Poll: Do your tastes match your family's?

[emilycat]

Okay, I've been thinking about this for a while, but wasn't sure if it was worth posting about, but now I'm more curious:

Do you eat and enjoy similar dishes as your parents, siblings, SO's, DH's? Or are you like me, and you wonder which train your taste buds hitched to be so phenomenally different from everyone else you're related to? My tastes have been described by my family as adventurous, innovative, gourmet, sophisticated, and on not-so-successful nights, interesting and weird. Now, I would think there was something wrong with me, but since my mom likes Campbell's Tomato Soup better than any fresh tomato soup she's ever had, and it's a rare occasion if Susan (one of my sisters)and my brother let anything green pass their lips, I'm undecided.

I often find it very obnoxious to cook for my family because they are so PLAIN. Does this make me snobbish and inflexible? Well, maybe, but it's still annoying. I admit, some of the types of dishes I prepare are not typical 12-year-old fare, so I don't make them at home. But even stuff I consider pretty normal is off-limits when I cook at my parents' house (or else I'll have a hoard of leftovers)

For instance, when I went home over Thanksgiving, the cornbread, wild mushroom and pecan stuffing got this reaction from my 15-year-old sister "Ewwwwwwww. (insert ready-to-puke-expression) Emily always makes, like, gourmet Thanksgiving. Why can't we have normal food?" Note: She would have much preferred Stove-Top.

This is not to say they never enjoy my cooking; the Chicken Scampi I made they raved about, and my brother could eat 4 servings of my bourbon-based salmon; he even loved the Eggplant Tomato Bake. But these are rare occurences.

I don't get it!

[Natasha]

Emily,

Great question!

Yes, I'm lucky: everyone I know generally loves and truly appreciates my cooking. What's more, they usually share my tastes. Of course, there are definite exceptions to that rule, but hey, that means more for me http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif One point, though: when my mother ends up trying something I've made, though, or I cook something for her, I have to downplay or, er, omit to mention, the fact that it's low fat. Otherwise she'll be biased against it!

But yes, sometimes my friends and family think I'm crazy to want to go that extra mile to make real homecooked meals! It's usually time well-spent, though, because the results are so delicious and especially because I truly enjoy the cooking process!

[phantomcg]

Actually my husband and I have completely opposite tastes. In fact when we first met everything he ate was fried. He won't eat any vegetables except corn and could quite easily eat turkey sandwiches and tater tots for the rest of his life! It's a lot of fun trying to find foods we both like http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/rolleyes.gif
Right now I'm spoiling myself...... Jeff is working 2 1/2 hours away from home and is only home on the weekends, so the fridge is filled with lots of fruits and veggies and I've been trying lots of new recipes - I'm going to be in trouble when we are back to "living together full time" which, unfortunatly, won't be until Spring when we move closer to his job (and my family!!!).
I'm not a vegetarian, but I do prefer to eat lots of fruits and veggies. I grew up in a family of "meat and potato" eaters so I'm not sure where my tastes came from.

Cheryl

[This message has been edited by phantomcg (edited 12-06-2000).]

[Jessica]

My family is reasonably adventurous when it comes to food, but I do have a few friends and relatives who like bland entrees and my in-laws tend to prefer plainer food. I compromise by making our "style" of cooking, but choosing dishes with familiar ingredients. I once made my black bean/feta/mint salad and my father-in-law had two helpings, even though he claims to not like beans. It sounds as if you see your family often; ours live out of town so it is not often that we cook for them.
I know my taste buds are more sophisticated than they were at 12 or even at 20; maybe your sibs will later appreciate that you introduced them to interesting food.

[lorilei]

Oh, emily, woman after my own heart. This is a question I can relate to... oh, man!

Just last week, my husband and I were having one of our regular conversations about how we wished there were more people around with whom we could share our preferences. None of our friends like the wine we drink, most of the foods we'd like to try are "too weird", and I usually have to "tone down" my food when we have people over for dinner. I desperately want to serve caviar at our New Year's celebration, but I'm half afraid I'll have to eat it all myself!

