I liked food a lot more once I realized that my grandmother and my mother were horrible cooks. In very different ways. My grandma was the main cook and she lived through the depression and hated cooking. Plus we were poor and my grandpa was Archie Bunker in his detestation of any ethnic food, though mostly Italian. My mother could follow a recipe but could and cannot put together a menu, and she over cooks everything. My family also are a lot of things like potato flakes, minute rice, etc.

Oh, my family is exactly the same! I was a picky eater as a kid (okay, I still am) but I was also a sickly child, and I think my family was just so glad when I'd eat ANYthing that they let me eat whatever I wanted and didn't try to force anything. There wasn't much need for a "just try one bite" policy, because we never cooked anything new, so by the time I was 5 I knew what all the food tasted like. Vegetables were gross because they were cooked into mush. I don't think we ever had a salad with dinner until I was older and my mom discovered these new dinners. Spaghetti with a "boughten" roll and a side salad then became popular in our house. I never knew until I moved to NJ that we weren't eating a proper spaghetti sauce, it was some kind of meaty sauce mom made up. Which is probably why I liked it; I wouldn't eat the pasta if I didn't have enough meat sauce to go on it.

I am still not very adventurous regarding food, and I don't have a wide range of tastes that I like. I've tried most all types of "ethnic" food and have found a couple dishes I like well enough in each, which allows me to go to restaurants my friends like without making a fuss of myself, but it's not something I'd choose on my own. I'd eat steak and potatoes every night if I could. Sorry, all my foodie friends. I've never even eaten a muffaletta.

(If they're in my hot dogs, just hush, please).

Eat kosher hot dogs and bologna.

Is there another word for "ethnic" food that I wouldn't have to put in quote marks?

(If they're in my hot dogs, just hush, please).

Eat kosher hot dogs and bologna.

Oh, I actually LIKE that hot dogs & chicken nuggets use more of the animal than would otherwise be usable - I just don't want to know any detail. And seriously, if I could unsee the beef lips... shudder.

If I'd known what lamb fries were before tasting them, I doubt I would've been willing to. They're...surprisingly like chicken nuggets, though with a softer, less meaty texture.

Is there another word for "ethnic" food that I wouldn't have to put in quote marks?

International? Or, just specify the ethnicities in question -- Greek food and Peruvian food are pretty different.

This conversation reminds me of how ita teased me once because I freaked out about eating goat."How is that different from the meat you eat?" she asked. Still can't explain why it felt different, but I'm thinking of eating some in tribute.Either I'll think it's great, and she'd like being right, or possibly, my discomfort would be amusing. I hope it's not like deer, though. do not like. I asked my mom the other day if I tell them why, would some restaurant give a sample of goat? Cause it would be like me to order it with good intentions and end up with a leftover nobody wants.

Kids vs. Food: Cow Tongue

In the latest one, they had the kids eat escargot.

If you've got Indian Buffet anywhere near you - that was how I sampled goat. (I'm not a fan) But then still had lovely chicken tikka and some kind of curry, so no loss.

I was a super picky kid (who has grown into a more adventurous eater as an adult, of course) so it's not so much that I'm worried Rose will eat nothing but PB&Js for the rest of her life. But I remember some epic battles over food with my mom when I was a kid, which I really want to avoid with my own kids, so more than anything, my goal is for all of us to be fairly relaxed about food. The Ellyn Satter approach works pretty well for us so far.