hertha’s dill peas should make an appearance way more often than just the holidays. They would be great for summer barbecues, lunches and even brunches. Give them a try!

Ingredients 

• 3 cans of sweet peas
• 3 medium onions, chopped fine
• 3 Tbsp. Of butter
• 3 Tbsp of flour
• 3 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped fine
• 2 cans of the liquid from the canned sweet peas
• 1 Tbsp of sour cream
• 1 Tbsp of vinegar from dill vinegar jar, see note below

Instructions 

1. Sterilize a medium Mason jar. Wash your fresh dill and stuff your Mason jar full with dill and top with white vinegar. The dill vinegar will be ready for use in a week. The jar will keep for a couple of months in the fridge.
2. Once your dill vinegar is ready, Fry onions in butter until translucent, add in flour to make roux. Add juice from can of peas to thin (2 cans maybe), add in dill, splash of dill vinegar and sour cream if you wish. Add peas in and simmer to let the flavours come thRough.

Happy cooking!