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Food-related quirks and neuroses


Mooshmouse

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How do you serve gumbo at your house? Do you put the gumbo in your bowl first then add the rice, as all feeling hearts and civilized people certainly do, or do you put your rice first and then pour gumbo over it, like those uncouth in-laws do it? It doesn't much affect the taste, but this has been the subject of disagreement between my nieces and their husbands.

Rice first, you plebe! :biggrin:

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And I'll only eat yogurt with a certain kind of spoon. (In my defense, it's an extremely well-designed spoon which makes all other spoons I've encountered seem pathetic.) (I'm sure this is also considered an insanity defense...)  :biggrin:

Any more info, photos, etc. on this spoon? If it's such a great device we all must have one.

It's just a stainless-steel dessert spoon. I don't know why, but we have about twenty of them. Not like my priceless El Al spoon. :wub::wink:

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RE: Gumbo - Gumbo in bowl first, then a scoop of rice, then some parsley sprinkled on top. It looks so pretty that way. Why would anyone think the rice went in first????? :blink:

Stop Family Violence

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Toast. Gotta be on the light side. If it's too dark, it makes me think of what a crouton would taste like slathered with butter and jam. No thanks.

Joie Alvaro Kent

"I like rice. Rice is great if you're hungry and want 2,000 of something." ~ Mitch Hedberg

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I have a few quirks...

First of all, I'm a dipper. I pour a dab of syrup on the side of my pancakes, waffles or french toast, never on top, and drag the corner through. Same with fruit and whipped cream toppings, all on the side, please, let me assemble each bite, else everything gloms together and gets soggy and mushy.

I also don't like whipped toppings on my ice cream, for a similar reason. Plus, it kinda 'dilutes' the flavor of the ice cream.

I dislike pie, or cake and ice cream on the same plate. I love them together, but again. Let ME assemble each bite. Or else, what, by the end of it, you have cold pie soup.

Sometimes I like my salad dressing on the side, depending on what kind, what kind of place, and what kind of salad. If it's a creamy heavy dressing, I dip my fork in the dressing, then spear a forkful of salad. A little dressing on a huge bite of greens...perfect! Or else, the dressing gets overwhelming. Vinagrettes are a different story, the more tossed, and evenly distributedm the better, as far as that goes.

I rarely, if ever, finish a burger, (unless it's really small) from first bite to last, without disassembling it. Same goes for subs. I've been that way since I was a kid. I get about halfway through, start getting full, and discard the bread, finishing the innards with a fork. My mom used to say "getting full? Just finish the inside, skip the bread, and you can go, ok?" Old habits die hard.

I can't have soup or chili without toast, bread, or crackers of some sort. I have to alternate bites, too, or else I get wicked palate fatigue. Soup is not soup without something crunchy alongside. Add me to the special spoon category, too. I have a perfectly round soup spoon that I love love love. Everything tastes better from my round spoon! Except yogurt.

And finally, the weirdest thing, that everyone notices, that I simply cannot help. If I am dining alone, even if I'm just having a snack, I must read something. I can't eat, without reading something. I have open books and magazines all over the place. It's the weirdest habit. Earlier, I grabbed some mixed nuts out of the pantry, then stood there while I ate them, and read the recipes on the backs of all the pasta boxes.

But then, I'm OCD about reading too, so it's not just an eating quirk, it goes way beyond that.

Edited by Lilija (log)
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And finally, the weirdest thing, that everyone notices, that I simply cannot help. If I am dining alone, even if I'm just having a snack, I must read something.  I can't eat, without reading something. I have open books and magazines all over the place.  It's the weirdest habit.  Earlier, I grabbed some mixed nuts out of the pantry, then stood there while I ate them, and read the recipes on the backs of all the pasta boxes. 

Glad I'm not alone. Surprised, but glad.

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Toast has to be tan and crispy outside, but still tender and "bready" in the center, but hot enough for the butter to melt NOW! Easier said than done, especially with regular sliced bread... :blink: Gotta have that butter soft and work fast! :raz:

"Commit random acts of senseless kindness"

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I'm on the special-spoon bandwagon. I can enjoy grapefruit to its fullest only with my devoted spoon, one of the few pieces of silverware I have.

It's not a true grapefruit-spoon, which I think must have a serrated edge, but it's narrow and most importantly, it's DEEP, which allows you to capture more juice in each bite. Perfect!