We're lucky enough to have a few people in our families who appreciate good food. I have an aunt and cousin who come over to share "ethnic theme dinners" at our house, and my mother is truly a gourmand at heart -- she loves almost everything we make and often invites us over for dinner to sample her "experiments". My father... well, he can be fooled into eating almost anything http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

My sister prefers jarred/boxed/canned foods to anything in the world. Paul's mother is a StoveTop/convenience food nut! And my brother-in-law practically refuses to eat at my house because my fridge contains tofu. It seems there is simply a boatload of people in our lives who don't relate to our way of life.

It's an amusing world -- and I do wish there were more people in my vicinity with which to share it! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by lorilei (edited 12-06-2000).]

[pmmahan]

My mom and a few of my siblings ( i have 6) share my adventurous tastes. My dad, brother, and other sister are meat and potatoes kind of people. Fortunately, my fi has the combination of adventurous tastes and the trait of being a human grabage disposal, so I can try anything on him! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

[lindrusso]

My family and in-laws are pretty good about trying things and they enjoy a homemade meal. They tend to draw the line at stuff like tofu or stuff like lentil-walnut burgers, but that's easy enough to avoid!

My husband will eat just about anything I put in front of him. He was so wonderfully adaptive when I stopped eating meat for 9 years and just went with the flow. He used to be against most green things, but has since decided that things like green beans and broccoli taste pretty good when you don't cook them to mush! He will even eat spinach which he's not fond of if I put it in the right dish. But he won't TOUCH lima beans!

My kids are still pretty much at the picky stage (ages 6 and 3), but my oldest is showing signs of being a bit of a gourmand - he loves pesto, garlic bread, spinach balls, etc. My youngest is very on again off again and hard to peg - but he is much more receptive to most veggies and fruits than my older one.

So, all in all I'm lucky to have family that is pretty receptive. I do find that many people in this area are a lot less adventurous - more meat and potatoes type. Pesto and shiitakes are pretty exotic to many around here. Gourmet just doesn't fly.

[BethR]

My family's tastes are not adventurous at all -- as an example, the first time I tasted Chinese cuisine was when I was away at college. Dinners were usually meat, potatoes, and canned veggies and/or fruit. I live pretty far away from my family now, my parents are divorced, and a rarely cook for either of them or my siblings. I'm so glad my husband has adventurous tastes. [And if all else fails, i can usually just throw in some red pepper flakes and he'll like it! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif] I've found most of our friends are pretty open-minded about my low-fat cooking, and seem to genuinely like it. My family is another story -- they regard our true liking of low-fat food as pretty eccentric.

[hsvaughan]

I discovered cooking light when I was in 1996 when I was in high school. I was involved in sports and dance and was concerned about eating healthy. CL opened up a whole new world of cooking in my family, and to be honest we have loved nearly every recipe that we have tried. Now that I am older, my mom is constantly asking for me to share my recipes.

However, now I am 24 and married and my husband does not have very "grown-up" tastes. He has become more receptive to some of the cooking, and promises to try anything at least once, which is very nice. He is very slowly starting to eat more veggies...which is quite an undertaking! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif He is the oldest of 4 boys and I think he just grew up with more "down home comfort foods."

I have found myself taking a lot of CL recipes that are more "traditional" to many in-law family events, and they are popular. Most of the women love the fact that the dishes are healthy, and with most of the men we just don't share the fact that it's healthy...and they like it just the same!

[Gail]

Sometimes I think my sister and I aren't at all related-- besides the fact we look nothing at all alike, she hates cilantro or too much garlic, comments which make my internal computer flash "illogical, illogical." But these were my father's bugaboos as well, so I know where they came from. My mother, on the other hand, shares my love of spicy foreign foods and could easily eat Mexican food every day for the rest of her life. In our world there is no such thing as too much garlic and if a thing holds still more than ten seconds, it is automatically festooned with cilantro. Lest you think my father's or sister's dietary quirks in any way have diminshed their appreciation of my cooking, I'd say the answer is not really. Sometimes they'd surprise themselves by the things they'd end up enjoying.

