Puppy Love

My family recently a adopted a puppy. She is possibly the cutest thing in the whole world, but lately she has taken to eating everything she gets her paws on. This didn't sit very well with her the other day when she had a bad case of a very gurgley stomach. She didn't enjoy whatever it was she ate for very long if you know what I mean, but her interest and excitement over all new things made me feel like some of us have more in common with a little puppy than we normally think.

Puppies see the world in a whole new way; this includes food. Every little bite of something new is savored and enjoyed by a puppy, and then all they want is more. This food epiphany made me think of a meal I had when my family took a trip to Rome. We, being stupid Americans, went to find a meal around 6 when every restaurant in Rome was closed because Italians eat dinner around 9. The one place that was serving was outside of the Pantheon. I ordered lasagna, because I thought it seemed like a good idea. I had never before that moment and have never after that moment tasted a better lasagna. It was all cheese, but the cheese was so creamy it just melted in your mouth. Like my puppy it didn't matter if that lasagna was going to make me feel sick in an hour I was enjoying every bite and wanting more.

As we get older I think we lose some of that experimental side. We decide we don't like hard boiled eggs and we don't bother trying the potato salad because of the eggs in it. Think of all of the food epiphanies you might miss just by thinking that you don't like a certain food. My boyfriend does not like ground turkey. I grew up on ground turkey. I have quite honestly spent most of the time we've been dating proving to him that he might like ground turkey in certain things. One day I made a chili with ground turkey; he had no idea till I yelled from the kitchen "How did you like the chili? It was all ground turkey." I sadly never saw his original face when I told him this, but his sister promised that it was one worthy of a picture. He has admitted that when I cook ground turkey it normally tastes ok. I just wonder what gives certain foods a stigma.

Most likely if you don't like a certain food it's because you had it in an awful dish or was forced to eat it as a child and now to prove to your 80 year old mother that she doesn't control your life anymore you still will not eat brussel sprouts.

I love baby spinach. Last fall we took a trip to Six Flags New England and I made sandwiches. I put baby spinach in the sandwiches instead of lettuce, because I knew it would hold up a little better. When I told everyone what I had done (after they were finished eating of course) I got funny faces like I had just fed them all cow poo. While they ate the sandwiches they were just fine. They most likely even enjoyed the fact that the leaves weren't soggy and everyone got a little added bonus of the food being a little healthier.

"No thanks, I don't like ________" That phrase could possibly be the most rude thing you could ever say to anyone; it's actually more rude to yourself than it is to other people. Try everything and refuse nothing. If it's awful, it's awful. But then again you might be surprised to find you really do like fried cabbage and noodles with ketchup on it.

Puppies are just learning things. They taste everything to see what's good or bad. My puppy tried to bite a beetle today; she got slapped in the nose with its wings and decided beetles are not good food. That experience doesn't mean she won't try a fly later. If I were you I'd steer clear of bugs, but a brussel sprout or two might not kill you.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily