Different strokes

Ahhh, don’t you just love a good beet salad? Apparently, not everyone does!

There are those who accuse me of having questionable, or downright weird, taste buds, all because I happen to love a good beet salad, a bowl of pistachio ice cream, and toast slathered with orange marmalade. If they only knew how wrong they were! My taste buds are right on point, happily savoring delicious bites and enjoying all those wonderful little bursts of flavor.

When I took this photo of my delicious salad, I immediately thought of my son, knowing exactly how much he would hate it. I had to send it to him, of course. The response came almost instantly: “Gross.” I’m sure he got a good chuckle out of the fact that his mother was once again enjoying something he found completely horrifying.

I suppose it’s a good thing we don’t all love the same things. More beets for me, for one! And imagine how boring it would be to cook if everyone agreed on every single meal. I remember saying that one of the biggest changes when I went from two kids to three was realizing that I would never again make a meal that everyone agreed on, for the rest of my life. And how true that turned out to be!

There was always at least one child sitting at the dinner table who wasn’t thrilled with the menu. But dinner was dinner: like it or leave it. There were no alternate meals being prepared and no short-order cook standing by. Somehow, kids don’t starve. In fact, I’m pretty sure that philosophy may have even helped prevent childhood obesity. Imagine if kids loved every single thing placed in front of them, oh boy!

Maybe I should bring that philosophy back into my own life and make it my new diet plan. Serve myself something I can’t stomach, salmon, peas, sushi, liver and onions, and surely the pounds would melt off in a red-hot minute! Although, knowing me, I’d probably find a way to turn the whole thing into a treasure hunt for something else to eat.

So for now, I’ll stick with what makes my taste buds happy. I’ll savor the colors, the flavors, the unexpected combinations, and yes, plenty of beets. Life is too short not to enjoy the foods we love, even if someone sitting across the table thinks they look absolutely gross.

More beets for me, thank you very much! And if you don’t like them, that’s perfectly fine… just leave mine on my plate as I enjoy everything delicious. Different strokes for different folks. 

“To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.” — François de La Rochefoucauld