Those hogs are living high on the ...? I was just telling my mom I could eat squash every night in the summer, since you really can't preserve it (I tried cutting it thick and blanching, freezing it last year and it didn't work out).

I hate to admit it, but I've got a weakness for organic corn chips (even without salsa). I love nectarines, but won't buy them any more since I figure they're sprayed as heavily as peaches. I don't care for peach fuzz but I do buy organic peaches for DD and DH (and just bought some local ones, sprayed with Captan so I washed and peeled them). I prefer honeydew to canteloupe, bananas make me gag (DD inherited some of her sensory issues from me, but she likes bananas), I do eat apples but berries I mostly eat in cereal or baked goods, and while I'm picking, but I don't sit down and eat a pint of berries. I guess I'm more of a veggie person.

Thanks wertach - my sister (who lives in CA and belongs to a CSA) mentioned that she'd like to try that sometime, I told her I had a ham bone from a very salty ham in the freezer if she wanted to try it this week. Just picked up 11 lbs of chicken thighs, gave half (12 thighs) to my mom, sis is cooking teriyaki chicken but I'll have to get ours "to go" since DD (who went to museum with them today, stopped by for chicken and then went back to grandma's house) has a sore throat so I'm heading out...(my mom won't eat chicken thighs or soy sauce, so I guess 8 thighs are for my dad, sis, and her 7-yr old DD, we're getting 4 for DH and me to cook since DD probably won't eat anything tonight though she does like chicken if it's simmered long enough to fall off the bone - though these don't have bones any more).

We freeze squash every year. We don't blanch it, though, we just wash it well, dry it and cut it in chunks and put in freezer bags. Works well for soup and spaghetti sauce that way.
I grew up in a very conventional household, too... my Dad did garden a little bit so tomatoes, beets and green beans in the summer were common for us, plus sweet corn from a family friend, but that was just about all. After I got married, my MIL taught me to like turnips, broccoli, greens, and zucchini and yellow squash. Now every year I like to try something "new to me" just to see. Some years, we eat it once and never again (fennel - yuck!) and sometimes a new thing becomes a garden standard (Magda Squash and Swiss Chard - yum!!) Life is too short to be stuck on one thing! Fortunately, I work with a couple of women with big families to feed so I always have an outlet for excess produce. Wertach, I'm glad your food pantry is able to help you out and find homes for your stuff! Good of you to donate.
Edie

I love the squash freezing idea. I planted Cushaw and Scarchuks squashes for the first time this year. I never thought I was adventurous with food, but compared to what I have read I guess I really am and I am a Yankee! My mom cooked beef and potatoes on a regular basis. Then it was pot pies or fish sticks. I never ate tomatoes until I was 16. I couldn't stand them in my mouth. They felt funny. My first MIL was first born Italian in the USA. I ate alot of new foods at her house. My second MIL was full blooded Polish. Lots more new foods. I have lived down south since 1989. Lots more new foods eaten. I guess now it is the norm. I work at a food bank too. We are getting alot of different produce and foods in now. Amazed that the people have never heard of them. I see some foods and drool. They have no clue and Yes, they are not willing to try them.

Here's a recipe for one serving of mustard greens (and just about every other kind of cooked greens):
1. Chop up a clove or two of garlic, add some olive oil, and cook in the microwave for about 40 seconds. Don't let it burn. Or you can saute the garlic in a frying pan until it it starts to darken.
2. Boil a couple of handfuls greens for a few minutes, drain, and add to the garlic and olive oil. Add salt and pepper, and serve. The boiling helps to get rid of oxalic acid which is in some kinds of greens.

Variations:
1. saute some mushrooms and add to the greens and olive oil.
2. Cook some spaghetti or rice, and mix into the greens and olive oil. Brown rice is very good.
3. Add some cooked dry lima beans to the greens and olive oil.
4. Add a little butter or bacon grease for extra flavor.
5. Add some chopped bacon or ham.
6. All of the above.

