The Weirdness of Eating Food

10/10/12

The Weirdness of Eating Food

I know you're thinking seriously, but just give me a minute.  There are people, and I'm thinking of myself now, who have some quirks about eating food. 

Here's an example - candy corn.  What kid didn't grow up eating those cute little sugary bits.  I, for instance, NEVER just popped one in my mouth - nope, first I bit the yellow part off, followed by the orange and finally the white tip.  Candy corn was always eaten that way - no exceptions.

Oreos are another fine example of food that some people eat differently.  As a child I'd separate the cookies and scrape the white filling (best part) off before eating the leftover cookies.  Trust me if they had just sold the white filling, I'd have been first in line.  As an adult, I have learned to control myself and no longer feel the need to unscrew a cookie in order to eat it.  But you can bet that I made sure Benjamin knew that the cookie came apart!

I worked with a man who separated his M&Ms by color before eating.  I have no earthly idea, he just did.  He also swore that certain colors tasted differently but through many trial sessions of my own still don't know what he's talking about.

I had a friend who ate his pie from the wide end first.  He liked crust and the wide end has the most so it made sense to him to start there.  Looked a bit odd; but, who are we to judge.

Then there are the dunkers.  And you know who you are.  I confess I'm a dunker but try not to do it when Jeff is around.  He finds the bits that fall to the bottom of a glass or cup disturbing and I think it's more like finding buried treasure.  AND, there is a science to dunking.  You learn, through trial and error, which cookies can be dunked longer and which ones will quickly disintegrate in liquid.  By the way biscotti is the super best for dunking - you can dunk them for practically forever!

Peanut butter and Karo syrup.  Super icky but one of my Mom's favorite snacks.  She stirred those two foods together and I'm not even going to try to describe what it looked like but she swore that it was good.  Maybe it was but I was too chicken to even try it.

Toast and bacon is another area where people can be divided.  For instance, I want my toast black and the bacon cooked until it's nearly charred.  There is an advantage of being the one in a family that prefers food this way - nobody else will touch it!    I leave my boys to eat lightly toasted bread and limp bacon.  Maybe there is a method to my madness.

So as you eat your breakfast or lunch today and you realize that you dunk you tea bag EXACTLY 20 times or scrape the edges off of your sandwich or find yourself taking a cookie apart to eat it, realize you are in good company.  Most of us, at least those of us who will admit it, have certain quirks about food and that's a good thing - it makes us unique.

P