I read recently that your tastebuds change thoughout childhood so bitter things really DO taste more bitter, etc. It explains kids so often hating broccoli and adults losing much of the taste for candy.

I definitely believe this (though I still like candy, FWIW, especially those little ones in the strawberry wrappers that are hard on the outside and squishy in the middle). A lot of the foods I most loathed as a child are favorites now--e.g. chili. Though I think the key to my learning to like vegetables was getting to eat them in preparations other than those traditional to the Deep South (cook 'em to mush, add bacon fat).

phrases that you remember from the old articles, or things that remind you of Jilli?

I think a shirt (lunchbox, too, maybe?) that said "Gothic Charm School: Because friends don't let friends dress like the Crow" would be fantastic.

Rotello is a brand of diced tomatoes with chiles, and maybe some other seasonings (I can't remember). It comes in various heat levels.

But what's Rotello?

It's like a can of tomato and peppers that adds some spice to stuff without taking time to prepare vegtables. It's a shortcut for adding some spice and extra veggies.

Probably my only vegetable nourishment to speak of for years.

I spent way too long living on carrot sticks. And corn.

The odd part about my childhood pickiness -- which involves some deep aversions akin to ita vs. eggs, but also bad raising in the form of getting away with very limited choices -- was that I was 30 before I realized that my dad is really bad about eating vegetables himself. I honestly thought that we were eating a grand total of two veg for all those years because my dad was mistakenly catering to my tastes. Nope -- he didn't like them enough to bother with them until he married a foodie.

Any mixture of ground beef, onions, macaroni, and tomato products revives wretched memories of the childhood dish "slumgullion" (etomology unknown). I think I would be physically ill if confronted with such today.

In my defense, I am sensitive to the acids in fresh tomatoes, to the point where I get acid burns. It has be fairly well processed before I can tolerate it.

Any mixture of ground beef, onions, macaroni, and tomato products

This makes me think of this cheeseburger-macaroni stuff the hospital MADE me eat in the recovery room after birthing K-Bug. They said I wouldn't be allowed out of recovery until I ate most of it. My family - they had deserted me to go to Denny's.

To this day, I can't do anything with cheese, meat, and noodles smooshed together. Nope.

Frozen peas are a wonder. I eat them frozen. I also use them as ice packs.

Now I am hungry and I already had oatmeal. A bunch of oatmeal. I should be full.

Instead my arteries are all clear and happily getting blood to my brain so I can fully realize I want some real food. Preferably with bacon.

It's Ro-Tel. A classic.

I read somewhere that a kid needs to try a new dish multiple times (10?) before liking it. This seems to have been true with my kids -- neither liked asparagus when it was first introduced, but they've both become asparagus fiends over the years.

"slumgullion" (etomology unknown)

I believe it's related to 19th-century mining. I know there's a canyon in Colorado by that name.