What was going on when I was born?

A CARTOON in The New Yorker many years ago depicted a disgruntled little girl confronted with a mysterious substance on her dinner plate. Though assured by her mother that it was broccoli, she remained unconvinced. ''I say it's spinach,'' she insisted, ''and I say the hell with it.'' The child could have substituted any number of vegetables: Parsnips, turnips, rutabaga and squash come quickly to mind. They are only some of the winter vegetables that, unfortunately, are treated as undesirable aliens in this country. Add to them a fair number that are virtually unknown - salsify, cardoons and kohlrabi, to name a few - and the sad conclusion is that Americans are depriving themselves of some of the most flavorful and distinctive foods on earth. The lack of knowledge about some of these vegetables is because of their lack of availability. The poor reputation of others is related, in part, to their association with hard times. Turnips, for example, were once said to be eaten by the poor in lean times, by the cattle of the poor in good times.

THE wok has been the basic Chinese cooking utensil for centuries. And why not? The design of this vessel is simple but superb: its generous, rounded shape permits quick searing of large or small quantities of food by stir-frying; it accomplishes deep frying with less oil than possible in a straight-sided pot; it accommodates steamer baskets of various sizes, and it may even be used to braise or smoke whole fish, chickens or large pieces of meat. The smooth, round shape simplifies cleaning and the metal conducts heat evenly and effectively. Chinese cooking pots were originally hammered cast iron, and while these are still available, today woks are usually made of lighter, less brittle spun steel. American manufacturers and distributors of cookware, however, are not content to leave well enough alone. Stores are filled with woks in various sizes, contours and finishes - to the bewilderment of shoppers. While a modification in the shape of a wok, flattening the bottom, might be necessary to make it more adaptable to an electric range, other changes are gimmicks that raise the price and certainly do not improve it. ''People are trying to make it more than it is,'' said Ken Hom, the chef and author of ''Chinese Technique'' in describing what's happening to the wok.

House Republicans and Democrats today criticized Administration plans to increase the financial resources of the International Monetary Fund so that it can help a number of countries meet huge foreign debt payments. Their comments came after Treasury Secretary Donald T. Regan, in an appearance before the House Banking Committee, warned that if debtor countries did not get help from an I.M.F. with more lending power, the current recession could deepen into a worldwide depression. 'Temporary Situation' ''We think that this is a temporary situation, and to get them over the hump is better than to let them go by the boards,'' Mr. Regan said, alluding to the debt payment crises of such countries as Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica and Yugoslavia.

Paint is peeling from the walls and the carpeting is a bit threadbare, suggesting the low-budget operation of some struggling, start-up airline. But the spartan look to the headquarters of USAir, the nation's eighth-largest carrier, which is based in an old hangar at National Airport here, is but one expression of an operating strategy that has made the airline one of the industry's most profitable. ''We like to spend our money where it counts, where it can produce revenue for us,'' said W. Blake Thompson, USAir's senior vice president of finance. ''We would rather spend that way than give the chairman a big office. We have no plans for an elaborate headquarters building.''

As Congress struggled to end its session and go home for Christmas, the Senate agreed just after midnight to hold a showdown vote Thursday on a bill raising the Federal gasoline tax to pay for highway repairs and mass transit. The agreement came as Senators Jesse Helms and John P. East, two conservative Republicans from North Carolina, blocked immediate action on the bill with their third filibuster in the last week. All efforts by the Senate leadership to propitiate the opponents failed, and Senator Howard H. Baker Jr. of Tennessee, the majority leader, filed a petition to cut off debate. An aide to Mr. Baker predicted that ''the votes are there to pass the bill and send it to the President.''

A late rally enabled the Dow Jones industrial average yesterday to soar by 25.75 points, to 1,030.26. Analysts said the upswing was sparked mainly by the strong performance of the bond market, where long-term Treasury securities rose in price by more than $20 for every $1,000 in face value and yields fell. The bond price rally came after the Federal funds rate, the rate for overnight loans that banks make to each other, dropped early in the day. ''Helping the rally was the report in the afternoon by the Commerce Department that durable goods orders placed with American factories last month rose 1.9 percent, or more than expected,'' said Leonard Siegel, vice president of investments of Josephthal & Company. The rise was viewed as an indication that an economic recovery might start soon.

