Bits & Bites 2

OH CANADA EDITION

This week has been pretty monumental.

- On Canada Day itself I tried rhubarb pie. There are many reasons I've never tried rhubarb pie, but they boil down to two main hangups: my pie aversion and rhubarb is just plain scary. It looks like celery, but is treated like a fruit.(Isn't part of the plant poisonous?) However, I was at a friend's house celebrating and his mom had just made it. It was still warm. This is apparently a good thing for pies, rhubarb especially. I couldn't refuse. The first bite through me for a loop: sweet, yet quite tart. I kept eating and it started to grow on me. I'm a sucker for sour it seems. Halfway through my slice someone tried to make sure finishing was a challenge by asking if tapioca was in the pie, like usual. My brain heard the comment, but by sheer force of will my taste buds never received the message.
VERDICT: Polite. If offered, I'd gladly eat rhubarb pie again. Who knows, maybe after a few times I'll even upgrade it to Order status.

- Today we had garden salad with supper. I decided I'd just eat the cucumbers and peppers, if I got any. Normally, the "if I got any" would mean I'd be using the hyper-picky tongs when filling my plate; however, I only used the slightly picky tongs and crunched down on some non-leafy vegetables with supper.

- When cutting up vegetables for make-your-own pizzas tonight, I had an unnatural urge to pop a fresh mushroom in my mouth. I resisted. (Hopefully Kristin eats them all before she reads this.)

Sushi Lesson

Always ask what's in a roll before you order it, especially if you're late into an all you can eat session. Ordered the DF roll from Sushi Hut. Was stuffed to the eyeballs when it came. Kudos to KBL for knowing it'd be deep fried, but neither of us predicted there would be four kinds--FOUR KINDS--of fish inside!
On the plus side, I was too full to eat all of it. On the double plus side, it wasn't real bad.
VERDICT: Polite. The sort of polite where if you accidentally order it at an all you can eat restaurant you eat it because you have to.

Double Processed Grilled Cheese (with Bacon)

Yesterday I went out for lunch and ordered a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon. Five minutes later, much to my chagrin, I realized I had not inquired as to the type of cheese the restaurant used in their grilled cheese sandwiches. When it arrived I was not surprised to find melted processed cheese-food oozing out of the sandwich. I was surprised, though, to find there were two types of cheese-food used in the sandwich: the regular light, school-bus orange-yellow plus white! It didn't make for much of an improvement, but I swallowed my dismay and persisted in swallowing the sandwich.
VERDICT: Polite. Bacon makes everything better and liberal amounts of ketchup doesn't hurt either.

Chef Boyardee Ravioli

Chef Boyardee is a staple of some people's childhoods. It wasn't for me. I don't recall ever eating it. Kristin was shocked and appalled when she heard this. Chef Boyardee was her version of my Alphaghetti. So, one day we were grocery shopping, as we semi-regulary do. We had to get a can of CB Ravioli, because I hadn't truly lived (or something like that). A little while later I tried it. I probably should have had it as a child. I think the foods we grow up on are imprinted on our brain and no matter what they actually taste like our brain gives a positive response to them. I did not get a positive response from CB Ravioli. It was fine for canned pasta, I guess, but it weren't no Alphaghetti, if you ask me. Then again, maybe Alphaghetti would taste the same without nostalgia?

VERDICT: Polite - Not terrible, but my memories are always going to chose Alphaghetti.

Grape Juice

I like grapes, yet I've never really liked grape juice or grape flavoured things. Yesterday I decided to try a box of grape juice with my lunch, just to see if I still felt that way. The first sip and I was like, "Hey, not so bad. Why don't I like this?" And then I kept drinking and I was reminded that, yes, I don't like grape juice. I can't pin it down. I don't enjoy it after the first sip. HEY! This may be classical conditioning. Throughout my life, once a month I have had a very small amount of grape juice with Communion.
Could that be why a regular glass is just weird?
VERDICT: Still not something I'd chose for myself.

Ya Pear

Today for fruit club we had Ya Pears. They are basically a cross between an apple and a pear. The ones we had were very juicy and from what I understand that is what they usually are like. I didn't like them. The texture was okay, but the taste is what turned me off. It tastes like a chemical approximation of pear, which isn't one of my favourite tastes to begin with. So for me Ya Pears are Na Pears.