My mother comes from a family of Cubans, all of whom have millions of teeth, LOVE food and would willingly eat 24 hours a day if given half a chance. I will dine with these people any time. My father's family is a bit less gastronomically adventurous, but still lightyears away from anything I'd call picky.

As for my husband and child, I have been blessed. My husband is the best of taste-testers, appreciating most everything which comes out of the kitchen. And my 10-year-old... to give you an idea of how easy he is to feed, not long ago we had lunch at a gourmet market and he decided to try a pizza topped with rotisserie chicken. When the pizza arrived, for a moment there I thought we were having a typical kid moment. He squinted at the pizza and asked, "What's all this stuff on my pizza?" Someone informed him (pesto with sun-dried tomatoes, I think.) "Okay," he said, shrugging and digging in. Whattaguy! Sometimes I swear he's actually an adult zipped into a kid suit... http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif



[This message has been edited by Gail (edited 12-06-2000).]

[MrsReber]

My whole family is pretty open with their food choices. My sister doesn't really cook, but she does appreciate good home cooked food! I made stuffed shells for Thanksgiving and everyone loved them. We usually all agree on Italian foods (pasta), however, I still won't eat fish and my sister is vegetarian. I think as a whole, Italians tend to be pretty adventurous with things and always looking for new flavors.

Then again, when we were younger, artichokes and tri color tortellini were standard dinner fare, along with lentil soup, cheese blintzes and fondue. Hey, we thought it was normal! Everyone else was eating Kraft mac and cheese and hotdogs!

My husband will eat just about anything. He'll tell me if he doesn't like it, but there's not too much he won't eat. Especially since I do just about all of the cooking- he doesn't have much room to complain.

[carolyn.1]

There are two expressions that my family has regarding my cooking.
Mike says my food is full of weird flavors (wine) and grass clippings (herbs)

My girls:"That must be one of moma's low-fat dishes, look how colorful it is".
this would be like my potato salad with pimentos, green onion, red bell pepper--etc.

My family does not like my cooking--they are still stuck on tons of fatty comfort foods.
Oh well, their loss.
Carolyn--

[venus]

Oh man...I can relate to this one. I grew up on a very limited diet and so I am always trying to push the envelope and try new things. I will eat just about anything once--and might even think it tastes good! I love buying spices, creating new recipes, modifying old ones...like so many people on this board

My parents have some unconventional eating habits. I (affectionately) refer to what they eat as "twigs and berries." They don't eat onions, garlic or mushrooms, and barely ever eat cheese or butter anymore. Mostly their diet is pasta, beans, tofu and various vegetables (it was not this boring when we were growing up--we occasionally got pizza http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif ). Because of this my cooking is seen as incredibly gourmet, even when all I make is alfredo sauce. It's also very restrictive when I try to cook for them--making red sauce without garlic is really hard. And no meat or eggs at all--which drives my husband crazy. The one good thing is that nothing they eat is pre-packaged--so I learned to cook from scratch.

My dear sweet hubby, on the other hand, is incredibly complimentary and accomodating. I think his childhood diet was Jello, ham sandwiches and incredibly rich Italian home cooking. He likes twenty cloves of garlic on everything and 1 lb steaks an inch thick. But he thinks that everything I make is great--he gobbles it up. Sometimes he even asks me to make things again, which make me feel soooo good. I think one of the things we have in common--and with many of our friends is we like to eat and drink wine.

I really have nothing in common with the family I grew up with--but everything in common with my new little family and friends http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Jessica]

These postings remind me of a story.
My husband loves my cooking and is always willing to try new flavor combinations. I made him one of my fave CL pastas--white beans, tomatoes, feta and spinach. He ate it, as always, but did not rave about its deliciousness. Accustomed to praise, I asked what was wrong. He said, "It was kind of spinachy."
I pointed out that it was, indeed, pasta with spinach. He sort of shrugged and nodded and now I make it when he is not home.

