Things I love that other people don't get

[Varmint]

Nero is so dreamy!

Seriously, I have no problem eating any of those things. It's not something I go out of my way to do, but they always seem to taste good to me.

[reesek]

I love cold Dinty Moore beef stew. It is like dog food! And I am like a dog.

brilliant.

[jschyun]

I love cold Dinty Moore beef stew.  It is like dog food!  And I am like a dog.

Me too. Except I'm sort of a spoiled dog.

--I hope you don't mind, but I want to use your quote as my sig hehe. I'll take it off if you have copyright issues or something.

Edited June 11, 2004 by jschyun (log)

[Smithy]

... love fat and groozly bits and unidentified offal; am happiest when without offending anyone I can not only have the beautifully presented meal on my plate but also discreetly pick at the fascinating crumbs and scrapings and glop in the roasting pan (that dark dark thing... is it an onion? is it a piece of skin? which would be better? either! let's find out!)....

oooh, yeah! to the phraseology and the sentiment, both! (I just HAVE to work the phrase 'groozly bits' into a conversation later today!)

My biggest reasons for wanting to cook the turkey at our place are (1) leftovers, (2) the pope's nose, and (3) picking at the skin and the pan. When I'm elsewhere, my hosts think I'm the best guest ever because I *insist* on helping with the cleanup!

Cooked spinach. Most particularly, cooked canned spinach with that vinegar stuff in it. I can make a meal out of that when the darling husband is away from home. (He doesn't even like cooked fresh spinach, more's the pity.)

Those black olives some others admit to also loving. Since I grew up among olive ranchers (Dad wasn't, but his friends were) those olives Taste Like Home.

Cilantro seems to be the feline of the culinary herbs: it almost always provokes a strong reaction one way or t'other. I'm in the pro-camp but have to be careful about when and to whom I use that wondrous herb.

[NulloModo]

KFC makes Gizzards and livers?

Jim Beam and Wild Turkey are by no means bad bourbon. They are inexpensive, but very solid products for general drinking.

If you want really bad bourbon Old Crow comes to mind...

[andiesenji]

I tuck cilantro seed into any spare inch of dirt in the garden. I can never have too much.

I make pesto with cilantro instead of basil.

This paste, spread on sourdough bread then topped with a slab of cold pork roast, a slice of onion and another slice of sourdough spread with the paste is soooo yummy.

Geez. now I am hungry. Well, at least it is lunch time so I have an excuse. I spent two hours in the garden, pointing out where I needed things done, and generally getting in the way of my gardener and finding more things for him to do.

Picked some green tomatoes that are going to be fried this evening.

I do love green tomatoes, and corn bread - real corn bread, not the cake stuff.

[balmagowry]

I love a lot of gross shit that a lot of people hate.  Braunschweiger, 'kraut, Velveeta, Easy Cheese (no cracker, straight into the mouth), Magic Shell, store-bought croutons, Chicken in a Biscuit crackers (damn, I love those--my sister used to lick all the spices off them and then put the crackers back in the box when we were kids, and that did nothing to dent my love for Chicken in a Biscuit).

Thread convergence! Rice-a-Roni, the San Francisco treat - I confess.

I love canned soups, I love Ramen (mostly by necessity). 

Ramen can be "souped up," as it were, to several different levels of acceptability - peas, bits of ham, sherry.... Though sometimes of course you have to get down & dirty and just go for the Flavor Packet.

I love Kraft Mac 'n Cheese. 

Eeeewwwww. You lost me there. You have Gone Too Far.

I also love cheap jug wine.  Rossi.  My roommate calls it "ghetto broth."  OF COURSE I like real wine better, but hey--no distinctions.  I drank Rossi the other night.  Red.

Mine is Almaden Merlot in the box. AKA "Iniquitous Plonk." Sometimes the spot you need to hit just happens to be the Rotgut Spot. Buy it by the case when it's on sale. Cook with it; feed the vinegar mother with it... drink it on those nights when you really just don't WANT something good. Cheap. Nasty. Gotta have it.

I love cold Dinty Moore beef stew.  It is like dog food!  And I am like a dog.

Nero, save that line - don't change a word or a punctuation mark. You'll need it when you become an Important Food Writer writing your no-holds-barred gastronomic memoir. It has a wonderful ring to it. (Actually, it reminds me of my cousin, a marvelous writer who uses "twodogs" as her e-mail handle for much the same reason.)