Verdict: Polite

photo borrowed from http://www.flickr.com/photos/reid-bee/3426968383/

Mango

I've never been a big eater of tropical fruit having kept mainly to the regular fruits. I have however eaten mango every now and again. Strangely enough I never really had a fear of trying it or eating it. It's just off my radar. When someone asks me to eat one I have almost a "sure, why not" response, which is very different from my usual "AH! Run and hide under a big rock" response. Mangos don't taste bad. Mangos don't taste great. They don't look offensive. They don't look particularly appealing. Its texture is very different from what I'm accustomed to, but I don't really mind it. Mangos are the fruit of mediocrity. I have no problems having a slice of mango every time it's offered to me, but I never really want one.
VERDICT: Polite, since that is the only way I ever eat them.

photo borrowed from http://pested.ifas.ufl.edu/newsletters/2009-10/mango.png

Pomegranate

11/03/09 - I've heard a lot of people talk about pomegranates, but I don't get it. They taste good, but not great, especially weighed against what you have to go through to taste them at all. First the cutting it in half and then awkward spoon-work that follows. Spending minutes studying the woody branches between you and scooping out the massive seeds trying to pick the perfect place. And, if you succeed you get a couple of the massive seeds. These massive seeds have a tiny coating of juice and pulp. Picture the earth as the seed and the atmosphere as the good part. There is barely enough juice there to register that it has a taste, let alone whether it is good or not. Then the seeds: spitting them or eating them? Is either option any good? This is why they invented seedless watermelons.

This whole experience has taught me why pomegranate juice is so expensive. I think I agree most with the French word for the fruit: pomme grenade. I think it would be most useful if converted into a fruit explosive device. No one would suspect it and the seeds would do major damage.

Pomegranates don't taste bad enough to be gross, but the work is too much for me to actually like them. IF they came in seedless varieties, now that would be another story.

VERDICT: Polite

Photo borrowed from http://chickspeak.com/blog/2009/10/16/pomegranate-dietary-supplements-can-you-ever-get-enough/

Hard Boiled Egg

11/08/09 - So, I'm a little picky when it comes to eggs. I prefer scrambled or fried and like the yolk to be thouroughly mixed with the whites. Going to extremes with eggs is frightening for me. Cut into it and the yolk starts leaking everywhere? No way, José! Boil it to the point of retaining its shape? No, thanks. I've always associated hard boiled eggs more with bouncy balls than with food.
However, I have now tried them. I had supper/a crepe party with the family we practice our French with and they were a topping. I figured they were inside of a crepe so why not? I was a little bit hesitant, but I had melted cheese on my crepe so that gave me extra confidence. Surprisingly hard boiled eggs taste just like eggs. Who knew?
Now, I probably won't start buying egg dishes and boilers anytime soon. The whole yolk still freaks me out and I really enjoy fried eggs, but I could have a hardboiled egg if I wanted to. So many more salads are available to me now and I'm one step closer to deviled eggs.
VERDICT: Polite, Owen List (I don't mind them and I just love eggs Owen-style too much!)

picture borrowed from http://monsterguide.net/files/2009/04/hard-boiled-egg-with-yellow-yolk-150x150.jpg

Fish Sticks

10/??/09 - I haven't had fish since I was a young kid. We mainly had breaded fish and once in a while some regular fish. As a kid it wasn't a good experience. I have avoided it passionately since. However, In honour of living on the east coast we bought some breaded fish (from the fresh fish section of Superstore) and cooked it up with some fries for some good ol' fish 'n' chips.
When I tried it I wasn't surprised by the taste, I was surprised that I remembered what the taste was like. It wasn't horrendous, but familiar. Not a taste I enjoy though. I would say I probably wouldn't want fish sticks again, but I'm willing to try fresh or fancy fish now, so that's growth right?
VERDICT: Polite

Pumpkin Pie

10/12/09 - I have always shied away from pumpkin pie. It's pumpkin! In my mind pumpkins are solely for decoration and I blanche at the thought of eating one. Mix this attitude with pie and it's no wonder that it took my wife's intervention for me to try a slice.
I just can't get over the mushiness. The last time I tried it, it was one of the desserts for Manitoba Thanksgiving in PEI. I haven't made a habit of eating it so I still get nervous. It's okay, I guess. I never remember the spice and am always pleasantly surprised by that. However, the pie mush will keep it on my Owen List: I don't mind pumpkin pies, they just don't agree with me.
VERDICT: Polite

pictured borrowed from http://img.foodnetwork.com/FOOD/2006/10/17/Pumpkin_Pie_lg.jpg