My favorite greens for cooking is the flower buds of kale. They are mild and sweet. You will get them if you let the kale plants overwinter. The unopened flower buds of mustard greens, along with the crispy section of stem, are very good, but have a stronger flavor. They look like little broccoli florets. The above recipe is also good with asparagus.

Edit: I forgot to mention that you can sprinkle some Italian grated cheese on any of these dishes. Now you've got a wonderful combination of flavors. Also, the recipe above is great with broccoli.

This post was edited by lilydude on Wed, Jul 24, 13 at 1:02

Thanks lily. The mustard green stirfry was good, I'll have to try the other ways (though we don't eat bacon). I've heard the flower stalks and buds are good, have munched on some raw mustard (a little spicy) and tatsoi buds but haven't cooked them. I used to like broccoli but got tired of it after years of it being the only veggie BOTH of my kids would actually eat (reluctantly) - we'd have it nearly every day! I'm the only one in the house who really likes (loves) asparagus, though DH will eat it.

zackey - DD likes raw tomatoes, not cooked, DS likes tomato sauce but not stewed tomatoes (though he'll eat them in chili) or raw!

Edie - Of course I've frozen shredded squash for "zucchini" bread, but never thought of chunks in soup - we tried them plain with a little butter as a side dish like we have in the summer. Don't know why since we like minestrone, but this winter I really didn't make soup or chili like usual (or zucchini, banana bread either). Gotta clear last year's squash and tomatoes out of the freezer now.

To wertach, I pity your work colleagues for being ignorant and close-minded. I am sure you could find a welcome home for your bounty through another social situation. I recall my appreciative coworkers from Russian who loved my extra lettuce. In return they gifted me chocolate. I hope you will keep your eyes and ears open for fruitful situations to share your garden gifts.

Yes, as chervil says, there is also the politeness angle. If your coworker is so kind as to share produce, you should show appreciation no matter what. Difficult to feel compassion when these people develop some disease of civilization.

For sauteing the greens, olive oil is OK, somewhat healthy but becomes somewhat unhealthy when heated because its smoke point is so low. pastured lard or pastured tallow are best, coconut if you insist on being vegetarian.

wertach, I wish you were my neighbor! I would gladly enjoy your wonderful produce. Most of my Southern friends have a limited palate. Collards, mustard greens, sweet potatoes, ham, omg, so much ham and ham in so many dishes, BBQ and fried everything, even pickles, which I actually like! And of course banana pudding at every supper. I told someone down here I loved English peas and I could just watch her nose curl.

There are a few things I don't like... brussel sprouts (too bitter - at least the ones I've tried), Lima beans... it is the gritty texture, canned peas (who likes those), and sauteed summer squash - but I will eat it if served to me.

Everything else is good.

Now my kids... 4 of 5 don't like raw tomatoes... what!?!? and several don't like mushrooms, otherwise they are all pretty good!

Now one Thanksgiving, we had a BIL with us who wasn't satisfied with the "spread" and wanted to make some french fries. That came to a screeching halt when I about blew my cork.

... oh yeah did I say that 4 of my kids don't like raw tomatoes!?!

This post was edited by nugrdnnut on Tue, Jul 23, 13 at 23:27

*different* not *differant*. Sorry. Had to. :P

"I told someone down here I loved English peas and I could just watch her nose curl."

Most southerns have only had canned peas...that will evoke that reaction...properly, imo.

I grow sugar snaps, myself...pretty much because it "doubles" the production I get off of shelling peas because the shell stays part of the meal. It's not fair to compare them to shelled peas, but it's as close as I get in my garden.

That's why supermarkets almost always mislabel muskmelons as cantaloupes. Who wants to buy something with a name like 'musk.' Sounds like a skunk or something. We grew up thinking we were eating lovely sounding cantaloupes :-), and have been eating muskmelon all along.

Who eats french fries at Thanksgiving???

"I told someone down here I loved English peas and I could just watch her nose curl."

Most southerns have only had canned peas...that will evoke that reaction...properly, imo.

Ditto, nc-crn

My dear departed former wife wouldn't touch the fresh peas that I grew. Then, one day I offered to buy her something she was wanting if she would taste them. That was a mistake.

