Who’s With Me?

I have a sweet tooth that is so big I swear it’s visible from outer space. I often fantasize about ways to combine all my favorite desserts. I imagine a cupcake bisected by an oatmeal raisin cookie then topped with ice cream and then served as one crazy a la mode on a slice of pie. If I was Catholic, I’d give up sweets for Lent. Alas, I am not Catholic, so I never have to endure that torture.

Todd claims that he was never that into sweets until he hooked up with me. While I take my tea black, the lure of some concoction like brownies topped with crème brulee sprinkled with Andes candies never fails to seduce me. But I wasn’t always this way. Sure, I always liked dessert; I just didn’t have it every single day multiple times per day like I do now. In college I rarely had dessert after dinner. Never ate a cookie after a sandwich at lunch and never had ice cream at the ready in the freezer.

Now? It’s everywhere. And it’s my own doing. Yesterday Todd and I were talking about the decline of our eating habits, when he brought up the topic of our dessert consumption.

“I’ll bet you can’t go a week without sweets,” he teased.

“I’ll do you one better. I’ll go to the end of the month! What do I get if I win?”

And on the conversation went until it eventually evolved into a month-long challenge that will end on April 15th. Todd and I have resolved not to eat sweets until April 15th. If he caves, he has to take the trash barrels to and from the curb every week for a month. If I cave… well, I can’t remember what he gets if I cave. I am sure he does, though.  And even though I cannot remember, I am sure it'll be mildly unpleasant enough to keep my competitive spirit going strong.

So, Internet, I invite you all to join our dessert free for a month challenge. No sweets until April 15th.

All the cool kids are doing it. Are you in?

Thirteen Foods that I Hate. 1. Onions. Mom actually used to puree them into things so my brother and I wouldn’t notice. 2. Peppers. My aunt got me to eat them on a pizza when I was a little kid by telling me that they were green apple. Then I hoarked them up. Don’t lie to me. Let me make my choice based on what’s available. Not cool, Auntie. 3. Tomatoes. Mom used to make tomato and onion salad with dinner. I hated this stuff so much. Dad didn’t eat dinner with us that much, as he worked all the time. Mom used to feed us then pack up a dinner for him and drag us all out to the shop so he could eat too. So Dad didn’t really know what I ate. There was one night when he was home for dinner, and he plopped some tomato and onion salad on my plate and demanded I eat it. I told him I didn’t like it. But he just figured that I was a little kid who said she didn’t like things when she hadn’t tried them. So he shoveled a forkful into my mouth, and then he got to see it all again. Tomato sauce is OK. Ketchup is also OK. Whole tomatoes, not OK. Big chunks of tomato in my sauce, not OK. 4. Eggplant. When Todd and I just started going out I was still a vegetarian. So he was making the only veggie thing he knew how to make, eggplant parmesan. He even had his Mom on the phone as he was cooking, so she could tell him how to make it. I choked the whole thing down “Honey, this is great! Thank you for making this.” Fast forward 5 years later. We just bought our house and we were having dinner with my brother and his family at the joint up the street. Todd asked “Beej, why don’t you get eggplant parm, you haven’t had that in ages.” I told him I didn’t really feel like eggplant parm. I caught my brother’s eye, because I know he doesn’t like it either, then Todd asked “Do you even like eggplant?” It finally came out that I hate it, but I was a good sport when he made it and I choked it all down. He was so sweet to make it for me. 5. Beef. I am a recovering vegetarian. I eat some seafood, poultry though. Beef grosses me out. Sometimes I’ll taste it when Todd has some that he says is good. But then I get grossed out at how long it takes me to chew it. 6. Pork. Though I think I ate some when I was drunk at my Dad’s wedding. 7. Pickled herring. Or anything pickled for that matter. My Dad used to eat pickled herring and it used to make the house stink. I think it’s because I don’t like vinegar. I think pickles are beyond gross. Blah! 8. Salmon. I wish I liked it, because it’s good for you. But I really just don’t. 9. Lobster. I wish I liked this too because I can catch them when I dive and have a free lobster dinner. No dice. 10. Sushi. Todd and I go to Sushi-Go in Newport quite often, again, I wish I liked it. We made friends with the manager and owner and they don’t care if I bring soup from Panera in there. I did try a bunch of different kinds one afternoon when it was slow in the sushi shop. I tried snapper, eel, and something else I can’t remember. I didn’t like any of them. Eel was almost palatable, but, no. I often get asked “Why not get a California roll? You like shrimp.” Ah, but I don’t like COLD shrimp, and I don’t like avocado either. 11. Swiss cheese. Yuck. 12. Cold shrimp. Hate shrimp cocktail. Hate it! 13. Salsa. Kind of. I’ll dip my chip in the salsa and shake off the chunks, so I can have salsa juice on my chip. If the salsa is too finely pureed, then I have too many little chunks on there, so that’s no good. So, the moral of the story is I am nightmare to order pizza with. What foods do you hate? Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants