But, Thursday was, for better and worse, a red letter day in my life. In the aftermath of some form of stomach virus, I was taken to the local Emergency Room by the able-bodied Carnegie Mellon Emergency Medical Service and hooked up to an iv for rehydration and anti-nausea medication, and missed the awarding (to me) of the Handlos Award for Sophomores from the CMU Chemistry Dept. With my discharge from the hospital a few hours later I received strict orders to confine my food intake to light fluids on Day One, and proceed to Wheat Thins, saltines, and bananas on Days Two & Three.
After twenty-four hours of un-ambitious eating, I am totally sick of bland food and can't believe that that was my cuisine of taste from 18 months to age eighteen! I never fully appreciated how frustrating it must have been for my patient parents to dish up those hundreds of bowls of Annie's box macaroni and cheese, plain pasta with butter, and frozen peas. My dad still shakes his head at the anomalies of my love for heavy duty garlic sauce and saucy S&W piquinos red beans. Somehow I did manage to emerge from their household a self-proclaimed "foodie." (Well, maybe not their sort of foodie, given that my current diet consists largely of cruciferous vegetables, heirloom beans, and miso products.)
And, while my taste buds are now more tolerant, my Nani still makes me scope out at least two potential food sources for me in the immediate area whenever we venture out of the house, hotel, dorm room or apartment in whatever locale we are in. Said food sources can run the gamut from farmers markets to vegetarian and Japanese restaurants. Recently in NYC I took a bus across town for lunch to make sure that I could get something I would want to eat.
Since my mom likes to make lists, here are a couple that demonstrate where my tastes buds have been and are at the moment, including a couple of recipes-
Foods That I Eat Now That I Wouldn't Eat Before
Brussel sprouts
Tomato sauce
Salad (Asian dressing only)
Mushrooms
Tofu
Greek yogurt
Anything non-carnivorous at a fancy restaurant
Persimmon & Hazelnut Salad from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison
Serves 4
1/4 cup hazelnuts,roasted
3 Fuyu persimmons, thinly sliced crosswise
3 handfuls of mixed lettuces
Picky Eater Mirin dressing- 3 Tb Mirin, 1 Tb olive oil, 2 Tb peach flavored white balsamic vinegar (can substitute another mild fruity balsamic)
Coarsely chop the hazelnuts. Put them in a bowl with the persimmons and salad greens and toss with enough dressing to coat lightly.
Foods That I Used to Eat That I Don't Eat Anymore
Most white foods- white pasta, potatoes, bread
Full fat Brown Cow chocolate yogurt
"Joy of Cooking Panies"
My dad used to make these for me almost every Sunday and they had to be eaten soaked with real maple syrup. When he really wanted to gild the lily and make me smile he added mini-chocolate chips to the batter.
Makes fourteen 4 " pancakes
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3 Tb sugar
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
3 Tb melted butter
1 - 1 1/4 cups milk
Mix the dry ingredients in a medium size mixing bowl. Stir the eggs, milk, and melted butter together in a 2 cup measuring cup. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk mixture. Stir together quickly, only to barely moisten the dry ingredients and ignore the lumps.
Heat a flat bottomed non-stick fry pan or griddle over medium-low heat until it is hot enough that a few drops of water sputter across the surface. DO NOT GREASE THE PAN or the Picky Eater won't eat them!
Drop generous tablespoons of batter to form the pancakes and flip when the top is bubbly. Serve immediately with maple syrup.
Foods That I Still Won't Eat
Meat
Eggs- except one at Terra in Napa. "If they bring me something at Redd or Terra or Sons & Daughters or Manresa, I'm pretty much going to try it."
Celery
Kale
Pickled thing-ies
Because, I may not be a bland eater anymore, but I'm still a picky one!
