molasses

I was taught to eat molasses.

My step father was sure we were all going to be anemic and that we needed more iron in our diet. He might have been right on all of that.

There were two diseases that dad considered to be moral failings. One was anemia and the other was diabetes. He was sure that if you ate too much sugar you would catch it like a bad cold.

His beliefs were not far from the accepted norm at the time, but he was a bit stronger about it.

Not that many people like Molasses. But a while back when my brother was here for a visit, I made pancakes (whole wheat -- ground the flour myself) and offered him some syrup that was mostly molasses. “I like Molasses,” he said.

We were not to eat any brand of molasses. “Grandma’s” was forbidden. It was too much like syrup dad said (Hmm) besides it had sulphe r. Both not good to Dad.

But toay as I was looking at the label it said: “Contains no gluten.” I would have thought that was as obvious as it not containing cholesterol, but what do I know?