I'm a sucker for those free food samples that they give out in the grocery store. Last week I was pulled in by a hummus sample station over by the deli of the local Giant Eagle. It was their store brand, Market District, and contained pureed chickpeas flavored by only a little olive oil and lemon. Add on the fluffy pita bread they had handy to dip into the hummus and I was hooked.

 

I also like falafel, which is basically "meat" balls made from chickpeas, so it wasn't much of a surprises when I got hooked on hummus. I made it all of the way home before deciding to turn around and return to the store to purchase a container of the dip. Of course my husband won't touch it, but that just means that there's more for me!

I was once a picky eater. Ask my parents and they'll tell you all about how I used to eat pizza (no toppings, no cheese, wipe off most of the sauce) and the school year I survived on mac n cheese and balogna sandwiches (first grade.)

The pickiness lasted until I was in college. I was overwhelmed with choices during my first trip Ashland University's cafeteria (a.k.a. Convo.) There was so much to pick from -- I could've had everything from cereal to a deli sandwich, from spaghetti to whatever they were serving in the "hot" food sections. My horizons widened a bit.

Then, during my senior year of college I met my (now) husband, and his father, who convinced me that everything edible was worth trying at least once. After all, how could I say that I didn't like something that I had never tried? This led me to discover that I like corned beef hash, guacamole, broccoli, asparagus, tamales, gyro's, Chinese food, chili dogs, and a HUGE number of other things. In fact, the only thing that I haven't liked are clams and liver. Although I do adore clam chowder, and the taste of the liver was good, it was just the texture that I couldn't get over.

Now, there isn't a food on Earth that I won't try. And this is where I'm going to record it all.