Chatty, I believe that hugs and physical affection are WAY too under-used in this day and time. Good for you, showing that to your in-laws anyway. The fact that they started hugging you back showed that you made a good impact in their lives.

Way to go!

Whirlwind

Yes Whirlwind and my MIL also started using different seasonings in her cooking. She liked the taste of mine and it was fun teaching her. My Eddie was the baby of his family and his mom was in her late 50's when we married, they came from the old country so she never learned anything but meat and potatoes and all with just salt/pepper and very bland!

I don't really cook for anyone except my partner if he and I share cooking for that meal (we just do whatever seems right that day)...but I am curious to know if I am imagining things...

Some women are incredibly picky eaters. And I'm not talking about being vegetarian or not eating certain things for religious reasons. And it's not diet reasons. My partner's daughter doesn't like: any root vegetables no matter how they are done (ie. squash, celery root, beets, etc.), mushrooms, certain green vegetables... It's actually abit annoying, almost childish to me when we must plan a menu for a special occasion now.

And she's not that young anymore. 30. She will eat sushi, sashimi, certain curries, black olives, strong French cheeses, tofu, etc. So she is not conservative in her palate.

I come from a family where women in our family will eat alot of different things and I'm referring to reasonably health stuff.

yea, I know I'm whining.

We ate such a variety of delicious foods growing up. My mother had one strict rule, you ate whatever she put before you or you wrent hungry. None of this, I don't like it, (whiinnee) before ever tasting it. I pretty much did the same with my boys and they eat anything and everything. Both my husbands were the same way and that made cooking a joy in my homes.

orchid, I don't do olives or blue cheese, but I'll eat anything you put in front of me. I love eating what others have created.

orchid, in our house we call them "grown-up taste buds." But by the time you're 30, you should have them. One of our sons doesn't like tomatoes. We tease him and tell him, "One day you'll get your grown-up taste buds and you'll love them."

I'm going to start a post in the Remember forum about dinners when we were kids.

I haven't met someone who didn't like tomatoes yet.

Depends what the child is fed over time. I could never forget sitting in a cafe by a waterfront park area...and watching 2 Caucasian women look creeped out as they were walking by, when they saw an Asian mom feed her 2-3 yr. daughter some sushi. Daughter munched happily along. I mean really, I bet that sushi rice was only lightly flavoured with rice vinegar. And highly doubtful the mother would feed the child straight raw fish at that age.

Same for children eating curried dishes. Moms from those cultural backgrounds, slowly build that strength of those flavours over time, but they do start the children young.

Same for eating tiny cubes tofu -either uncooked or cooked for a child. Not a big deal...Straight tofu...has no flavour!

When one goes to a Chinese banquet, children are there. There is NO children's menu at all at any of these events. Never. Forget it. Think about it, no Chinese restaurant has a children's menu. Maybe children-sized portions only. (Chinese are practical and cost conscious for these lavish-looking, multi-course banquets.) The children get to try all kinds of stuff...especially the seafood dishes if their parents couldn't afford to buy it for home cooking. Usually it is at the discretion of the parents to know any food limits of child, and they will bring along the Cheerios. But there is always something for a child...even if it's only rice and veggies.

It's actually.....alot of fun for children at these celebatory banquets to try. And this is how my palate got extended and adventurous within the Chinese cuisine in addition to my mother's more tamer Chinese cooking style at home.

And yes, children did have shark's fin soup, etc.

I can't imagine sushi, rice being any worse than feeding a tiny one on a diet of Big Mac's and fries, and cakes and cookies galore. I wonder which child would get a better start in life, the fish eating child or the fast food gobbling babies.

I don't think there's any question: the sushi kids have the advantage nutritionally. Sushi is rice, vegetables, maybe a little fish, and the wrappers are made of dried seaweed. Fast food is deep-fried starch and grease, meat and no veggies.

All the other major cultures feature lots of vegetables and small portions of meat or fish. We go for big meat and very few vegetables -- or vegetables like potatoes. It's no wonder so many of our kids grow up with such limited palates; we start them out on fast food right away.