Until I started this blog, I led myself to believe that I was an adventurous eater – willing to give anything a try.
Lately, I’ve discovered that isn’t really the case. I’ve let a childhood allergy and sibling rivalry shape my culinary borders. Going back as far as I can down Memory Road, I have been very allergic to pork – didn’t matter if it was a simple hotdog or pork tenderloin. If I ate it, my skin would break out into a painful rash.
As I grew older, I avoided pork at all costs – forcing my parents to make accommodations for fear I’d break out again. If you’ve been reading my blog, you’ll no doubt recall my attempt at eating baby back ribs – without incident!
It’s amazing that when I finally decide I’m going to go for it – rash be darned – turns out I had nothing to fear after all.
This last weekend, Keith and I went to my parents’ home in Land O’ Lakes (a small town north of Tampa) to celebrate my younger brother’s birthday.
For dinner, we had baby back ribs – which I ate without trepidation or discomfort. I must confess, as happy as Dad might be that he no longer has to pull out chicken for me anytime he wants to cook pork, I think he would have rather not shared the tasty ribs with me!
As for dessert, there was no birthday cake. Instead, Mom made apple pie, my brother’s favorite.
For me, she made a pumpkin pie.
All my life, I’ve avoided apple pie under the premise that if my brother likes it, it can’t be good. Growing up, we traded molasses and raisins – Richard would like raisins, I hated them – until I decided I liked raisins, then he’d hate them.
How Mom and Dad dealt with us – and how we survived to adulthood – remains a mystery.
At any rate, I decided I was going to try a piece of Mom’s apple pie – on a whim – and without Richard to witness.
Turns out that I have depriving myself of Mom’s delicious apple pie my whole life – just out of being stubborn.
I have let this be a lesson for myself – just try it and forget whoever likes or doesn’t like it.
I guess the next step for me will be to determine if I’m still allergic to shellfish. I don’t think I’m quite ready for that test, but I’m working on it.
Until next time,Happy Eats!