International A Soviet arms-reduction proposal was made public by Yuri V. Andropov, the Soviet leader. Under the plan, Moscow would reduce its mediumrange missiles in Europe from more than 600 to about 162, the number of missiles now maintained by Britain and France, if the NATO allies abandon plans to deploy 572 new medium-range missiles in Europe late next year. (Page A1, Column 6.) Washington rejected the proposal on medium-range missiles in Europe made public by Moscow on the ground that it would leave the Soviet arsenal superior to NATO'S arsenal. (A1:5.)

Republicans in the State Senate put forward a new tax proposal - a surcharge on taxes on corporate profits - Tuesday night to save bus, subway and commuter rail fares. Early today, after a meeting in Governor Carey's office, Democratic leaders said that although they had some technical questions, the plan might solve the problem and could be enacted as early as today. At a 1 A.M. news conference, Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink, Democrat of Brooklyn, said the Republican package might meet his basic criteria that the business community close the transit deficit. ''I'm feeling pretty cool about the whole thing,'' he said. Governor Carey stood by his side.

President Reagan today renewed his appeal to King Hussein to enter Israeli-Egyptian negotiations on Palestinian self-rule in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. But the Jordanian leader reportedly said that, although he shared Mr. Reagan's desire for peace, conditions were not ripe for him to make such a dramatic move. The two leaders will meet again before King Hussein leaves on Thursday night, but a senior Administration official said he did not expect ''any dramatic breakthrough and announcement'' by that time. Reagan Seeks to Expand Talks The meeting between Mr. Reagan and King Hussein had been seen as a key part of the President's Middle East initiative, made public on Sept. 1, to provide momentum to the flagging peace efforts in the region.

The Guatemalan Government has succeeded in bringing an uneasy peace to much of the countryside, where just a few months ago reports of battles with guerrillas and massacres by Government troops were commonplace. But for the largely Indian population, the convulsions of a guerrilla war have been replaced by new concerns and new disruptions of their traditional way of life. Interviews with dozens of Indian villagers, church workers, Government officials and soldiers and officers -conducted during a four-day 600-mile tour of the Guatemalan highlands -found a dramatic change. While scattered incidents of violence continue, indications are that the Government has reasserted substantial control over all but certain stretches of the border with Mexico and a handful of areas in the interior. Means Are in Dispute The means by which this control was achieved remain in dispute. The military and the Government of Gen. Efrain Rios Montt, which took power in a coup last March, insist that the renewed support for the regime resulted from a failure by the leftist insurgents to fulfill their promises of a better way of life, combined with a new level of social concern by the Government.

The nation's economy is continuing to decline in the current quarter, at a 2.2 percent annual rate, Government officials estimated today, indicating that the long-awaited economic recovery will not get going until spring. At the same time, the Labor Department reported that consumer prices, depressed by months of recession, rose one-tenth of 1 percent in November, meaning that the inflation rate for the year, something under 4.8 percent, will be the lowest in a decade. (Page D6.) The 2.2 percent decline in the gross national product, which is the broadest measure of the nation's economic activity, was the Government's ''flash'' estimate for the fourth quarter. As the first rough estimate for the October-through-December period, it is subject to major revisions as more data are gathered. But if the 2.2 percent estimate were to hold for the quarter, then the G.N.P., after adjustment for inflation, would show a decline for the year of 1.8 percent.

The nation's economy continued to decline in the current quarter, at a 2.2 percent annual rate, Government officials estimated. The drop in the G.N.P., the broadest measure of the nation's economic activity, indicated that recovery would not get going until spring. (Page A1.) Durable goods orders rose 1.9 percent in November, regaining some ground lost with October's 5 percent drop. The increase suggested that activity would be picking up at factories, but the level of orders was still the second worst since May 1980. (D1.)