Friday, July 31, 2009

I Ate It.

And it was good. I ain't even gonna lie.

A girlfriend of mine was over for lunch and I chopped her up some yellow and green peppers from the garden for her salad. She found out I didn't eat peppers. When she deduced that I had never actually tasted a pepper before (apparently the lingering contamination of what you pick off of pizza doesn't count), she made it her mission to get me to eat them, but acquiesced to allow me to drown the raw slices in ranch dressing.

I can't believe it, but I was actually afraid. It's a strange feeling to be so afraid of a food that's benign. It's not like I was going to chomp down on a hissing cockroach. This was only a pepper. A stinky, fowl smelling, down right ugly pepper, but still only a pepper. I promise you I must have looked like the boy eating new food when he scrunches his nose, takes a deep breath, closes his eyes and surreptitiously bites off a smaller piece than would constitute the actual ingestion of the item.

The yellow pepper was actually good! It didn't quite make me want to sass my granny, but it was better than a sharp stick in the eye. The green pepper, however, tasted like tushy. Tushy and lighter fluid. Never again. I'd rather bury myself in sand and have a kid stand over me wiggling multiple loose teeth than get near another one of those again.

I'm proud. I ate new food that I grew in my own garden. Maybe I should add my own spot on the sidebar underneath the boy's and the girl's since they've remained pretty much stagnant in their eating patterns here recently.

The morning comes early. Sweet gardening dreams.

20 comments:

  1. Good for you! I ate new food this week, too! Eggplant. It was really good the way we prepared it!

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  2. I am laughing my head off! I LOVE peppers, but now I don't feel so bad about not eating collards, okra & squash or any of the other things that are so big around these parts! Although my mission this year is to find a squash I like, since they are so pretty and I love the way the vines cover my fence, lol....yes, I grow them and do not like them...

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  3. LOL! Thanks for the grin; I needed it. I wonder where the kids get their eating habits? Sounds like my son...he gets his from his dad...I eat almost anything but brussel sprouts and liver. Oh, and fried food. Not real crazy about greasy...

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  4. YAAAAYYYY! I'm so proud of you, ribbit. I don't like the green bells either, so can't blame ya' on that one. But kudos to you for trying them!

    From one pepper lover to a pepper kinda-like-er. ;-)

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  5. HA! If our children knew we were such hypocrites we wouldn't hear the end of it.

    EG, this was my first taste of eggplant as well. It has an odd texture and not much taste to it, but is good with tomato sauce or breadded and pan fried. We tried scrambling it with eggs. I passed on seconds.

    Erin, I've never kept or bought okra in the house in my life. Now, I find I put it everywhere from a casserole to last night's chicken fried rice.

    sb, the man here will eat anything. There's one thing he won't touch and we all love it. I've worked on him for over 15 years and he still cringes even when it's across the table.

    Momma_S, I could be persuaded to enter the pepper dark side as long as the membership card states I don't have to eat ALL types of peppers. :)

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  6. I do believe selective pepper negotiation can be obtained. teehee

    I really like adding to my green salads and pasta dishes. Lends a nice color and flavor boost (and nutrition), but isn't as overpowering as eating them alone.

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  7. First of all, you'd better not be sassin' any grannies! Then you'd better get yourself a RED bell pepper, slice it into strips and roll it up in a whole grain tortilla that has been spread with mayo and slices of turkey breast. The sweetest crunch you ever crunched for lunch.

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  8. The orange ones are good too. I don't think I ever tried raw peppers until last summer, though I've eaten cooked ones before.

    Don't feel bad, I ate broccoli this summer- I'm pretty sure for the first time (since I can't remember eating it ever before).

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  9. YEah, Amy!!! The confessions keep coming. Our mommas would be proud of us. :)

    Granny, I have a hard time understanding how the words 'red' and 'pepper' could wind up equalling 'sweet'.

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  10. Try cutting red, orange and yellow peppers into strips(you may leave out the green ones since you don't like them, although they add a pretty color to the dish), and stir fry them in some olive oil, with salt and pepper, and you'll have not only a very tasteful, but also a beautiful colorful side dish.
    Try it, you'll like it.
    Mom

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  11. There would be no way, no how I would have eaten it! I have accidently eaten pieces of it in other dishes and cant stand it. I only eat salsa if it is picante salsa! Lol I getcha. But you always crack me up with your stories!

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  12. Oh Granny is wrong on that one. Take a ROASTED red bell pepper and wrap it up into a turkey sandwich. That is to die for. I'm not really a fan of green bell peppers either. It is kinda like offering me a green tomato. I wouldn't eat an unripe tomato. Why would I eat an unripe pepper? OK chilies get an exception to that rule, but they aren't eaten as a food, but more as a condiment.

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  13. Ever had them (red peppers) roasted? Now that is some good eats! OK, time for my confession now that I am done laughing my tushy off over 'the tastes like tushy and lighter fluid' comment- my first and last kolrabi went in the trash, and I have been leaving my share of it on the table at the CSA ever since. YUCK!

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  14. Congratulations on tasting a pepper. It has taken me a couple of years to learn to eat bell pepper, but now I like it pretty good.

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  15. Y'all have me in stitches. Missy M, I think I'm going to take it one step at a time. I'm not making any promises on the pepper front.

    Oh no, Kelly! Dan just had me convinced to grow some. Seriously? Not worth it at all?

    Daphne, the cooking of the pepper brings out its stench which alone would turn me completely off. I seriously think that's half of my probelm. They just have one heck of a foul odor.

    JenGC, I was right there with you. I'm still not on the cooking and eating it bandwagon, and I'm not going to sit down infront of a trough full and chow down, but I'm making progress.

    Nooooooo, Momma, no. Too much too fast. Let me go four or five years getting used to the raw yellow bells then we'll talk.

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  16. You are too cute! I don't like peppers much myself, so I am proud of you!
    I cannot believe my word verification. duckshic. I kid you not.
    Have a great weekend, enjoying new and wonderful taste sensations from your OWN garden.
    Rosey

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  17. Rosey, that has to be the funnies thing I've ever heard. Do you think everyone has the same word or is it random by person. Very funny!

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  18. No, Daphne is wrong! Roasted peppers don't crunch...you must have the crunch! I'm with her on green tomatoes, though. YUK!

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  19. Ripe tomatoes (yellow and red) are much better than unripe (green) ones. You really must try roasted red peppers too - particularly in the fashion described by Annie's Granny - heaven.

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  20. AAAAHHHHH the pressure, the pressure!

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