Posted on 01/13/2008 1:33:14 PM PST by Graybeard58
A few weeks ago, I shared my dirtiest picky-eating secrets and listed the foods I refuse to try — from grapefruit to beans.
I asked readers to tell me about their finicky ways. It turns out I'm not the only one out there. Read what they said.
Mushrooms? No way.
Kevin McDermott, Waterbury
I wouldn't eat a banana on a dare. In the late '60s, one of our neighbors had visitors from Delaware and they introduced all the kids to baked bananas. Yum! You cannot even imagine the smell of oozing nanner guts in the oven. I can actually get sick thinking about it.
I didn't try gravy until I was in my 20s and still only use it sparingly. Mushrooms? Forget about 'em. Especially canned ones. The smell of the brine permeates everything. To this day I will only eat a hot dog or hamburger at a picnic. "Other" people's food freaks me out and I imagine all types of horrors going on in unforeseen kitchens. Some day perhaps I'll try so and so's beans but for now, I will have to live without the implied wonderfulness.
The best gift Santa ever gave us was a sandwich grill. It was like today's Panini grill. Mom would buy Velveeta and Wonder bread and we were able to make our own sandwiches any time, day or night. She felt that this combo was more nutritious than most of the other foods hitting our stomachs.
My lovely wife is an adventurous cook, blending all sorts of things together for dinner. Just recently I was informed via cell phone that dinner was to be a chicken tortellini dish.
I was actually excited about it until I came home and found that I would need to fish out the spinach and mushrooms before I could eat it. I have come a long way though. Not too very long ago I wouldn't have even considered fishing, I probably would have just made a grilled cheese instead.
If I live to be 100, I will never figure out why I decided to try something called mahi mahi at Outback Steakhouse. My wife chastised me for ordering flipper and I spent some very good money on a doggie bag.
Now that you think I am a food freak I will let you in on this little tidbit. I will eat tuna salad just about anywhere. From diners to Subway to delis to home I will try the tuna. I could eat it every day and sometimes do.
My personal lunchbox mainstay sandwich is Majesty ham, Land 'O Lakes American cheese, Hellmann's mayo and Gulden's mustard on any variety of bread. It has to be made in a specific order though. I would be embarrassed to admit how often I eat these.
@Copy of Briefhead:It's in the family genes
Megan Plourde, Watertown
I am a picky eater. My parents are picky eaters. My sister and four brothers are all picky eaters. All of our friends and other family members get so annoyed by our eating habits.
I, also, do not eat condiments. No ketchup, mustard, mayo, salad dressing, cheese, tomatoes, etc.
The meat I eat has to be cooked well done. I don't drink milk. I eat my cereal dry. I do not like pasta sauce, so I eat my pasta dry. But I do love cheese pizza. I do love salt. My family members are saltaholics. I would love to sit down and eat a lobster, but I just know I won't like it (never tried).
This list could go on and on, but it must be hereditary since my family is all the same.
@Copy of Briefhead:Picky eaters choose to be picky
Carolyn A. McDonough, Canaan
This is an interesting subject at this time of year when families are gathering together and suddenly learning that "Suzy" is now a vegetarian and "Little Billy" won't eat anything but Cheese Puffs.
Picky eaters are made, not born. I think it is an attention getter. It works for a while until everyone is just bored with it.
Once no one comments, the problem seems to go away. I don't like raw onions (except red or Vidalia onions), but love them cooked in any way. I prefer not to eat organ meats, but love liver pate! I ate an oyster once and that was enough, but love snails!
I will try almost any food. A taste doesn't mean you have to eat the whole thing!
I think people miss out on a lot of pleasure and enjoyment by obsessing about food!
@Copy of Briefhead:Hold the pickle
Stephanie Sims, Cheshire
I am 26 years old and have always had a thing with many types of food. Well actually, I should say condiments mostly. I was told by my parents that I would grow out of it.
But here I am years later and staying strong. I just like what I like. I don't like pickles, mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, hot sauce, relish, coleslaw, tartar sauce, etc.
