Monday, November 16, 2009

Sweet Tooth

I know I'm completely ungrateful and probably pretty rude for posting this, but I just don't care. It got under my skin and now it's all that comes to mind when I want to write.


For those of you who don't know, I'm a salt fanatic. I crave potato chips and french onion soup. I love it so much that when I get fries I douse them liberally with additional salt then smash them into the piles of salt left on my tray just so that my sodium tooth is sated. When I was little my mom would serve dinner and before I even tasted it I'd pick up the shaker and make a little white Christmas on my plate. I never understood why this hurt her feelings...until last night.

I was invited over to the home of a very awesome new couple. We'd had a few previous chats where I mentioned my love of baking. Being a guest, I asked the wife what I could bring to dinner. Being the gracious hostess she suggested I bring dessert.

Love that.

All week I thought about what I would make. Right now we are dead smack in the middle of packing and moving, so something elaborate was out. Knowing that pears are still pretty great this time of year, I settled on this harvest pear crisp from the current BA. I knew it probably wasn't going to blow anyone's mind, but it would be good, fast and easy. Just what the doctor ordered.

I prepped it ahead of time and just when we walked in the door I popped it in the oven. 50 minutes later I pulled it out of the oven and admired how bubbly and delicious it looked.

Well.


The wife took one look, turned to me with a truly pained look and said, "I don't like fruit"


?!?!?!?!?

Are you kidding me? It was about 12 degrees and snowy outside last night and you're turning down warm, bubbly fruit crisp topped with vanilla ice cream? Are you nuts? But then I thought, oh well, I should have asked. Some people don't like fruit desserts...that's alright.


I scooped us up 3 bowls, one for me, one for the ear doctor and one for the husband. As I set the warm delicious goodness down in front of the husband he looked at it, got up, went to the fridge to get HERSEY'S SYRUP and proceeded to drown my dessert in the stuff. He didn't even TRY it without the cheap topping.


After this experience I have 2 thoughts: 1) only make these people chocolate cake from a box and 2) apologize to my mom for salting before tasting.

24 comments:

Morgan said...

Oh, I'm sorry, Katie! That would be really frustrating. Your pear crisp sounds delicious. You can bring it over to my house any day. :)

My husband does the salt thing. Before he even tries something he'll get up and get the salt grinder. Ugh! I always tell him, "you haven't even tasted it." Oh well, I've come to terms with the fact that it's just how he is and it isn't anything personal against my cooking. :) Although, the times he doesn't salt his food I know he REALLY likes it.

Erin said...

Wow! Seriously. On the one hand, I really just don't like baked fruit desserts. I have some weird food aversions, I know this... But if someone went through the trouble of making it and bringing it to my house I would at least take a small piece and try it. And I don't think it would even occur to me to put chocolate sauce on it.

sam said...

That is unbelievable! I've heard of people not liking chocolate (or being allergic to it) but NEVER fruit! I guess everyone has their weird food issues. It's funny that you should make that because we watched a British chef make one last night on telly. :)

As for the salting before tasting, my husband's entire family does that so I'm pretty used to it now.

Lady Susan said...

This blows my mind. Not like fruit?!! That is a whole freakin' food group! (and if you seriously don't eat an entire food group, you should mention that to anyone bringing food to your house.) And then putting Hersey's syrup on pear crisp, without even tasting it......The travesty! How insulting.

Agree. These people are obviously not worth your culinary efforts. They just don't know how to appreciate a good thing.

On a side note, how did you like the recipe? Something I should clip?

Katie said...

Lady Susan-

The recipe was AWESOME! Don't be tempted to remove the crystallized ginger as I was because it makes all the difference.

I also just used slivered almonds instead of taking the time to cut them myself. Raw probably would have been more flavorful...

Kari said...

Maybe you should have brought her a bottle of vitamin C...If she doesn't like fruit, I hope she doesn't get scurvy!!
That recipe sounds awesome.
Hope you took home the leftovers

Megan said...

Um, wow. That's crazy. I hate Coconut, but if somebody went through the trouble to make a coconut pie and bring it to my house, you bet your boots I'd eat a slice and thank them for their hard work.

How does somebody not like fruit though? For real? I mean that goes across the board from bananas to passionfruit? How sad for her.

And chocolate sauce? Hershey's chocolate nasty sauce no less?

Katie. a great injustice has been committed against you. I am horrified on your behalf.

Mrs. Architect said...

Aww, I can totally appreciate everything you felt. I'm sorry sweetie! You can make me a harvest pear crisp anyday, and I'll devour the whole thing!

Robyn said...

Too strange! I also cannot imagine adding chocolate syrup to pear crisp! I like mine with warm custard! Mmmm. And I'm a huge chocolate person but shunning all fruit is just sad. At least you got to enjoy dinner with them before having to go through that.

Mindy said...

He could have at least said something like, "I love pear crisp, but I love it even more with chocolate syrup. Would anyone else like to try it?"