She loved them so much that I would hardly get any when I cooked a batch!

ajsmama, a ham bone from a very salty ham works even better! My brothers and I are about the only folks that I know that like chicken thighs. Everyone wants the dry white meat!

I don't know what a lemon cucumber is, but my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Unfortunately I know a number of folks who are scared of trying anything outside of the few vegetables they already know.

As someone who grew up with a parent who LOVED Le Sueur peas which I completely hated...I just knew I didn't like English peas. However, as an adult, I gave fresh peas a stab and realized I liked them. Learned that I hated canned vegetables in general.

One difference was my mom was big on trying something before declaring that we did not like things. If, after trying it in small amounts, we declared we didn't like it, she didn't force. Most times, we liked it more than we THOUGHT we would.

8fleetfeet- It's an absolutely delicious variety of cucumber that is about the same size and shape of a baseball.

Rodney

wertach - I'm sorry for your loss. I also can't understand why my mom will only eat white meat. She wasn't even going to eat the teriyaki chicken last night (so my sister gave me half - 6 thighs - too many for me and DH so we will have them tomorrow when DS is home for dinner). My sister deboned them so I'm a bit at a loss how to prepare them since I usually use the slow cooker but without the bones they'll disintegrate - she broils them but I'm afraid they'll be "hard" on the outside and DD won't eat them. Probably stirfry.

Gotta figure what to cook for my great-uncle while his DD is under the weather. Low-sodium diet, so a bit of a challenge (no teriyaki for him!). I've got ground turkey out of the freezer and will probably toss some with more pasta and veggies, maybe some brown rice (which she said he likes) and kale. Have to make something with what I've got in the house/garden and have DH run it down tonight, enough for a few days, since DD is sick with sore throat and fever and is contagious, I can't go to store.

Just marinate those thighs and throw them on the grill. Or pan sautee them and make a pan sauce to go over them. We also prefer thigh meat, why people insist on eating hard, dry, flavorless breast meat all the time is beyond me. But to each their own taste!

ajsmama,
Calcium chloride (used in pickling) can be used to add a salty taste. It should be used in moderation, because too much can add bitter notes.

Some folks just don't like to be pushed. I know what I like and dislike. While I can and will eat almost anything under the right conditions, I don't do it to please anyone else. So if I politely decline a mess of parsnips accept it. If you push, It will get personal and my dislike will extend to you. ( Just for info parsnips and cornmeal mush were starvation foods in my youth. In a bad year, in the dead of winter, that was all that was available to put on the table) I still hate them and grits which reminds me of the cornmeal mush)

The thighs have been marinated in teriyaki sauce for 24 hours now (48 by the time we eat them). Won't boneless thighs fall through the grill grates?

Cooking more squash, tomatoes, pasta and ground turkey now, also brown rice and kale, found 1 boneless skinless breast in the freezer (if I cook it with frozen tomatoes and corn, add rice and a little onion, dried pepper it'll be like Tex-Mex for him). We're having shrimp and scallops with rice and kale tonight, will send some down to him and tell him eat it NOW, save the other stuff for later. I think that will do until he can get an aide or Meals on Wheels. Would have loved to have sent him white beans and kale but I don't have no-salt beans and wasn't sure rinsing would be good enough. I also have tomato sauce and tomato/squash combo in the freezer but I don't remember if I put salt in it. I usually don't cook with salt, but when making sauce I might have.

My dad wouldn't eat applesauce or white rice for a long time b/c he had too many meals that consisted of only those 2 items when he was a kid.

"Why are people unwilling to try different things?"

A lot of people these days are hooked on "Hyperpalatable" foods -- loaded with fat, sugar, and salt. These foods cause the brain to release dopamine, and makes eating foods of this nature a habit. Veg and other wholesome foods are rejected by many people because they don't have this addictive quality. Bathe the stuff in a sugary, fatty or salty coating, or provide such a sauce to dip in and you're home free.

