The Olives are Taking Over the World

Okay.  I have to tell you that in no way, shape or form do I like olives.  In fact I believe they are a contamination food.  Growing up my family all loved olives, so they always got them on the pizza, telling me that I could pick them off.  But even then, I could still taste them on the pizza because their juice left the taste inn the rest of the pizza. That's what olives do.  They take over everything.

I have a husband who adores olives, so much so that I swear the things are staging a coup and trying to take over the pantry.

There is only one person in the house that eats olives.  My husband Dominic.  And yet there are enough olives to keep Italy in business for years... I swear.  The stack of olive cans goes all the way to the back of the pantry.  Like I said, I swear the black and green olives or as I call them 'ovoids of death' are trying to take over.  The pickles are scares and the cocktail onions are holding on by a thread, trying to keep their few inches of cupboard space.    Even the pasta has been pushed to the back and are shaking in their packages.  

I'm not quite certain how to repel this invasion.  My husband thinks I'm crazy, but I know... I just know the dang things are trying to take over.  And my taste buds are scared.  

Let's Talk Brussel Sprouts

I have never been a fan of these mini cabbages.  Oh I've eaten them a time or two because I was at some friends house and they served them.  Yes, I freely admit that while I'm a picky eater, I have swallowed dishes I don't like, to be polite.  See I was raised to try some of everything that was put in front of me.  Mom called it a courtesy bite.

A couple years ago for Father's Day, we had dinner at my brother's house and he served Brussel sprouts.  My mother hated them as much as I do.  (unfortunately she's gone now.)  My brother, who has a wicked sense of humor, told my mom that she had to take a courtesy bite of the Brussel sprouts.  Below is my mother's response.

Now every time I see a plate of Brussel sprouts, I think of my mom.  I still don't like the things, but I think of her.  

 

Mushrooms - Flavored with Dirt

One of the things I dislike most in the world are mushrooms.  I know there are many people who love them in all forms, I'm not one of them.  When we were first married Dominic decided that he was going to make me a convert on this particular food and he took to adding them to many dishes.  I called it mushroom hiding.  And the dang things were everywhere.  The problem was that if I said anything, he got upset because I didn't like the food.  Go figure.  Eventually he gave up and now he only puts fungus in hos own food.

My best mushroom like story was when my sister turned forty.  I took the entire family out for a nice lunch and Mari insisted on ordering the truffel fries.  Now once she had, she took one bite and that was it.  I made a point of asking her to eat them and actually tried one. Then I understood and wouldn't eat them either.  They tasted like they had bene flavored with dirt.  Heck it would have been so much easier if they'd have just added some mud form outside to the oil and been done with it.

So there you have it.  No fungus for me.   The only mushrooms I will eat are the marzipan ones Dominic makes for the Christmas Yule Log.  

Bananas - Only Good for Sex Ed Class

I have to tell you that I hate bananas with a passion and on all levels.  I swear the only good use for them is in sex-ed class to demonstrate how to put on a condom.  The texture, the taste, the smell, all of it.  The first time my husband cooked me dinner, he served be a beautiful dessert filled with bananas.    I managed to eat it because I was being polite, but I avoided the bananas themselves as much as possible.  Dominic teases me about that all the time to this very day.   He and I can laugh about it now, but at the time the menu was such that I really was wondering if I was going to leave hungrier than when I arrived.

A few years ago, a friend found out about my banana thing as she calls it and BA Tortuga thought it was funny.  See I told her how much I hated them and that when you add bananas to fruit salad, you can't just pick them out because they taint the entire salad and make to taste banana-y.  (Yuk as far as I'm concerned.  She thought it was a hoot and then the packages started.  I really wish I knew what makes me react this way.  I love most all other fruit, but this one I can't stand.


Every year for Christmas and my birthday, she sends me something with bananas on it.  I have gotten squeaky bananas, stuffed bananas, banana plates and god knows what else.  But the best item she ever found is a banana stained glass panel.  That particular gem she sent me for my birthday this year.

The only thing I wonder, read dread, is what she's going to come up with next.  Dominic just laughs at me and the gifts as they come.

Welcome

Hello everyone!!!!   My name is Andrew Grey and I am a romance author as well as a lover of food.   I also a very picky eater.  My family will tell you stories about the things I will and won't eat.  For years I tried to hide the things I didn't like, especially when I'm in public because for a very long time, I was ashamed of it.  Let's face it, there are a number of foods that I do not ever want to eat and I may as well be up front about it.

My husband, Dominic, spent many years as a pastry chef and he is an amazing cook.  I love him dearly, for many reasons, but partly because he never makes meals that I don't like, but that often means that he either makes something different for himself or that he goes without eating some of the things he likes.

So this blog is a way for me to exorcise my reluctance and try to deal with the fact that I make my husband's life more difficult because of my pickiness.

It is my hope that together we can discuss and laugh over things I don't like as well as some of the worst restaurant experiences I have ever encountered.  So stay tuned. I hope there is plenty of fun in store.