Foods I Don't Get

Thursday, April 12, 2012
Andy grilled up some venison steak last night. They came off the grill beautiful: juicy with charred grill marks and smothered with homemade BBQ sauce (compliments of Mel's Kitchen Cafe.)  We served them up with a side of  roasted Yukon gold potatoes and steamed broccoli. What's not to love?

But halfway through this very American meal, Andy looked over to find me dutifully, but not very enthusiastically gnawing my way through my steak. "You don't have to eat it if you don't like it," he said. So I sawed off one more bite of steak and gave the rest to him. 

As much as I appreciate Andy's woodsmanly ways that filled our chest freezer with venison last fall, I really don't care for venison steak. I mean, I love it in stew, in pasties, in sausage, in stir fry, in just about anything. And I feel that way about about all meat. If it's part of recipe, great! But a piece of meat plunked down on my plate as the main dish? Meh.

I'm not a terribly picky eater (although Andy probably disagrees . . . I do get turned off by food's texture on occasion), but there are a handful of foods that make me feel like Sam I Am of Dr. Seuss fame:

"I do not like them in a box.
I do not like them with a fox.
I will not eat them in a house.
I do not like them with a mouse.
I do not like them here or there.
I do not like them ANYWHERE!"


Montezuma’s Dark Chocolate Advent 
Calendar
 

1) Dark chocolate

I want my chocolate smooth and creamy. If I wanted bitter chocolate flavor, I'd just stick a spoon into my baking cocoa. And no, washing that spoonful of cocoa down with some milk is not an acceptable alternative to milk chocolate.

Cake Balls
2) Cake balls/pops

I like cake just fine, but it doesn't seem to be my go-to dessert.(That would be ice cream and/or pie, apparently.) Still, while I do enjoy a nice cupcake or slice of homemade cake, I have a low tolerance for boxed cake mixes and I despise canned frosting. So who's brilliant idea was it to take a box cake, mix it with a can of frosting, then dip it in chocolate? Cake balls look so pretty and they taste so horrible. Holy preservatives!  

Beet It
3) Beets

I have a deep appreciation for vegetables. But when it comes to the beet, well, I might as well just go get a clod of dirt and gnaw on that because the "earthy" goodness of beets is spoiled on me.

macaroni and cheese
4) Macaroni and cheese

There was a time, a long, long time ago, when I used to eat macaroni and cheese . . . a lot. And then, I hit my tipping point and suddenly, I could not stomach it . . . at all. It's probably been 15 years since I had my last bite of mac and cheese and while I do think I could choke some down if it was the last food on Earth, I still avoid it like the plague. And no, I don't mean just Kraft Dinner. I mean all the Mac and Cheese.


shrimp_closeup
5) Shrimp 

That smell! That texture! I have tried shrimp many times, prepared many different ways and it still kind of revolts me. The other day I was listening to NPR's The Splendid Table and heard the host, Lynne Rossetto Kasper, say that everyone likes shrimp. The result? I no longer trust anything Lynne Rossetto Kasper tells me.

What foods don't you get? 

 

16 comments:

  1. Lynn would be so sad to read this blog. It sure made me chuckle, though!

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    Replies
    1. Lynn should watch what she says! Those sweeping generalizations'll get you every time. ;)

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  2. Loved this post Ada! I've tried many times over the years to like Venison, but can never quite stomach the gaminess. I definitely agree with you about the cake pops/balls. Just thinking about the cloying sweetness gives my teeth a shiver! The way I feel about cute foods is that taste comes first. Something cute, but painfully sweet to eat just seems kinda sad to me. Shrimp, beets, Mac & Cheese, Dark chocolate -- love 'em all. On my "foods I don't get" list are Red Velvet cake, Cool Whip, Cornish game hens (why not just eat a regular sized chicken?), prunes (unless they're eaten "medicinally")and ketchup (with a few exceptions).

    Thanks for the food fun!!
    Jenn

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  3. I don't get shrimp or beets either! They are just ehh not great to me. I'd eat them if in a social situation if necessary. I don't get steak either, just not a huge fan. I also don't get ham, fish tacos or chicken wings.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, chicken wings too! What are up with those? Anyone remember that Pizza Hut commercial of old where the little kid says "How do they fly with those little things?" Haha!

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  4. I am not a fan either of steak plopped on my plate. And I don't much like pancakes unless they are doctored with blueberries or chocolate chips. Oh, and plain white rice. Yuck.

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  5. Shrimp is the best, but I totally agree with you about cake balls and beets.

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  6. I can't come within 10 feet of a cake made with box mix anymore. I started baking cake from scratch 5 years ago, and never looked back. I don't get what people this is so hard about flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, vanilla, eggs, and oil.

    Beets are my favorite though. My CSA box for February came with a beet that was the size of a pie pumpkin. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

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  7. I have never understood the cake pop phenomenon- and I happen to love cake or cookies as my dessert du jour- but why does it have to be so fricken putzy? No thanks. I think they are cheesy and I"ll just have a slice of cake or an m&m cookie. Oh, and I reached mac and cheese saturation about 5 years ago and never looked back either. Especially cheesy (pardon the pun) gourmet versions with god knows what in them.

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  8. Cake pops are disgusting! I don't know WHY they are so popular. They look so cute, but the couple of times I bit into one just to see if they are ALL as bad as the first, I had to spit it out.

    Not a fan of venison and BEETS make me gag. With ya!

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  9. olives. I try to cultivate a love for them; I couldn't get myself to swallow the last green one I tried. And calamari--what a gross texture!

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  10. Sun dried tomatoes. They are just too strong and usually overwhelm everything else they're with.

    Same goes for kalamata olives. Way too briney and just kills my palette.

    Fun entry btw. Thanks.

    http://epicureanenthusiast.blogspot.com

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  11. No beets or macaroni cheese here either. Do not get them at all.

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  12. I'm not big on a wild game taste or most dark meat. I can't eat pineapple (I know, I am going to get hate comments), peaches, or mushy tomatoes.

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  13. The meal you had sounds great, but I am the same way when it comes to having meat as a main dish. My husband usually finishes the meat for me and I finish his vegetables!

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  14. Beets, really? But they are such a beautiful colour! I choose many of my fruit and veggies based on colour! I like them roasted with olive oil and a little s&p :) But I don't judge. I think the only thing I'm not super fond of is onions, there was a time when they would cause me to gag, but now I include them in soups, stir frys, etc. And generally I prefer my veggies raw - because I find most people over cook them. But I will eat them soggy or not :)

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