That Might have made me feel a little better.

SeƱora H-B said...

Ugh, how rude. Even my SUPER picky husband would have tried it or at least just said "No, thank you, I'm watching my weight".

Speaking of pickiness: my husband will not eat rice. He HATES the texture. It is so bizarre.

Janssen said...

Okay, I am HORRIFIED by that story. Also, the thought of chocolate syrup (especially such nasty/plasticy/disgusting syrup) on pear crisp makes me a bit ill.

MarjnHomer said...

this sounds like my house. the men in our house love everything with lots of salt. me i could go without it. it hurts me a lot when i cooked all day and they have the nerve to add more salt. one day imma blow up over it

Anonymous said...

I agree with the above comments about the dessert. Abt. salt; I met a guy that was a connisseur of different kinds of salt. Said they gave a different flavor to the food. He had salt from all over the world...even some from Richfield Utah.
grandma jane

MrsEm said...

Ugh. I met a guy recently who claimed to be allergic to all fresh fruits and vegetables...can you imagine having him over for dinner?

This is actually why I gave up on being vegetarian - didn't want to be rude at parties. Now, if someone made it for me, you bet I'll be eating it. Manners people!

Katharina said...

Some people were obviously born in a barn...I'm so sorry that happened to you.

I slaved over a from-scratch cranberry pecan pie one Thanksgiving. One of my guests went over to my fridge and hauled out the homemade hot fudge sauce. After her third ladle full of sauce slopped over my gorgeous pie, I put the stupid jar away myself {somewhat savagely, I might add}.

Becca said...

what the flagnard? Seriously, I was raised that you eat it even if you are barfing on the inside of your mouth. If someone makes something for you, you eat it. No questions, no complaints. And just for the record, I love fruit.

Stephanie said...

I'm sorry that happened to you! I would have been more upset about the chocolate syrup than the not eating fruit part. My Dh has a total aversion to all cooked fruit so I guess I'm used to that one. :-)

TRS said...

Mr Burns is like you with the salt. (Must have an iron deficiency!!)

I've pointed out to him that it's rude to salt without tasting but he says he likes salt so much... and he KNOWS nothing is ever salted to his taste... so why should he take a bite that won't be satisfactory? (I guess if it's in a restaurant and the chef can't see you salting, then go ahead)

I don't mind if he salts what I cook -since I probably would never think to use that much salt- but if he did it as a guest at someone's home I would be mortified!!

That said... what the heck with those two?!?!? Don't like fruit? Weirdos! And I wouldn't think of putting chocolate on pear crisp.
At the bare minimum he should have had a bite and said, "Wow, I bet this would be great with chocolate." before dashing to the fridge!!

But... I can't agree with Megs /\ I don't like coconut... EVER - the flavor OR the consistancy - so at best, I would eat around the coconut (ie - german chocolate cake - why make that fantastic cake then ruin it with coconut? I'll never understand!)
I've learned to say, "No thank you, I don't ENJOY coconut." People are less offended if it's clear there is no way you can enjoy it. Otherwise they think you just haven't had it their wonderful way yet. Bleh.

By the way, how do you feel about someone eating around something they don't like?
I didn't appreciate cherries until my 30s - and when my college boyfriend's mom served some weird cherry thing, I just ate around the cherries and she said that was rude.
But she would have thought it was rude if I didn't try it either... so what do you do??
I think it's far more rude to make a face when you eat something you don't like... and I can't help what my face looks like when there is something horrid in my mouth!!!

Jeanelle said...

I am just barely a fruit eater (it's a texture thing) and I rarely if ever add salt to anything. I just think it was horribly poor manners and actually, very immature. You have to at least try it before you can say you hate it. If it was a food allergy then okay but that's the only reason you wouldn't try at least a few bites.

Carina said...

This kind of thing happens to me all the time, and it drives me BONKERS.

WHO CARES if you don't like fruit. Choke down three bites. Vomit it after they leave if you have to.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Nemesis said...

Seriously. What Azucar just said. And here's the thing--if you are picky eaters then why in the WORLD would you ask someone else to bring dessert? Why not something simple like drinks or bread or maybe ice cream to go with the dessert of YOUR choosing?

Jessica said...

I usually pretty much lurk about on your blog (hello!) but read this and felt I had to chime in. People never cease to amaze me. She asked you to bring something, right? Then why not give you guidelines if your hosts are so persnickety? I've said nothing different than those above, but there you have it! Pear on, girl! There is nothing like a yummy fruit dessert.

Anonymous said...

You have been a victim of bad manners! Forget even making a box cake, you should have just taken a package of Twinkies to split four ways.
My dad did the "salt the food prior to even tasting it" maneuver for years, IRRITATING. He has since been diagnosed with high blood pressure and had a stint placed in an artery. He's living salt-free now and says he doesn't know why he salted everything for so long?