Joining The Tasty Club

Growing up there were several rules about eating food in our home.
   First, we never let food go to waste. Every week there was at least one night where we would break out the left overs, fight over the most scrumptious offerings and devour our favorite foods to our hearts content. But it didn't stop there! On the rare occasion that mom burned the bread, it never went in the trash. We'd rip it up, put it in bowls and pour milk over the top. Sometimes we'd even get to do that with burnt cookies! And I must admit there may have been a time or two when I adjusted the timer on the oven so that the cookies were just overcooked enough that they couldn't go to the neighbors and instead landed in my bowl of milk! YES! 
   Second, you ate what was on your plate and don't even think about throwing it away. This rule is best described with the following two stories. 
   Now I hate cooked peas. Fresh out of the garden they are just fine but cooked? Most definitely not, the texture is just wrong and the taste... terrible! Growing up I remember several occasions sitting at the dinner table and staring down at a bowl of pea soup. I would fish out the pieces of ham and then sit and contemplate what to do with the rest of it. And at a very early age it hit me! I was very good at throwing things up (insert the sound of wicked child laughter). So I would gag and choke and throw up that nasty pea soup right on the table! But then my mother did something quite unexpected. She cleaned up the mess, sat me back down at the table and got me a brand new bowl of pea soup! and this time there was more in the bowl.... well played mom, well played. Over the years I developed many ways to get out of eating my pea soup, or oatmeal or whatever it was that day. Not the least of which included spooning stuff onto my little brothers plates when no one was paying attention. But one day my dad caught on to all the scheming but, thankfully, it wasn't me who got caught. 
   My dear little brother Craig seriously does not like green peppers. Needless to say he was as good at 'eating' green peppers as I was at 'eating' oatmeal. One day Craig had managed to wrap some of his green peppers into his napkin and announcing that he was done eating, made a hasty retreat from the table, with his napkin making its way into the trash. But Craig had 'finished' his food to fast for someone who was usually left sitting at the table a half hour later, trying to gulp down bits of green pepper while pinching his nose. My dad looked around the area and then declared that Craig go back to the trash can, get his napkin and come back to the table. Ohhh Nooooo. As usual he was sitting there a half hour later eating his green peppers and never again did we attempt any scheming that might result in eating our food out of the trash!
   And then one day rule number three appeared. I don't remember the situation or what food was involved but my dad announced that we all needed to be part of the tasty club and at least try every thing before we declaring that it was a hazard to our health. Ever since then the words 'you need to be part of the tasty club' are regularly uttered within the walls of our home. And as I have gotten older and wiser, and went to college and now have a family of my own, I understand the wisdom of these words. My goodness have I missed out on some of the amazing foods the world has to offer by not being willing to try them!
   Recently I have really taken these words to heart and branched out as much as possible and I plan to use this blog as a way to share those amazing foods/recipes with all of you!  I would never have thought about blogging but over the last month my husband and I have started participating in a food co-op called Bountiful Baskets. We love it! But each week we inevitably end up with veggies that I don't like and sometimes veggies I've never ever seen before! So I found myself scouring the internet each Saturday for new recipes to use the produce we received and boy! we have had some awesome stuff!
   My husband, Spencer, then suggested that there were probably tons of people out there in the same situation as us, with fruits and veggies they don't like or don't know how to cook. So why not create a blog to share all those wonderful recipes we discover and talk about our adventures trying new thing!  So come join my Tasty Club and discover all those amazing things that you have been missing and some new ways to spice up those things you already love!