I am not a picky eater.  My boyfriend can't stand to watch me eat raw tomatoes.  He also has an issue with me eating ice cream and pop together.  I have to have a pop when I have ice cream.  He can't watch.

Me, it was my mother and the accompaniment for potato chips. I have to have cold milk with them; she had to have coke; neither of us could understand how the other could do anything so awful.

I love livers and gizzards from KFC.

Oh, man, I wish you hadn't told me that; I didn't know they had them. Now I have to go there and try it, and I just know it'll be instant addiction.

I love sardines and I love anchovies.  I love frozen vegetables while they are still frozen--especially peas.  God, I love frozen peas more than almost any other vegetable. 

I love Gerber baby food.  Especially the pears.

Sometimes, I just eat brown sugar.  Straight.

Yes, yes, and yes. haven't tried the Gerber, but what's not to love? Like applesauce.

Hey - you're OK.

EDIT: Ah - I see I'm not the only one who picked up on the "like a dog" line. It's gold. Gold.

Edited June 11, 2004 by balmagowry (log)

[balmagowry]

Jim Beam and Wild Turkey are by no means bad bourbon. They are inexpensive, but very solid products for general drinking.

If you want really bad bourbon Old Crow comes to mind...

Or Old Overcoat.

[balmagowry]

(I just HAVE to work the phrase 'groozly bits' into a conversation later today!)

Do! but make sure you get the pronunciation right: it's "oo" like in "good," not like in "food."

[laurenmilan]

But nothing is so bemusing as laurenmilan's lutefisk confession. Like it? Like it? That's scary. Maybe it's the gooeyness - I've never known it to be gooey, more slimy/gelatinous. Ate it at the home of a Norwegian friend who really did love it - but then, he was Norwegian, so he didn't count. Never met anyone else who actually voluntarily consumed any more of it than was required by scrupulous courtesy. Likes Lutefisk. Wow. Now I've heard everything.

Yes, yes, it's true! I have my own personal definition of shame!

I tried it at an Xmas celebration with my Swedish fiancee, where resolved to try at least a little of everything.

I winced then I scooped into the lutefisk, then tasted it and through it was wonderful. Despite how wierd it looks, feels, and sounds (glop!) Yes, even the hosts thought eating more than the mimimum required was

I'm in love with the Janssen's temptation (anchovy puddin'!) too, so there's no accounting for taste is there.

[balmagowry]

But nothing is so bemusing as laurenmilan's lutefisk confession. Like it? Like it? That's scary. Maybe it's the gooeyness - I've never known it to be gooey, more slimy/gelatinous. Ate it at the home of a Norwegian friend who really did love it - but then, he was Norwegian, so he didn't count. Never met anyone else who actually voluntarily consumed any more of it than was required by scrupulous courtesy. Likes Lutefisk. Wow. Now I've heard everything.

Yes, yes, it's true! I have my own personal definition of shame!

I tried it at an Xmas celebration with my Swedish fiancee, where resolved to try at least a little of everything.

Oooh - watch your linguistic step there. If memory serves, the Swedes call it "lutfisk," not "lutefisk," and can get pretty indignant at being confused with those Norwegian scum.

Hmmm - maybe they prepare it differently, too, and that might account for... nah. Nah, you're just weird.

I'm in love with the Janssen's temptation (anchovy puddin'!) too, so there's no accounting for taste is there.

Now hang on a minute - that actually sounds pretty good.

Only - you weren't eating it at the same meal, were you? I thought the Christmas meal had to be all white.

EDIT: Oh, man, I just googled Janssen's Temptation - WHERE has this dish been all my life? I can hardly wait to try it!

Edited June 11, 2004 by balmagowry (log)

[andiesenji]

I tried it at an Xmas celebration with my Swedish fiancee, where resolved to try at least a little of everything.

I winced then I scooped into the lutefisk, then tasted it and through it was wonderful. Despite how wierd it looks, feels, and sounds (glop!) Yes, even the hosts thought eating more than the mimimum required was

You would be in Heaven at the annual Sons of Norway Lutefist celebration at the lodge in Van Nuys, California.

Huell Hauser, who does PBS documentaries around California attended one of the celebrations and filmed the preparation and the serving of it.

They said that luckily there were other foods available for those who didn't care for the lutefisk (but they still had to smell it.)

