Blah-Ta-To

After Monday’s political-style posting, I thought it might be best to do a more light-hearted blog entry. Many of you know that I have some weird tastes when it comes to food – like despising the taste of ham, even though I like bacon and pork (but not Canadian bacon, because that tastes too much like ham). I figured I’d throw another one of my weird nuances at you.

Being a descendant of Germans (both parents are German), one would probably surmise (big word, yeah me!) that I would love all things German. I mean, I love beer, all kinds of beer for that matter. No doubt that Bratwurst, Wiener Schnitzel, and Sauerbraten are at the top of my list of favorite. Heck, I even have a Heino box set (look him up), AND have worn Lederhosen.

However, for one reason or another, I’m not a huge fan of potatoes. Sure, I love potato chips, and the stringy French fries, but other forms of potatoes are not my thing. I’m not sure if it is the texture that I don’t like, or maybe the bland taste, but if I had a choice, I’d much rather have noodles over potatoes.

I’ve begun eating more baked potatoes in recent years (probably thanks to my wife), but to be honest, I need to add lots of butter in order to make them taste good. My mom apparently makes a killer German potato salad that everyone raves about, but even though it is chocked full of bacon, I still find it gross. German dumplings are supposed to be out of this world, but it’s hard for me to stomach even half of a dumpling.

At one time, I loved mashed potatoes. For some reason, my mom stopped making them for a few years. When she started up with them again, I lost my taste for them. It was like when the producers of the Dukes of Hazzard replaced Bo and Luke with cousins (because of a contract dispute). When Bo and Luke finally made their return, nobody really cared. That’s the way it was with me. I got so hooked on noodles, specifically elbow macaronis, that I could no longer imagine having anything else with my mom’s dinners (usually some sort of meat with gravy).

Man, I wish I liked potatoes – everybody loves them. There are so many recipes for food that include potatoes, it would be great to not be limited by this. Heck, I even eat around potatoes when they are included in soup. I get upset with diners that only offer hash-browns as a side (as I’ve blogged before, I wish they would give more options, darn-it!). Why, why, why??? I like weird foods like Liverwurst and pickled Herring – why can’t I “trade” the liking of one of these foods with the liking of potatoes? It would make life so much simpler.

Two things about this post. First, I told you it would be light-hearted. Second, any of you guys hate a food that most people like? (BTW – I have a friend who absolutely HATES ketchup – I thought that was weird, but who am I to talk?)