Here is a link that might be useful: hyper-palatable foods

I maybe older than most on GW. I grew up in a family of seven and we raised what we ate. Us kids worked the garden while my Dad worked. Had fresh food from very early spring to late fall and preserved in the meantime.
The past few years I have been roasting so many veggies that were never thought of way back then.
Scrubbed and cut wedges of red skin and yukon gold potatoes roasted with olive oil, salt, pepper and any herb are my fav.
Roasted cabbage wedges with olive oil, garlic, salt hot pepper flakes.
3/8" scrubbed sweet potato slices baked with coconut oil on top with cinnamon and rosemary.
Roasted squash,whole onions and whole beets in olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic or tarragon.
For those that will not eat brussell sprouts, they are really good roasted with oil and walnuts.
Halved tomatoes with butter, basil and parmesan.
Roasted broccoli is delicious.
Anyone can prepare a healthy whole meal in the oven with litttle effort and may find they really like it .

Meant to add to earlier post, eggplant and turnips are also good roasted. I get creative with what is available.
Also, kale salad with apples, dried cranberries and walnuts is another fav of ours. I make extra as it is good the day after also.

Very interesting articles. It's scary that "food addicts" are more impulsive than simply obese people (someone should do a study with normal weigh people as a control group), and it's REALLY scary that food addiction (to these hyperpalatable foods) can lead to drug addiction.

The scariest thing of all is that we seem to be doing it to ourselves and our kids by eating things with HFCS - sort of a "gateway drug"? I always read labels and try to avoid HFCS, esp. for my kids, but I had no idea it was addictive.

Edited to add:

That kale salad sounds good, I love salad with apples, blue cheese, walnuts and balsamic, was thinking I'd have to try it with kale instead of lettuce (and maybe berries instead of apples, since berries are in season).

This post was edited by ajsmama on Wed, Jul 24, 13 at 20:07

ajsmama: Agree about the berries in the kale salad. I have blackberries ripening now. Have used them in the kale salad. There are several recipes online for the dressing using apple cider vinegar, honey and oil. The kale needs to sit in the fridge to wilt in the dressing for awhile before serving. I sometimes wilt it slightly in the microwave about 30 seconds after deveining and chopping it.

bggrows -- roasted rutabagas, turnip root, carrots & cauliflower are excellent also!

Probably the thighs have long since been cooked, but no, they won't fall through the grill anymore than chicken breasts, pork chops, steaks, or hamburgers would... Unless for some reason they were cut into strips, in which case I would modify it to " put those on a skewer and throw them on the grill" :)

As a team building exercise at my workplace we have decided to publish a cookbook. As an added incentive I will be providing some of my "exotic" vegetables for experimentation for the more adventurist cooks. This will include things like yardlong beans and tomatillos. I would like to include ground cherries, but the fauna have decided that they are really tasty and they are faster at harvesting them than I am. (I found myself munching on a half eaten ground cherry today just to know what they tasted like!.

About raising kids to eat a variety of vegetables...

I have 3 boys (2 are also autistic), and they eat a lot of veggies and fruits, but there are certain things that they WILL NOT eat, no matter how often I offer, make them taste it, eat it myself, etc... So I do balk a little at the idea of the parents being at fault. And unusual colors really do set my kids off. This year I grew red noodle beans for the first time, and while they've been a great success, my kids object vehemently to them. Next year, I'll be growing green noodles...

They also object to multicolored tomatoes for some reason. I don't know why - I hardly ever grow a red tomato, but they still have in their mind that they should be eating red ones... I guess that get used to the red ones during the off season when I have to buy from the store...

On the bright side, they prefer their veggies raw or only lightly seasoned, and will eat quite a few - beets (everyone's favorite!), peas, southern peas, salad (no dressing), tomatoes, carrots, green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, bell peppers... Even still, they don't much like to try new things (except for maybe my middle child).

Let me guess, the middle one is not autistic? That reminds me, I was looking for recipes for kale chips and came along a website where a mom crushed them and sprinkled on popcorn b/c that's what her autistic son would eat, wouldn't eat chips by themselves (yet?).