Great poem sig, Lexy.

That reminds me of my favorite spoon for eating watermelon (and only watermelon, other melons get to take their chances with a fork, after being salted and peppered!)

I don't recall the exact train of events, but I was joining a couple of friends who were already out on the deck, and picked up my section of watermelon and grabbed a spoon out of the "spooner" that usually holds only teaspoons.

I didn't discover, until I was seated on the deck and ready to dig into the melon, that I had picked a cheese scoop instead of a teaspoon. It was amazingly efficient for digging out just the right size bits of melon and not once did one slip from the spoon to fall into my lap or onto the deck.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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I used to have this cup that I was going to hand carry all the way to the UK in September when I move there to study. Except I broke it.

See, I used to drink chocolate milk in it. Now, I no longer drink chocolate milk. In fact, I don't drink milk at all.

I believe that fried rice Must Have Eggs fried in it. If not, fried rice is a misnomer--I'm afraid, Doddie, that I think your garlic fried rice is not really fried rice, as yummy as it looks.

May

Totally More-ish: The New and Improved Foodblog

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My boyfriend's housemate is this all-American bloke who survives on pizza, cheerios, OJ, teddy bear grahams, and oreos. Every now and then we like to switch things around a little -- replace the teddy bear grahams with Annie's bunny grahams, switch the regular Oreos with ones we've carted back from Asia (slighly sweeter, less chocolatey). Sounds mean, but it's all in good fun, and he's usually got such a solemn face on that watching the little facial twitches as he discovers the difference is great =) Plus, they're all computer science PhD candidates, so it's good to see them get creative...

itadakimas...eat a duck i must!

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And finally, the weirdest thing, that everyone notices, that I simply cannot help. If I am dining alone, even if I'm just having a snack, I must read something. I can't eat, without reading something. I have open books and magazines all over the place. It's the weirdest habit. Earlier, I grabbed some mixed nuts out of the pantry, then stood there while I ate them, and read the recipes on the backs of all the pasta boxes.

oh, I do this too! i can trace it back to when i lived with a 60 year old landlady who would take any opportunity to go on and on and on about her dog, how cute he is with his knitted socks, and force me to look through all 67 photos of her dog in various knitted paraphenalia for the umpteenth time.

I quickly learnt to always have a heavy, serious-looking textbook with me at all times.

itadakimas...eat a duck i must!

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  • 10 months later...

My friend will only eat bananas that have NO speckling on the peel - i.e. hard with no taste or fragrance.

I keep telling him that he is eating an unripe banana and it he waited a couple days, it would actually taste like something....

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My late friend would not eat rice. She said it reminded her of maggots.

When we were young she ate rice all the time and Chicken with Yellow rice was one of her favorite things. :unsure:

The older she got the more neurotic she became.

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I only have one, I dont eat at other peoples houses and from potlucks or bake sales...

Ive had too many bad experiences.

But my MOM!

She has soooo many, she will put a frozen dinner in the microwave for 2 minutes, take it out, eat the cooked parts, put it back for 2 more minutes, take it out, eat the cooked parts, on and on till its eaten.

She also refuses to EVER try COFFEE.

Oh and she will eat fried onions and cottage cheese (fried together)

But shes a prize winning cook.

Wawa Sizzli FTW!

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...she will put a frozen dinner in the microwave for 2 minutes, take it out, eat the cooked parts, put it back for 2 more minutes, take it out, eat the cooked parts, on and on till its eaten.

I actually think this makes tons of sense! She's figured out how to make microwavable meals edible!

The coffee thing is beyond comprehension, though (excuse me as I slurp the last of my Americano).

"We had dry martinis; great wing-shaped glasses of perfumed fire, tangy as the early morning air." - Elaine Dundy, The Dud Avocado

Queenie Takes Manhattan

eG Foodblogs: 2006 - 2007

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When I have waffles, I MUST put a tiny bit of syrup in each little square. Can't eat it without it.

susan

That's not neurotic, that's just the proper way to eat waffles! :biggrin:

Jan

Seattle, WA

"But there's tacos, Randy. You know how I feel about tacos. It's the only food shaped like a smile....A beef smile."