[NeroW]

Lutfisk makes me want to vomit. And coming from someone who actually enjoys Old Granddad bourbon, that's a strong statement.

I also love those strawberry-crunch ice cream bars. Just had one at the laundromat.

[hannnah]

I have a huge soft spot for canned comfort foods - Dinty Moore beef stew (heated, please; cold's a little bit too hardcore), Spaghetti-os with meatballs, Campbell's vegetarian vegetable soup. These were the foods I was allowed to make for myself when I was finally tall enough to see the top of the stove.

I also have a thing for Hamburger Helper - specifically the Stroganoff flavor, but it has to have extra onions and extra sour cream added.

But, my absolute favorite semi-processed food in the whole wide world is strawberry jello cake. White cake mix, a box of strawberry Jello, some frozen (or fresh when they're worth getting) strawberries for the cake and the icing, plus some powdered sugar and butter. My great-aunt Muriel used to make me one of these cakes every year from the time I was a year old for my birthday, or later on when I'd come home from college or for the holidays.

My parents can't stand the stuff; my husband loves it. Aunt Muriel can't bake anymore, but she gave me her recipe, and it's a little taste of my childhood every time I make one.

[CompassRose]

Oh, yeah -- forgot a big one! FRUITCAKE!

Sure, I love the fancy ones with whole-grain flour and artisan-dried organic fruits -- but I also will happily devour the supermarket products loaded with red and green plastic bits and covered with almond-flavoured rubber icing. Ah! Yuletide! Skip the presents, give me that fruitcake you've been hoarding.

[Jaymes]

cilantro.

Oh yeah, me too. I forget that so many people hate it (or are just eating it to be trendy, you know).

[Mooshmouse]

I'm a bit late boarding the cilantro lovers' train, but count me in. Whenever I buy a fresh bunch, I always take a big whiff before putting it in the shopping cart as I find the smell absolutely heavenly. Yes, I eat it cooked or raw. Shredded into a green salad along with some sliced raw mushrooms and raw bean sprouts and drizzled with homemade soy ginger dressing. Sprinkled on asian spring rolls or wraps with a little hoisin sauce and diced water chestnuts. And a key ingredient in spicy Thai stirfries with sweet chili sauce.

Was almost afraid to admit this, but I too am a processed foodaholic. Guilty pleasures that I only indulge once in blue moon because I'm afraid that I'll shatter my body's chemical additive and sodium count. Rice-A-Roni, Alphagetti, Chef Boyardee Beefaroni, Stroganoff Hamburger Helper (just like Hannah), Creamy Tuna Helper, corned beef hash, Twinkies... my stomach is grumbling just thinking about it. But my two processed food faves are Lipton Cup-A-Soup and Campbell's Soup in Chicken Noodle flavour. Comfort food extraordinaire, especially when I'm sick.

[hjshorter]

Miracle Whip

Deviled Ham

Vienna Sausages

Hormel chili (no beans) on hot dogs

Fruit Loops

Braunschweiger

Oscar Mayer baloney fried with onions

tuna noodle casserole made with canned cream of mushroom

Campbells tomato soup

Velveeta

Ice cream sandwiches

tacos made with the Old El Paso seasoning packet

Wonder bread, toasted

Hostess Orange cupcakes

Beefaroni and Spaghettios

There's probably more, but I can't bear to think about it.

Edited June 12, 2004 by hjshorter (log)

[NulloModo]

Oh, yeah -- forgot a big one! FRUITCAKE!

Sure, I love the fancy ones with whole-grain flour and artisan-dried organic fruits -- but I also will happily devour the supermarket products loaded with red and green plastic bits and covered with almond-flavoured rubber icing. Ah! Yuletide! Skip the presents, give me that fruitcake you've been hoarding.

I am so with you on this one. I have absolutely no sweet tooth, they fruitcake calls to me eachtime the year draws towards an end... (particularly after lots of hot buttered rum and special eggnog).

[Mooshmouse]

Hmmmm - there was a violet candy that tasted like soap, too - different kind of soap, though.

Here in Canada, one of my childhood memories was of a boxed gum similar to Chiclets called Thrills. They were purple, tasted like soap, and were absolutely horrid. For some reason, lots of the boys liked them but none of the girls ever did. As you had mentioned, maybe it was a taste hangover from cussing too much and having their mouths washed out with soap. Haven't seen them in the stores for years... gee, what a surprise.