I have to hand it to anyone who is raising autistic kid. We thought my son had Asperger's when he was little, but he's just not very demonstrative, doesn't make friends easily (esp. now that he's a teenager and kind of a "geek") but when he does make friends they're close friends.

DD has always been extremely emotional (and I mean extremes - doesn't seem to get depressed but as she gets to be teenager I will be watching closely to make sure she's not manic-depressive).

Both kids have sensory issues (DS wouldn't play in mud or slime or playdough, but he just came back from camp at 4AM, all his gear covered in mud, he was a little splattered just from breaking camp and loading the bus, immediately announced he needed a shower even before sleep). DS also has proprioreceptive and vestibular problems he had PT and OT for, has overcome them (esp. fine motor problems) and runs XC and track but has given up on riding a bike, baseball, and pole vaulting (though I think that was more a problem with upper body strength).

Here is a link that might be useful: Kale chip dust

I have social anxiety disorder and my parents were concerned that I might have Asperger's when I was younger. I've done much better since going on anxiety medication. I'm horribly awkward socially, since I was so withdrawn and avoided people and didn't make many friends growing up.

And I am a geek, but that turned out well for me (I'm a software engineer making good money) :)

Gwyneth Paltrow's new cookbook has a recipe for Kale Chips.

Cara Rose, are you a picky eater?

I have been growing vegetables for 30 years, but I barely try anything exotic either. I do have an excuse, I can only handle a small vegetable garden and we have probably 3/4 of our property in less than full sun. So my vegetable real estate has to go to what everyone likes.

Tomatoes take up the most space. Peppers are next. String Beans, Snap Peas, Lettuces, Kale. I bought seeds for some tatsoi 2 years ago and haven't used them yet.

One of my children is very picky when it comes to veggies. The others do pretty well and will eat vegetables that I don't even enjoy.

I grew up with canned vegetables that were just unpalatable and it wasn't until I was an adult that we even had frozen vegetables which were a big improvement. We had string beans, corn and peas and carrots and that was about it. I thought I was doing great, when I tried broccoli. Now I love Green Smoothies, with raw Kale, avocados, celery and blueberries. But I won't touch Asparagus, I think it's sour and slimy. My kids and DH eat it and we grow it.

I think it is about recipes. You grow up with recipes of meals that you've eaten your entire life. It's comforting. New tastes have to be cultivated at your own pace. I think anyone trying to give away odd vegetables, might try cooking them up in a recipe and bringing that to work or having the neighbors over for a barbecue and using these vegetables in the recipes. If you offer them a chance to taste something delicious, they will be asking you for the veggies.

Another point of current information....there is a new book out called 'Eating on the Wild Side'. The author poured over current studies and research to find that many varieties of vegetables and fruits are much more nutritious than other varieties. Something like 'white cucumbers' have a whole lot less nutrition. You might find it interesting reading before deciding what to grow for next year. She actually lists names of varieties and gives reasons for the choices. Talks about storing and preparing to retain the nutrition too.

My pet peeve is you ask neighbors to come buy and pick some plums, apricots etc. Oh and bring a bag. Not a one! They will take them if I pick and take them to their door. LAZY -Guess I will give the plums to food bank just like the apricots.

Geez! I'd be there in a heart beat! Bags and all. I think the food bank would be happy to get them.

I'd be there too :)! I pay to pick my own as I can't grow raspberries, strawberries and others that need lots of room. I also make day trips just to go wild berry picking. I'd be a happy neighbor!

"Cara Rose, are you a picky eater? "

Not as much in my adulthood as when I was a kid. Once I broke down into hysterics screaming "I HATE PORK CHOPS!" at my parents (who I believe started laughing at my antics). To this day, we can't cook pork chops without someone doing an imitation of that (myself included). :)

Generally, as an adult I'll try just about anything at least once. I love to cook, so I'm often trying new things.

