When I was a kid I
hated Brussels sprouts. With a passion. I couldn't get myself to eat them without gagging. I tried everything to mask the flavor, including taking a mouthful of tea or juice (or whatever I was drinking) before putting one in my mouth in the hopes that I wouldn't be able to taste it. No luck. I also used to sneak them into my napkin and throw them away. I think the trick I used most often to get out of having to eat them is to leave the table to "use the restroom" with a mouthful of Brussels sprouts and spit them out into the toilet and flush them. That way my mom thought I ate them, and I only had to endure the horrific flavor for the length of time it took me to get to the bathroom. Luckily we had a small house, and I was quite motivated to move swiftly. It was a great mystery to me how my older brother could actually
like them. He actually loved them - they were his favorite vegetable! Freak. I know my mom thought I was being melodramatic when I exclaimed my disfavor with this foul Brassicaceae. But I swear I died a little inside every time I was faced with a plate of those things.
Yet for some inconceivable reason, this year I kept seeing pictures of them and thinking they looked tasty. I remembered how gross they were when I was a kid, so I don't know what made me think I could stomach them now. Then again, I hated spinach when I was a little too, and I like it now. So I convinced myself to try them - to give them one last shot. I bought the Green Giant package with the butter sauce. Butter makes everything better, right? I figured since they were baby Brussels sprouts they might be less bitter. I was really hesitant to actually consume one of these things once they were cooked, but I was brave.
And I liked it! I didn't just think it was okay, I actually LIKED it. I wanted MORE. It was a vegetable miracle! And now I have bought them (and
EATEN them!) two more times. Even my DH likes them. Hooray for maturing taste buds! I wonder what else I hated as a kid that I might actually like now? Liver, maybe? ...Nah!
Yet for some inconceivable reason, this year I kept seeing pictures of them and thinking they looked tasty. I remembered how gross they were when I was a kid, so I don't know what made me think I could stomach them now. Then again, I hated spinach when I was a little too, and I like it now. So I convinced myself to try them - to give them one last shot. I bought the Green Giant package with the butter sauce. Butter makes everything better, right? I figured since they were baby Brussels sprouts they might be less bitter. I was really hesitant to actually consume one of these things once they were cooked, but I was brave. And I liked it! I didn't just think it was okay, I actually LIKED it. I wanted MORE. It was a vegetable miracle! And now I have bought them (and EATEN them!) two more times. Even my DH likes them. Hooray for maturing taste buds! I wonder what else I hated as a kid that I might actually like now? Liver, maybe? ...Nah!
Oh my god! I had the same experience. I couldn't stomach eating them as a kid but I love them now. Only the kind in butter sauce, and they have to be really cooked, not just halfway. Yes!!
ReplyDeleteI dont know why you think they look tasty...that photo makes me think of boogers in a bowl. I remember hating brussel sprouts too...and artichokes and mustard...but now i love all that stuff. mmmm...
ReplyDeleteSpleeness - It's so weird, isn't it? Now if only my taste buds would grow up enough to not love junk food so much, I might actually be a healthy eater!
ReplyDeleteD - Aw, man! Boogers? :( I've never had artichokes other than in spinach dip, so I'm not sure what I'd think of them.
OMG. Laughing at D's booger remark.
ReplyDeleteI will never eat brussel sprouts as long as I live, butter or not. That and artichokes. I mean, really. The word "choke" is right in it!
Congratulations on your vegetable miracle! I'm truly happy for you. If someone's gonna eat them, it might as well be you.
Kathy - Hmmm...You do have a point about "choke". And I'll be glad to eat the Brussels sprouts for you!
ReplyDeleteBrussels sprouts are, were, and always will be, absolutely disgusting. ;-) But I have grown to quite like spinach in all its forms.
ReplyDeleteMarvin - The first way I got myself to eat (and like) spinach was raw. It wasn't until I realized that spinach in a salad or on a sandwich was quite tasty that I started liking it.
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