Saturday dinner

We had a lot of veggies. I thought it would be nice to grill them, so I marinated them before we left for our walk, bought tofu on the way back, and put the veggies in pans for dad to throw on the grill. Then I bricked and marinated the tofu, but I was a bit hasty about it and put it out before the flavors soaked in. Also, dad wasn't sure how to cook it, so it took a while for it to grill. The really grilled pieces turned out really well, the undercooked ones not so much.

I plated the veggies and the tofu, using only the very grilled bits. I told mom as much, but she started picking the undercooked cubes from the pan and talking about how the tofu was devoid of taste.

Mom: It doesn't taste like anything.
A.: I put the better tofu on your plate.
Mom: It needs salt, pepper... maybe mustard.
A.: Just stick with what's on your plate.

Then, we sat down for dinner.

Mom: Your hair is too dark.
A.: (Shrug). My hair is this color.
Mom: It's too dark. (Pause.) Have you always warn it that way?
A.: What way?
Mom: In that style?
A.: It's not in any style; I pulled it back so it wouldn't get in the food.
Mom: Well, it doesn't suit you.
A.: Can we go a day without commentary about my hair?
Dad: All your relatives, it appears, are imperfect. Me and my gut, she and her hair.
Mom: You stay out of it.
Dad: I'm just saying.
A.: And I'm saying I don't want to hear it. Am I going outside? Am I going to a formal event? No? Then I don't need to hear how you think my hair looks.
Mom: Hah! Have you read Shakespeare? If you're getting angry, it means you're wrong.
A.: Maybe it just means I'm sick of hearing it.
Mom: Why won't you eat this?
A.: Because it has yogurt in it.
Mom: You're ridiculous.
A.: How are my dietary decisions threatening to you? So much so that you need to have a discussion about them every time? This is how I eat. Deal with it.

I got up to blog. I overheard the following.

Dad: She has a point.
Mom: It's not the food, it's the extreme. It's what's keeping her from finding an appropriate life partner. The farther she goes, the more extreme. It's not right. You can eschew certain things and include others, but the older she gets, the more extreme she gets. It's ruining her ability to meet a life partner, I tell you.