Being in the same room with someone eating it can even make me nauseous from the smell. In fact, most times I go out to eat, I order something that won't have the option of a pickle being on the plate. I can't just eat around it.
The juice has seeped into the food and ruined it. I usually just tell the waiter I'm allergic to pickles. And most times that works.
Otherwise, they aren't too sympathetic to someone who just doesn't like pickles.
I figure it's not really lying because if a pickle does show up on my plate I WILL have a reaction.
Nice to hear there's other people out there who are considered abnormal.
Isn’t it just a cockroach from my kitchen?
I have a 9 year old grand son who doesn’t like ice cream. Never has.
Oxtails are cow’s tail chopped into 1” segments, browned and then stewed. You may know it from the Italian Osso Buco.
My oldest only likes sorbet. No ice cream.
You’re kidding. I’ve never made ossa buco at home, but have always intended to and planned to use little veal shanks or chops. Hmmm, oxtails?
I feel like the poster who always says “Thailand?” Now I’m all “Oxtails?”
My husband who is allergic to NOTHING says he is allergic to chicken. It gives him a stomach ache. I have many allergies and I could eat chicken 2 times a day and eggs for breakfast.
Bet it’s that “over-sized molecule” business that upsets your hubby’s tum-tum.
I like eggs just about any way they can be fixed, except runny fried ones. Runny poached or soft-boiled are OK, but not fried “over easy” - unless I happen to have an abundance of buttered toast with which to sop.
Guess I’m “picky” in a different way, lol.
In the pantheon of canned veggies, I always felt that canned asparagus had to be the vilest of the vile, with maybe spinach in 2nd place.
And then one day I made the mistake of having a can of new potatoes in my pantry, opening it and putting them in a stew. Egad! How repulsive - had to throw the whole pot out - flavored everything in “can.” Ick, ick, ick!
Great thread. My ex-husband wouldn’t eat fish or chicken — he said fish drink the water they eliminate in and chickens eat ca-ca. As you can see he had issues.
I knew you would be on this thread, lol. I remember how much you love the Turkey Shop pea salad.
And BTW..
If I live to be 100, I will never figure out why I decided to try something called mahi mahi at Outback Steakhouse. My wife chastised me for ordering flipper and I spent some very good money on a doggie bag.
Mahi mahi is just a fish...sometimes called a dolphinfish. It is not a dolphin. ;)
Glad to see you, there in the ♥Heart of Texas♥!
Condiments. All of them. Ketchup, mustard, mayo, relish, steak sauce, salad dressing, tartar sauce, cocktail sauce...I can go on and on. Even the smell on an emptied plate is nauseating to me. And I have a “no kisses” rule, too after hubby and child eat any of the above.
I used to have to process them as a child and I guess it just grossed me out. My stomach turns over when a neighbor gets to smoking one.
I’m a common sewer....I’ll eat anything.
Years of working with sick people have taught me that picky eaters go through all the rings of hell as their health declines. Not so much cause and effect, but as your choices become more and more limited, it’s good to start out with a much wider base.
Otherwise it’s “Why do I get green beans, mashed potatoes and a hamburger patty every day?” (Because those are the only foods left on the planet you will and can eat.)
Your baby needs to read up on The Great Depression. Could this be an attention getting device? Sounds like being picky may have become his or her “thing”. I mean the Christmas letter for Pete’s sakes. Just the fact that you can list things in such detail shows you are very thoughtful but also that youngster has you quite disciplined. Luckily you have the money to comply with junior’s requirements. That is luxury many do not know.
Oh, I just remembered something I won’t eat - squirrel! A friend was passing around some “fried chicken” while we watched a football game at his house.
Since I’m not enamored of chicken to begin with, I was way behind all the other munchers when he announced what it was. Arrgh - I had to run to the bathroom. Talk about “rodents.” And in my mind’s eye, all I could see was a bushy tail protruding from the “chicken back” in my hands - never again!
I, also, do not eat condiments.
The author is a liar.
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