Wow. What a rude hostess. Did she call her kids pains in the ass too, when they didn’t something she didn’t like?
I’m still rather picky, but I’ve recently expanded my vocabulary somewhat. I posted a while back about how I’d gotten too thin after dieting for almost a year. The solution was to eat more protein and dairy, while still going easy on the junk food. So I am now a regular visitor to the deli counter.
And what an eye-opener that was! The first time I tasted deli provolone, I was flabbergasted. Because I’d never had provolone that was not processed, I’d had no idea it was so good! Havarti, which I’d never had before ever, almost made me swoon. I haven’t tried Swiss yet though, and it’s possible that I still won’t like it. So it’s not a full-scale conversion.
Milk is another matter. I really, really don’t like milk, and I don’t see that ever changing. It’s the taste and the texture; I just can’t deal with it. But I can drink a milkshake, so that’s what I’ve been doing. The bottom line, pun intended, is that I’ve gotten my curves back. 
Now, about the “Just TRY it!” angle. First of all, I don’t grok the “one bite” rule. Is that one spoonful, and if you like it, you take a full serving? Because if you take a full serving, have one bite, and still don’t like it, then what happens to the rest of it? Is someone else going to take it off your hands, or have you contaminated it? Or is that the idea: you’ve been cornered, and if you don’t eat the whole thing now, you’re wasting food and shame on you?
And there’s the matter of personal taste. My aunt J. and my aunt C. both found me very aggravating when I was a child, because I didn’t love their White People Food. But when I was that age, my mom was fairly health-conscious. After hearing chapter and verse from her about how awful processed foods were, and tasting multi-grain bread, cranberry juice and homemade cookies for myself, is it really so surprising that I didn’t salivate at the sight of a processed baloney and Miracle Whip sandwich on Wonder Bread with a big glass of Kool-Aid and a freaking Devil Dog? Plus which, aunt C. and aunt J. were both overweight bordering on obese. My mom (until she gave up the whole-foods kick) was thin. So who did I want to be like?
And atomicktom, where is it written that cheesecake is one of the greatest food experiences in life? For you, sure. And presumably there wouldn’t be a Cheesecake Factory if a lot of people didn’t love it. But to me, cheesecake is…just okay. I’ll eat it, but I would never choose cheesecake for dessert if there was anything else I liked. Personally, I like pie, but Poppin’ Fresh Pies became Baker’s Square, and then Baker’s Square became just another family restaurant, with the pies as an afterthought. ::grumble:: Used to be un-American not to love pie. Now it’s un-American not to love Cheesecake Factory and Starbucks.
I’m just waiting for the whole country to go on a french fry kick. Then I won’t be the freak.