Putrid.

[Jaymes]

Fruitcake Eaters Anonymous Unite!

Hello.

My name is Jaymes and I like fruitcake.

It started years ago when I fell in with a bad crowd. My granny and her cronies.

Around October, the packages would begin arriving. They were from some fruitcake pusher down in Corsicana, Texas. Granny would get a big grin on her face, and open them one by one. It was obvious she was hooked. Inside the packages were round, red tins that just reeked of Christmas. Granny would sit them on her big oak kitchen table, and then retrieve some booze from her stash under the cupboard. She'd sprinkle each cake with a little rum and some brandy, then seal them tightly, and stash them away, up high in the coat closet.

Every few days, we'd go through this routine. Open them up, sprinkle with booze, seal them, and then back they'd go, into the cool darkness of the coat closet.

I can still recall the aroma of the fruit and the cake and the booze, and the forbidden pleasures that were ripening in their little red tins.

Until finally December arrived, and the fruitcakes were heavy and moist, redolent with their nuts and candied fruits and my granny's booze. That's when Granny would open one of the tins for us. It was so moist it was almost like a pudding. She'd scoop some of it into coffee cups and we'd pour over a little heavy sweet cream and eat it with a spoon.

Like most addicts, Granny wasn't happy unless she dragged down others into her hellish nightmare, so she'd haul the rest of her booze-soaked cakes around the neighborhood, recruiting new members to her gang.

As I grew, I was exposed to many other bad habits -- most of which I gradually left behind. But each October, when the nights begin to cool and the leaves turn to crimson and gold, the memories of the round red tins of Christmas call to me still.

I am afraid there is no hope.

Are there others out there like me? Should we start a support group? Perhaps we can meet in Corsicana. If you'll bring the brandy, I'll bring the rum.

Edited June 12, 2004 by Jaymes (log)

[markk]

Pickled Beef Tongue.

I can't believe nobody listed this. I admit that as I typed it out, it looked kind of strange even to me. But it's what they serve at Jewish delis. It's boiled, but it's boiled after it's pickled, and it's also referred to as "corned beef tongue". But I love tongue even when it's not pickled (or "corned") and just boiled (at least, I think they boil it unpickled). But I can't believe that nobody voted for tongue in this category.

[balmagowry]

Pickled Beef Tongue.

I can't believe nobody listed this. I admit that as I typed it out, it looked kind of strange even to me. But it's what they serve at Jewish delis. It's boiled, but it's boiled after it's pickled, and it's also referred to as "corned beef tongue". But I love tongue even when it's not pickled (or "corned") and just boiled (at least, I think they boil it unpickled). But I can't believe that nobody voted for tongue in this category.

Good point. It's a favorite of mine - I can never decide which is better, hot tongue for dinner or cold tongue sandwiches on rye the next day. But... pickled? Aren't you thinking of smoked? At least - I don't know that I've ever had it at a deli, so maybe what they serve is different, but I rather doubt it. IAC the tongue we always had at home was smoked. Mmmmmm.... tongue. And spinach. And boiled potatoes. Oh man, now you've gone and made me all hungry.

[Pan]

Tripe; liver; pig, chicken and duck stomach/gizzard; fish head; tongue; kimchi; stinky tofu; hot pepper; cilantro (my parents and brother hate it); dill (my brother hates it - actually, he hates a bunch of things I like, including cinammon, cloves, mace, eggplant - my parents have a list of stuff he doesn't eat pinned to their blackboard); belacan (shrimp paste); fish sauce; black bean sauce...well, you get the idea.

[GG Mora]

Okay, I don't have the time to quote all the posts I need to quote, so:

Mongo Jones, you do indeed have a long memory. I'm impressed.

Andiesenji, cilantro pesto is delicious on grilled tuna, especially when shpritzed with fresh lime juice.

Balmagowry, I myself was quite fond of the Choward's gum when I was younger. Really helped mask the smell of gin, pot and cigarettes when I was (hold your breath) about 14. I've found the gum recently, but they've chintzed on the packaging. They no longer spring for the silver foil overprinted with purple; now it's a crappy 2-color job with some dim "metallic" grey standing in for the foil.

Jaymes, NulloModo, CompassRose – I love fruitcake and make one that is so good (I even candy my own citrus peel) it converts Previously Avowed Fruitcake Haters. Will you have me in your group? NB: I soak with bourbon.