Strange Tastes

Just thinking about taste this morning and how different we all are. What is a strange taste to one becomes perfectly normal to another. And vice versa.

Sue likes maple flavour in things, like ice cream, for example. Shauna (daughter) likes it in coffee-type drinks, like maybe a latte. I like maple syrup on pancakes or French toast only and decidedly don't prefer it otherwise. Why I like it in one form and not another, I know not.

Danica like plain vanilla ice cream, and while I don't mind it, I prefer chocolate. Meanwhile, if vanilla is all that we have in the house, Sue usually won't bother with it. If we stop for an ice cream cone somewhere, she will invariably order Pralines and Cream or something close to that, while I will always get something chocolaty, like Rocky Road.

Neither JJ nor Danica will accept gravy on the turkey or potatoes at Christmas dinner. It grieves me a little that they will never experience Christmas dinner that same way that the rest of us do.

Speaking of turkey, I love the skin of a roasted bird. But I can't think of anyone else in my circle who shares this taste. We went out for rotisserie chicken the other day, and as usual, Sue discarded the skin, and as usual, I snapped up her discards. I think the best taste is in the skin.

We are a bit like Jack Spratt and wife, except I am the wife to her Jack Spratt who can eat no fat. She will almost gag on something fatty as you might find in a steak. Meanwhile, I usually love the fatty bit as long as it isn't gristly.

She likes white wine while I prefer red. She wishes that she could like red more as it is said to be healthier, but she just can't.

She likes veggies. I don't. For a long time, I lauded her for eating raw carrots with almost every lunch because they're so good for you. Eventually however, it dawned on me that she actually likes raw carrots, so I needn't praise her at all for this (although she definitely deserves my praise for an infinite number of other attributes). The only way that I really like carrots is if they are roasted and soft and no longer taste like carrots, and it amuses some people if I say that I don't like a dish of carrots because they still taste like carrots.

But if we serve roasted carrots to the kids, particularly JJ, it becomes necessary to offer him plain raw carrots instead, and he always always always prefers them this way.

Speaking of JJ and others in the family, he will enjoy munching on a whole hard-boiled egg. But I can hardly stand to look at someone eating a hard boiled egg. Meanwhile, I like eggs scrambled or fried, but he doesn't. Neither does Danica. Funnily enough, I can accept an egg salad sandwich, which is just a boiled egg chopped up.

We were out at a restaurant with extended family. My brother-in-law shocked me when he ate his veggies first, before they could get cold. There is almost nothing less appetizing to me than plain, boiled veggies on a plate. I can stomach (barely) some boiled veggies if they are smeared with butter, but except for corn, it's still a bit of a struggle for me.

I wish I were different because those veggies are good for a body, but I can hardly manage them. However, when veggies are cooked what I call properly in the right dish, I can enjoy them quite a bit. I have made a nice, tasty veggie lasagna for example. If Sue smears a cheesy crust on cauliflower, I don't mind it, but broccoli is still problematic even baked with cheese. I can manage it, but I for sure don't love it.

We have the kids and Sha for supper almost every Monday, and I was shocked recently when Danica had a second helping of garden salad. Raw. No dressing. This almost disturbs me. lol