--Earl (Jason Lee), from "My Name is Earl", Episode: South of the Border Part Uno, Season 2

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When I have waffles, I MUST put a tiny bit of syrup in each little square. Can't eat it without it.

susan

In one of those little "farm women's" magazines, there's a "cute kids' sayings" column. One lady said her grandson requests waffles every time he spends the night, and wants "syrup in all the hotels."

And I agree-no vacant hotels on mine.

ETA: Chris sometimes mentions "Uncle Frank" when we have a dish of mayo on the table. A quart jar of Blue Plate lived on their oilcloth-covered kitchen table, along with the spooner full of silverware, the molasses jug, the thin, waffly paper napkins in a plastic rooster's back, and the ketchup.

ANY meal, Thanksgiving, Sunday Dinner, or plain old supper at home---Uncle Frank would help himself to some of everything, cut his meat into bite-size pieces, and stir everything together, careful not to spil a pea or grain of corn off onto the tablecloth.

Then, he'd take a clean spoon, get a dollop of the mayo out of the jar, clop it down in the middle, then stir everything together AGAIN before taking the first bite. I try to think of it as having a nice many-temperature salad every meal, but gravy and mayo :wacko: ---okra and mayo :blink:. At least he'd leave a nice fried drumstick be. Didn't even dip it.

Edited by racheld (log)
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When I have waffles, I MUST put a tiny bit of syrup in each little square. Can't eat it without it.

susan

That's not neurotic, that's just the proper way to eat waffles! :biggrin:

Of course, you must remember to put a bit of butter in each square as well! :laugh:

"Commit random acts of senseless kindness"

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In reading all of these posts I keep thinking about what really constitutes food neuroses? When does a food preference end and an actual food neurosis begin? Preferring white eggs over brown or yellow sliced processed cheese over white when there is neither a taste nor nutritional difference between them both seem neurotic to me. Ditto with "having" to methodically pour syrup into each square of a waffle instead of just pouring it on freestyle as it were, though that one's kinda cute. :wink:

Most of what I've read here so far sounds like food preferences IMHO, even if they are a bit odd or gagtastic (believe me, I have several of my own that fall into those categories).

Big difference between having to eat the same number of green peas or corn kernels every time after carefully counting and arranging each pea and kernel, and preferring that at Thanksgiving your mashed potatoes don't even come near the cranberry sauce--my rule, which is completely normal of course. :blink: So now, can anyone explain the difference? When does one cross that fine line?

Edited by divalasvegas (log)

Inside me there is a thin woman screaming to get out, but I can usually keep the Bitch quiet: with CHOCOLATE!!!

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put me in with the eat one thing at a time, nothing touches crowd. apparently, i'm not the only one in my family (on my mom's side at least as i have 2 uncles, 1 cousin and apparently a grandfather that were all the same way).

i have a friend that will only eat pizza with a knife and a fork because if he picks up a food (any food) he can't put it down until he finishes it.

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When I have waffles, I MUST put a tiny bit of syrup in each little square. Can't eat it without it.

susan

That's not neurotic, that's just the proper way to eat waffles! :biggrin:

Of course, you must remember to put a bit of butter in each square as well! :laugh:

In reading all of these posts I keep thinking about what really constitutes food neuroses? When does a food preference end and an actual food neurosis begin? Preferring white eggs over brown or yellow sliced processed cheese over white when there is neither a taste nor nutritional difference between them both seem neurotic to me. Ditto with "having" to methodically pour syrup into each square of a waffle instead of just pouring it on freestyle as it were, though that one's kinda cute. :wink:

Not sure how the OP does it, but I employ a very efficient right-to-left, moving-down-the-waffle technique with the syrup pitcher to ensure that all the holes are filled with one application. Life's too short to fill each hole individually. :raz:

Jan

Seattle, WA

"But there's tacos, Randy. You know how I feel about tacos. It's the only food shaped like a smile....A beef smile."

--Earl (Jason Lee), from "My Name is Earl", Episode: South of the Border Part Uno, Season 2

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When I have waffles, I MUST put a tiny bit of syrup in each little square. Can't eat it without it.

susan

That's not neurotic, that's just the proper way to eat waffles! :biggrin:

Yes - that and applying butter to every square ensures the max flavor-to-waffle ratio for every bite! Some waffle bites might be dry, and that would NEVER be acceptable!

eta: The butter must go on first to melt, of course.

Edited by crinoidgirl (log)

V

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