We have peculiar tastes

I wonder why I like pecan pie and the next person doesn't? Or they like raison pie or mincemeat pie and I don't? Is it the taste or the texture? Probably both to be honest. It might also be the sight. I've looked at some pies and thought I'm not even going to try it. Nope, no way.

Growing up, most of the women were bakers as was Mom. Mom could really cook. Her chicken and noodles were just the best you could eat. Most of the time for me what is called chicken and noodles is really chicken and dumplings because the noodles are fat and doughy. Mom made her noodles from scratch and rolled them out paper thin and then sliced them narrow, really narrow. Mom believed that when you make chicken "whatever" it needed chicken so she put plenty of chicken in it. Mom usually used an old hen she picked out herself in the chicken yard. If Mom made chicken and dumplings, she first made chicken and noodles then put globs of dough on top that was the dumplings. Well anyway, back to baking.

The ladies would make chocolate cake, and I just couldn't eat cake all by itself. Maybe the texture or it being dry, but I just couldn't do it, so I'd put gravy over it. Might be brown gravy or milk gravy, but that gravy just added to the taste and it became good. My favorite gravy over chocolate cake was the brown gravy off a beef roast. It might have looked strange, but even back then I wasn't real worried about what others thought. Maybe it was too chocolatey. Don't know. Kind of like ice cream, I like french fries or potato chips with ice cream. Just adds to the taste.

Kind of like gravy. I don't like real thick gravy. I really prefer runny gravy over a thick one. Even when we have biscuits and gravy, I like the gravy a little runny. Same with mashed potatoes, I prefer runny mashed potatoes over real thick dry mashed potatoes. And if they are thick, I'll add enough butter to make them runny. Even add milk if there is any to kind of thin them down. Same with a baked potato. I have a hard time eating a dry baked potato. Add butter and maybe some sour cream, and it tranforms it into something pretty good. Cheese doesn't hurt and bacon bits!

Come to think of it maybe age has something to do with it as well. The older I get, the less I'm worried about what others think. I like my hair short, so Marge cuts it short. I like bibs, so if bibs don't work for you I probably won't show up. Probably even our garden is a reflection of Marge's and my age. We grow stuff we like and really don't worry about the rest. For years we grew for the Farmer's Market so we were growing to please others. Now we grow for ourselves.

We both like white eggplant. Several years ago the only eggplant in Chaffee, Missouri, were white ones. Best thing we ever bought. So now we grow white eggplant for us. We both like bell peppers and sweet onions in most things Marge cooks, so we grow a ton of bell peppers and sweet onions and freeze them for next winter. We both really enjoy small new potatoes so we grow potatoes and use up a bunch of them as new potatoes. New potatoes boiled then served with a little butter over them is awesome.

But then we each have a personal liking about the books of the Bible. Many prefer the Psalms, while some prefer Proverbs. I've always been fond of Romans and Hebrews. Some are fond of Revelations, but I have never been. Each to his own.

The key is to allow others the freedom to have their own preferences without forcing our preferences on others. Freedom is precious. Freedom to worship, freedom to be different or the freedom to express our opinions.