[andi]

Yep-much of this sounds familiar! I love so many things out of CL but the rest of my family turns up their noses and makes a sandwich, or, my husband will take the recipe and add all the fat back and get rave reviews.

I also love wine and after taking a wine tasting class know at least a little more than I once did and have "refined" my tastes. We bring a nice bottle of wine to my husband's family and they all turn up their noses and drink Reunite instead....ARgggggg

Wouldn't we all be the best of friends with our tastes????

[BarbaraL]

I'm not sure my husband ate a vegetable (except for potatoes) before he met me. He's definately a meat-and-potatoes guy. I make a CL red pepper soup that everyone loves; my husband says "it's alright." A friend commented "If you want him to like it, float a steak over it." Husband and daughter like my cooking. They like CL dishes, but the meat/poultry ones, like raspberry balsalmic chicken. When I make bean-based dishes (which I love), I usually have lots of leftovers (more for me). Dinner without a slab of meat isn't dinner to them.

[emilycat]

I have truly loved reading every word of this post! I'm sure, by the looks of it, that there will be a lot more responses, but I just had a couple comments...

"combination of adventurous tastes and the trait of being a human grabage disposal, so I can try anything on him!" pmmahan, this is my dad to a T!

I forgot to mention that he frequently raves about what I cook; I've heard the words "Emily, this is the best "sldkfjsd" I've ever had! And I mean it! Wow!" So that always makes me feel great.

And I guess I also forgot about my boyfriend; he always enjoys eating dinner at my place(that could also be because cooking at his house is Ragu and a box of spaghetti)

Also, my oldest younger sister is also pretty adventurous in terms of the types of foods she'll eat, but since she's still recovering from an eating disorder, rarely eats anything prepared by someone else unless she's feeling brave.

Sorry, I've just wanted to rant about this for some time, so please excuse my rambling!



[This message has been edited by emilycat (edited 12-06-2000).]

[Laura]

I think my family (parents and sisters) enjoys when I cook for them but all but one are willing to cook the things I make for them themselves. My kids are split down the middle. My 11 daughter loves pesto, sushi, garlic will try anything. My son, 9 is the processed food king. The interesting thing is when he was a toddler I had a nanny from New Zealand and fed him Marmite (yeast spread native to New Zealand I believe)on toast. That stuff is nasty in my opinion. But he ate it all the time. Go figure.

My fiance and I have very similar tastes and he loves almost everything I cook for him. What a guy! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[kwormann]

How funny.

My mom has no adventure...she cant eat anything spicy and wont try Indian food. I grew up with Kraft Mac and Cheese and CHicken patties w/ frozen veggiew just microwaved (dad traveled full time)

My hubby likes to eat "fun" like me, but grew up eating meat and potatoes in a crockpot..my 17 yr old SIL doesnt like anything I cook for them!

My best friend is Mexican, so she like that kind, but I was so surprised that she doesnt like much else. She also cant understand my liking to cook...she is a Campbells regular. We also wish we could find friends who have our taste in food...

Kim

[This message has been edited by kwormann (edited 12-06-2000).]

[Veronica]

I'm in a kinda-sorta situation. Most of my family loves my cooking and enjoys my more adventurous meals. Depending on the crowd, I sometimes have to keep it to myself that the meal is low-fat, and if my uncle's around, I absolutely cannot reveal that any of my dishes have yogurt in them. He HATES yogurt...when he knows about it.

My husband's family is another story. They are very meat & potatoes and don't like anything that deviates from plain old. This drives me crazy, because I can't stand to eat a lot of meat. I have to keep meals verrrrry simple when they visit. If the visit extends beyond a few days, my taste buds start to dull and beg for mercy.

Fortunately, my husband loves my cooking and has similar tastes to mine. He did drop a bombshell on me last night, though, and I'm not sure how to take it. He said he's cut his meat consumption in half since I've been on the scene. At first I thought this was a compliment, then he expounded on how much he likes meat and wouldn't mind eating more. I was a little irritated but am not about to start feeding him the gobs of meat and fried food he craves. I want him around for many years to come!!