This post was edited by CaraRose on Sun, Jul 28, 13 at 16:17

I cashiered in a very popular Jewish deli/restaurant in the late 70's. My first introduction to Jewish food. i absolutely loved Nova Lox, bagels and cream cheese and Ruebens. So against the foods I was raised on. My husband and I loved to go to the local restaurant for Chimchangas and Roast beef au jus. We tried Mexican food with Cilantro. I could never get used to that flavor. I love tacos, prefer the soft ones.I guess I am a foodie. I love to try new foods.

That's great Cara Rose that you try things. I used to put things on my kid's plate and maybe they didn't scream at me that they hated certain foods, but believe me, they complained, so you weren't as different as you think, maybe just louder. (g) But they were always told, just try one bite and if you don't like it, you don't have to eat the rest. And I would keep offering the same vegetables for them to take a taste of. Now I have one kid that will eat a lot of different vegetables and one that is still a picky eater and doesn't like vegetables.

I took a box of tree-ripe plums to the food pantry today. Gave some of them away to people going out the door with their carts - glad to get them.

I had my first pizza at 16. Also my first Philly cheese steak and meatball sub. I've had cheese steaks down here, but it's just not the right taste. I've had grinders and tuna melts. Ate my first steamed clams at 16, too. Love at first bite. I was lucky enough to be able to go clamming every weekend for 2 years when I lived in New Jersey. I loved catching and eating blue crabs too. I don't like brussel sprouts either. Glad the people at the food bank wanted your plums. I work at the local food bank and most of the people aren't fussy and are willing to try new foods.

I grew up in central NYS, an agricultural area. We had a huge family garden but grew the standards....green peas, green beans, corn, lettuce, beets, tomatoes, and that's about it. It wasn't until I left home for college that I could experience other foods. Zackey, I earned my way through the first 2 years of college by waitressing at a very well-known Kosher deli. I still dream about that food. :-)

Lol, I don't know why on earth anyone would say that 'most Southerners only eat canned peas '! Not true....my fresh veggie exposure quadrupled when I moved to the south...first SC and now AL. As a matter of fact, legumes of all kinds are a southern specialty.

With the luxary of an extended growing season, even year round planting, we are able to enjoy green peas in the winter and early spring. Some people just don't like green peas, period.

Speaking of rather unusual.....does anyone grow Rattail radish....Raphanus caudatus?

We enjoy year round growing too. I would like to take next summer off so I can solarize my soil. I waitressed for 7 years and worked a few months in a French restaurant as a garde mange. I had lobster raviolis colored with black squid ink. That was a hard one to eat until I took the first bite. A customer had sent the dish back untouched because of the color. Black raviolis? I had Caesar salad there. Not my kind of salad at all. I made it from scratch. My boss (the chef) and I made the mistake of splitting a piece of Black Russian pie the first time he got them in. We were buzzed all day. When I waitressed I had ribs and fish with mango salsa. I guess I would eat just about anything once. I hated raw oysters. I ate one on a dare. Like eating a wad of tasteless rubber bands. I had prime rib, hush puppies, Andoli sausage and grits for the first time when I moved down south. I like grits,but not on a regular basis. MY SIL made steamed okra the first time I ate dinner at their house. I took a big bite and didn't know if I could even swallow it. I enjoy fried okra and gumbo, but definitely not slimy steamed okra.

When I was a kid we ate what my parents did, no special meals, always had fresh vegetables and fruit, I remember my younger sister eating raw potatoes out of the bag unwashed, not healthy by any means, but now I have to bribe my nephews just to try things like black olives, which were just food to me as a kid, not some strange poisonous black thing I am trying to trick them into eating. I thought my niece was going to freak out when she saw me in the backyard garden picking sugar snaps and eating them as I picked, or picking a tomato off the vine and chowing down. It absolutely has to do with parents not exposing their children to a wider variety of food, if they have a dislike for something they do not eat it and in turn do not feed it to their children, then 10 years later you have someone turning their nose up at something they don't have any experience with other than, Mom and Dad don't like it. I was at a sub shop a couple weeks ago and got my regular with everything on it, my nephew turned his nose up at the onions, and I asked if he had ever tried fresh onions on a sandwich, of course the answer was no because his Mother cannot stand onions, I told him to get onions and if he did not like it that I would replace the sandwich needless to say he thought it was amazing, he said he didn't know a sub could be so good. Funny though his Mother was actually upset that he ate onions and liked them. I do have a few items that I cannot stand, avacados, beets, okra, but I do keep trying each in different forms a couple times a year but still not a fan. But I see it the way my parents did, you have to try everything that is on your plate if you really do not like it you do not have to finish, but you are not getting anything else.

