Afterbirth: It's What's For Dinner...

[mcctatas]

OK, so back in the early 80's I went to visit my aunt after she had her first child. I was not even 13 yet and easily skeeved out by anything remotely outside of the mainstream (odd for the spawn of hippies), anyway, she answers the door wearing nothing but a belted Kotex and a smile and invites my grandmother and I in. After oohing and ahhing over the baby we go to the kitchen where there is a pot of something simmering on the stove, long story short it was placenta soup which we both declined to try. Fast forward 20 odd years and it makes Time magazine???!!!

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1908194,00.html

"Most mammals, Cassandra explained, eat their placentas, to which I countered that most dogs eat their poop. I stopped arguing there, figuring that like many of Cassandra's hippie ideas — the compost bin, rubbing lemon on her underarms instead of deodorant — she'd give up on this in a few weeks. Even as the due date approached and she was still set on eating her placenta, I couldn't imagine that she'd remember to request it from the doctor after the most physically draining experience of her life. This is a woman who, 9 times out of 10, forgets the bag of leftovers at the restaurant."

[Schema Thing]

1. mmmm, save a place-nta for me at the table!

[Silver Swan]

2. Back in the 1970's

When my children were born, I had a book about pregnancy and birth that contained a recipe for placenta stew.

And no, I never tried it.

[jeff30997]

3. "Most mammals...eat their placentas"

I believe that we had good reasons to climb down of trees,walk upright,make more and more sophisticated tools and so on but there's no way I want to go back there.

[pokerfan]

4. Placenta Helper!

Early in SNL's history, until the censors vetoed it, Laraine Newman and Gilda Radner were supposed to play two pregnant women who run into each other at their college reunion.

Laraine: "By the way, are you planning to eat the placenta?"

Gilda: "You're kidding! You mean the afterbirth?"

Laraine: "That's right. Many mammals eat their own placenta. It's nutritious, it's 100 percent natural, and now that you're going to have a family, you've got to watch your food budget more than ever. And there's no cheaper meat than placenta."

Gilda: But is there enough placenta to make a complete meal for my husband and myself?

Laraine: Not if your husband has a hearty appetite like mine. And that's why you need Placenta Helper.

Gilda: Placenta Helper?

Laraine: That's right. Placenta Helper lets you stretch your placenta into a tasty casserole. (Holds up a box of Placenta Helper.) Like Placenta Romanoff--a zesty blend of cheeses makes for the zingy sauce that Russian czars commanded at palace feasts. Or Placenta Oriental. An exotic mixture of oriental vegetables and exotic herbs and spices creates an exotic meal. Look, you can have placenta only once every nine months. Why not make a rare occasion, a rare occasion?

CUT TO: Gilda's kitchen. John Belushi, as her husband, has just finished his placenta casserole.

John: Ummm. That was great. Let's have Placenta Helper every night.

Gilda: Oh, honey!

(THEY LAUGH AT HIS STUPID MISTAKE.)

http://cjsd.blogspot.com/2008/05/questions-we-already-know-answers-to-pt.html
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,303994,00.html

[surrealAmerican]

14. That's just what I thought of.

I'm surprised to hear it never aired. I thought I remembered seeing it. I guess I only read it, and imagined seeing it.

[Fleshdancer]

5. No thank you

"Most mammals do it" is not an argument that wins with me. Many mammals do things with feces too, but that doesn't give me any incentive to do so.

As a general rule, if something with a heartbeat comes out of my body, I get to keep it and take care of it. All other things exiting my body will be properly disposed of. I'm simple that way.

[KittyWampus]

6. many cultures SAVE the placenta for the child. Interesting in light of modern tech w/stem cells

[Bunny]

7. Oh for fuck sake. That's just disgusting.

x(

[Deja Q]

8. best appetite suppressant ever. Now I won't need to eat until Monday...

September 14th...

[noamnety]

9. I had a friend who was saving her placenta

to plant under a fruit tree once they bought their own house, so it would act as fertilizer for the tree.

Unfortunately they stayed with me while they were moving from one apartment to another - they didn't actually own a house yet when they made the decision to save it. "Hey, can we keep some stuff from our cooler in your freezer?"

I'm normally not squeamish about that kind of thing at all. But they drained their cooler, and the melty ice water was reddish murk - the placenta was just wrapped in butcher paper, not in anything waterproof ... and they had 6 packs of pop submerged in the muck water. You know, eat the placenta or not, I don't care much what you do with it, until it involves having an AGED placenta that's been frozen and thawed lord knows how many times, and you want to use my food prep area to deal with its leakage and store the bloody pop cans in my fridge.

She was mortally offended that I let her put it in my freezer ONLY after it was sealed in multiple layers of plastic bags as if it was biological waste. We never talked after that - she's a former friend now. (Partially due to that, partially due to another unfortunate incident during that visit :) )

[Aristus]

10. Hey! Just add a little Placenta Helper, and you're all set!

:9

[mysuzuki2]

11. years ago when my now adult daughter (with 4 little girls of her

own) was about 6, our cat had kittens. She watched them being born. When the placenta was expelled, the mother cat proceeded to eat it, which I guess is normal for cats. Erika was very quiet for awhile after she observed this. She then asked me "dad, when I have babies will I have to do that?". I told her "only if you are not married when you have a baby". Apparently she took that to heart because she waited until she was well into her 20's and married before having children.

[KittyWampus]

13. that was some incredibly fast thinking on your part back then!

[trof]

12. 1. Where in hell are you from? 2. Afterbirth Cocktail:

Afterbirth Cocktail Recipe

Ingredients
1 part Irish Cream
1 part Raspberry Schnapps
1 part Grenadine Syrup

Directions
Mix schnapps and grenadine. Add Bailey's last. Wait until the Bailey's curdles then shoot.

Serve in a Shot Glass