[lanie]

Oh Emily - what a terrific post! I love to cook - always have. I usually try about 2 - 3 new recipes a week - only to meet with 'a taste test', eat a token amount, then - have the real dinner, which, if 'himself' were to plan the meals, would consist of steak and potatoes (with tons of gravy - canned/whatever), nothing green - that's for golfing on (his family actually used to love the inch or so of fat that slides along the side of a steak). My adult children on the other hand, love my cooking - unfortunately, they don't live here any longer.

In actual fact, I really don't give a 'sdifmdk' - I just keep on cooking and love just about every mouthful!

I guess the moral of the story is 'to each his own' and does anyone really care! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif
lanie

[ElinorC]

Lanie,
That's my attitude completely. I've spent 46 years trying to please my husband and children (with moderate success)and now I cook basically the things I like (lots of veggies). My husband likes most of the lowfat food that I cook but if he complains about something I just shrug it off and continue to experiment. He knows it's good for him anyway so he doesn't dare say too much. Cooking Cl recipes has really caused me to try many new things and we've both benefited.

[Norma]

This is a wonderful subject. I don't feel so alone anymore. This is the exact thing that annoys me so much. I dearly love good healthy food and I would be in heaven if I could fix anything that strikes me, but I have to be so careful. Although hubby says he'll eat anything, he really won't. "Anything" must fit into the meat and potato category, I guess. I have so much fun learning about new foods, how to buy them, how to fix them. Then when I serve them, it meets with resistance. What really hurts is when the dog gets it. He won't complain; he'll just leave it on the plate and the dog cleans it up. Don't get me wrong, there's lots of stuff I've made he really likes, but I feel I'm really holding back on what I'd like to do. Just recently I have decided that I'm going to make what I want to make even if I know he won't like it, and then just give him something else that he likes. That would be a warm-up leftover night for him, and a new recipe for me. As for the rest of his family, I never mention the recipe is low fat. It's just one of my recipes.

My husband has absolutely NO INTEREST in cooking/kitchen. The only time he goes into the kitchen is when something needs fixing...leaky faucet, garbage disposal clogged...he's a great fixer; he's a great husband. I kid you not---in between meals he NEVER goes to the refrigerator to see what's in there to eat. I am totally alone with this cooking interest. I have no one to talk to about this except one sister-in-law and I don't see her that often. When I found this board, I found gobs of people who had the exact same interest, and I love it.

Sorry for all the rambling. Now it's off my chest.

[mommywannabe]

I'm lucky to have a hubby (like pmmahan) who is as close to a human garbage disposal as you can get...will eat just about anything (except brussel sprouts & tempeh). We have a number of friends who will eat whatever I cook. Granted, they sometimes look pessimistic, but they eat and usually like it.

As for my family, they're mostly "regular" eaters; not too experimental. I was very touched, though, at Thanksgiving. My Mom made a point to have a brocoli/cheese quiche and non-meat stuffing for me (the only vegetarian in the family). Isn't that sweet http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif My baby sister (she's 20) works at McD's and does eat their food (ew!). She was going to move in with us at Christmas, but has changed her plans so that she and her boyfriend can move at the same time. Hmmm...wonder if my vegetarian cooking could be the real reason??...nah http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[junietoo]

Well, although I have a son who loves to cook and try new tastes, I can't say the same for my husband. This is the man that we once estimates has eaten over a half-ton of Cheerios in his life. We have one cupboard dedicated to canned soup for him. After 27 years, I know what he likes and can make a meal that he will rave about. But you all can guess what that would look like (meat, potatoes and green beans or corn.) And, my daughter is currently a vegetarian, previously a vegan (for 3 years.) My son and I happily eat vegetarian and I can cook up a mean vegan dinner. But, my husband will (good-naturedly) open his soup cupboard and select his main course.

Whatever works, I guess. But I often think about what he must taste when he eats cauliflower curry or even bites into a banana (that he likes with brown spots.) It must be different than what I taste. If I could borrow his taste buds but keep my brain, perhaps I would think "pear" when I bite into an apple. We'll never know -- we can just live with it.