My kids have definitely been exposed to a lot of different foods - and DD has seen more different types growing than DS did when he was younger (we moved in 2007, didn't have a garden that year but had had a small one before that, of course my dad always had a larger garden so DS ate things like corn and squash out of his). Our garden at this house has grown since 2008 into an organic "farm" (or at least a market garden).

Some people are just very sensitive to textures, temperature, and other to sweet/bitter tastes. We went to a science museum a few years ago and found that DH couldn't taste much at all (I think due to his constant allergies), DS was "normal" and DD and I were "supertasters" which is weird to me since I thought supertasters didn't like cilantro and I love it, same with dark coffee (but that's an acquired taste and I do use sweetener) and red wine (but I am not much of a drinker). But since we taste the bitter in things, that accounts for not liking vegetables much (though I tend to eat more vegetables than fruits and prefer sweeter vegetables like beets, can only stand sauteed onions not raw or ones just cooked on the pizza). Also apparently accounts for DD not liking fatty foods (and her sensory issues with texture could also come into play there - she calls all fat "gristle" - though she's the only one in the house who likes mayo!).

We were watching TV last night and saw a commercial for frozen mac and cheese, DH commented that DD would never eat it (I used to buy organic for her, tried homemade, even tried the orange stuff, no way). She said she would, so I will buy some today and try it - any way to get protein into her since we're lucky if she eats 2 oz (last night I made kielbasa and scrambled eggs for dinner so I think she ate more than usual, maybe 2 oz of meat and 1 egg, she started eating eggs when we started getting them fresh from my cousin).

When I was in my 20's I developed the oddest food sensitivity - I absolutely cannot eat any member of the Allium family - no onions, chives, garlic, etc. It's really bad - and really awkward. It also makes it hard to eat anything in a restaurant or any type of convenience food. I always joke that there's probably NO food that they don't put onions in - with my luck it will be ice cream next! But because of the sensitivity, I had to raise my son on foods that don't contain onions either so he never developed a taste for them until he was grown. So sometimes it just can't be helped. Of course, on the other hand since I had to find ways to flavor foods, we all have developed a real fondness for all kinds of spices and herbs! (And to this day I have never discovered a soup that I like nearly as well as I used to love French Onion. WAAH.)
Edie

Sorry you can't eat that soup! I have been craving that soup for about a month now. Not a common menu item in the south. I want to make my own, but I have no beef for stock. I enjoy chicken soup with fresh rosemary, thyme and parsley. Hubby made a great soup today in our new Vitamixer machine. Asparagus, broccoli and half and half. To die for!

rhizo_1 I see that you are posting from AL.

They do eat more fresh peas there than we do in SC. The milder winters and the gulf climate allow them to grow better there. I lived there for 2 years (in Andalusia) with a job reassignment. That is where my wife found out how good they taste! It's easy to grow them down there.

It is hit and miss here in the Piedmont of SC. We get too many mixed up cold and hot spells. But I can grow lots of cow peas here!

I grew some of the best peanuts while I was down there, they were huge. In fact I probably had the best gardens that I have ever had while I lived there!

I experienced a lot of great food while I was there too. The small town that I worked in, Opp, had a BBQ place that was only open Thursday through Saturday. They had the best BBQ ribs that I have ever ate. You had to make reservations for racks of ribs, they sold out quick!

There was an oyster bar that the guys talked me into visiting with them. I really didn't care for oysters since the only ones that I had ate were canned (oyster stew). The so called "fresh" oysters were at least 3 or 4 days old since we lived so far from the coast.

I became a regular, every Friday after work I would stop in and have a bucket! They had oysters that were caught that morning and steamed. Good stuff!