picky eater

“Food, in the end, in our own tradition, is something holy. It’s not about nutrients and calories. It’s about sharing. It’s about honesty. It’s about identity.” — Louise Fresco

I confess – I’m cheating a little with this one. Making it combine two different prompts: my favorite food/meal and some of my food quirks.

That second one. That’s easy. If you know me, you know I have many, many food quirks. Here are but a few.

  • I don’t like pig in any of its edible forms. Bacon, ham, sausage; it just doesn’t taste very good to me. Turkey is an excellent substitute though. I could eat turkey bacon or sausage any day. In fact, I once ate an entire package of uncooked turkey bacon when I was like…twelve. Just cause I was hungry.
  • I don’t like any salad dressing on my vegetables, or cheese, or other various non-salad foods…like nuts. Gross.I will eat my lettuce raw, thank you. My bestie likes to make fun of me because one day we were in her car and I pulled a bag of cucumber slices out of my purse and started snacking. Also, I’ve just eaten a whole cucumber for breakfast before. What can I say? They’re delicious.
  • I don’t like anything too greasy, oily, spicy, or bloody. That’s just not my thing. I’m not a huge fan of red meat, although I kill hamburgers sometimes. You just get those anemia-induced red meat cravings, you know?
  • I love oranges (Lexicon Valley just put out a very interesting podcast on the etymology of the word orange) and pumpkins, and purple potatoes.
  • If coffee is a food (it certainly is a food group to me), it’s my favorite thing ever.
  • Or salt. I sometimes just eat salt. But again – that’s another one of those medically-induced cravings.
  • Unfortunately, it’s gotten to the point were I can’t stand too much sugar at once. It makes me teeth hurt just thinking about it. But like 80% pure cocoa is the best! So bitterly delectable.

Anything else?

  • Tomatoes are…iffy. Sometimes they are okay.
  • Soup is one of the best forms of food.
  • Avocados (with salt!) are one of the things I love to “cook”. Guac should be available to eat out of a tortilla chip cone. Or cup, with a tortilla spoon.
  • But that’s about the only type of chip/cracker I’ll eat. (Saltines…are a derivative of salt, so they’re cool.) And if it doesn’t have a) a ton of salt, b) guac, or c) cheese, I’m not gonna bother with it.

My favorite sandwich (and I guess the answer to my favorite food/meal) would be Cheese, Pickles, and Mustard. Three of the best foods you can find. Pickles…that might be hereditary. It seems like we can’t get through a family gathering or meal without at least two jars of pickles on hand. My whole family will smash on a jar of pickles. Cheese, american works best, for me, but any will do; and that’s self-explanatory, isn’t it?  Who doesn’t like cheese? And mustard. Coleman’s if you have it, is the only condiment I really like. Katsup (or ketchup or whatever) is okay, but that’s really my sister’s thing. But MUSTARD! Juicy toast is a close second. That stuff is so good. And breakfast for dinner would be third.

And just to mention it here, though  it might be a family secret, but if I don’t say something, my father will…Bacon, Peanut Butter, and Cinnamon-raisin Toast. That’s not something you will ever see me eating. And that makes me odd. But what does that say about the rest of my family that does eat it?