[Heavy sigh.]

[Joyce]

My husband and I are very adventurous eaters. We never go into a restaurant without splitting two dinners, so we each get a chance to try more different things. My 21 yr. old son on the other hand, must have been secretly switched at birth. He eats one item at a time till it is finished, in a counter clockwise pattern on his plate!! He recently started working at the Washington Duke Inn in Durham, NC (a four star restaurant), where they have to taste all the "specials". He came home raving about "rare" items he didn't realize existed, such as snapper, grouper, creme brulee, etc. When I explained that these items had appeared on our table for years, he told me it was my fault for explaining them as "fish for dinner"!!!

[RunnerKim]

I am another fortunate one in that my husband will eat anything - even things he doesn't care for. I've been the limiting factor. His big thing is he likes variety - no problem since we started getting CL in January, we've tried 2-3 new recipes a week and tons of "new" foods. I'll pick out a recipe and he'll say - oh I love such and such food. Sheesh, I'm been depriving him. My mother is just shocked at the foods I'm eating now - used to just eat corn and raw peppers, carrots as veggies.

We've recently moved an no longer live around my in-laws - but their tastes are very meat and potatoes. I was shocked the first time I saw his mom cook broccoli - I almost said something about it being forgotton boiling away on the stove - but no she means to cook it for that long. Any meat served was also well dead. I quickly learned that any earthy breads were not found very tastey. My m-i-l was recently told she needed to alter her diet to manage her cholesterol and she felt she couldn't eat anything! I've been sharing recipes with her but I have to carefully screen out any with "weird" ingredients - which sad to say is most.

Kim

[lsdesign]

I have read through this whole thread and have found it interesting. A few years ago there was a series of programs on PBS that dealt with the human senses. I learned that there are some people who are "Super Tasters" and actually have more taste buds than most humans. If this is true everyone who has posted a reply here must bave more taste buds than extended family. In general though, I think that most people understand food similarly to how they view other areas in their life. They generally like to go with things they feel comfortable with.

[CrystalB]

I have really enjoyed reading everyone's responses to this poll. I only wish we were all neighbors! I have always been a food "trier" and have naturally graviated towards light cooking. My SO is not a "trier" and I feel like I am constantly making him try new things (he's liked them all except for sushi&brie!). I wish he enjoyed a wider range of foods. He actually enjoys eating healthy so that is a huge plus. My family will try anything I make (and love it) as long as they do not know it's light.
Lorilei- I'll share the caviar with you! I'll bring the Champagne!

[lsdesign]

Yes, a pity we can't all be friends. I have just move to NH and have left behind my foodie friends in KY of all places. I long to talk food and make it with real humans.

[NydiaC]

This has been a big frustration of mine for a long time. I LOVE to cook, especially since I discovered CL in 1999. My BF is very meat and potatoes and doesn't like anything sweet anywhere on or near his meat, and doesn't like a lot of sour like vinegar, kalamata olives (he does like saurkraut oddly enough). That limits my cooking considerably. I love ALL this stuff.

This begs the question, for those of you who deal with picky eaters, what do you cook? Do you cook 3 different meals each night, do you take turns with meals each night and alternate those you like with those they like (and they eat it anyway or make their own dinner), or do you only cook what you like (i.e., the weird stuff) when they are gone?

[BethH]

I couldn't agree more! I love to eat, cook, drink and just enjoy life.

I think I might have been switched at birth because my tastes are so different from my family! I grew up on hot dogs and Kraft Mac and cheese (and honestly, still love the mac and cheese) but now am always looking to try new things and am considered very 'adventurous'.

My SO is very wonderful and will eat anything I make and will usually love--he'll still eat it,actually, even if he doesn't like it. He told me that he had never liked vegetables until he met me.

His parents love the finer things in life but think for food to be good--it must be drenched in butter and cream. SO always says, 'if only my parents could taste this dinner, they would believe me when I say your light cooking is good' I wonder if they think I'm starving their son or something?

Super thread idea! Sounds like we are all long lost sisters!