growing up

You know how adults say to kids about nasty vegetables, "You'll like that when you're older. It's an acquired taste"? It has been true for me for some things. For example, I no longer despise gailan. It's not my favorite, but it's bearable, especially with some oyster sauce.

I still don't like brussel sprouts, but maybe I'm emotionally scarred from the Christmas that I got a stocking full of them. Was I bad that year??

Last week, I thought I would get all experimental and try this unknown vegetable. It might be mustard greens. I got around to steaming it last night. I tasted one small piece and found it to be a little zesty and not quite what I would buy again, but I kept on eating. It became progressively more offensive. By the third or fourth mouthful, I felt like gagging. By the fifth mouthful, I wanted to throw up. I rinsed out my mouth so I could get the horrible mustard taste out and still felt vaguely like gagging. Ugh!

The sad thing is that I still can't bring myself to throw the rest of it away. I hang onto this bizarre hope that someone will come to my door and profess their need for offensive tasting vegetables and I'll be able to give it to them and save myself from having to waste food. The clock is ticking. This vegetable won't last forever.