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I grew up in Small Town, Nebraska, feeling sheltered by the 'safety' of it all. When I moved to Big City, Nebraska, I felt like the world was my oyster. However, I soon felt like there was much more for me Out There... I moved to Chicago, thinking I was done with this 'little' state. It took living in a true big city to realize that Lincoln is just an oversized small town... and it's where I belong! I'm blessed to have a wonderful husband who understands me and all my oddities. My kids are young enough to still think I'm cool. Beyond that, who cares, right?

Monday, September 26, 2011

To bite an apple…

What is it about certain foods that makes them more appealing than others? More specifically, if a Gala apple tastes similar to a Red Delicious apple, why do some people prefer the Red Delicious? or the Gala? I know, for me, it’s the act of biting into the apple—especially that first bite. When I bite into a Red Delicious apple and there’s an audible *crack* as the skin breaks and juice springs forth… oh man, there is nothing like that! And likewise, there’s nothing so disappointing as biting into an old Red Delicious, or perhaps some other variety of apple, expecting that crack and juice, and finding it to be soft and mealy. Ugh! I know other people have tossed an apple after one bad bite like that, and I’ll admit, I’ve done it a few times as well. Blech! Now, if you go and just cut slices of that apple off the core and eat them as “apple chips” (as my kids call them), they’re still tasty and that mushy apple can be salvaged. But if you’ve got your heart set on the tactile pleasure of biting into a crisp apple, being let down can actually ruin the whole experience for you. At least, that’s been my experience.

I think I was in my early 20’s when I had someone explain to me that I am a tactile eater. Basically, if I understand that correctly, it means I like or dislike foods based as much on the texture and feel of the food as the taste. Some great examples I can think of are radishes and celery (again, they’re crisp when you bite into them, almost to the point of making that *crack* sound), nuts in ANYthing (ice cream, breads, cakes, cookies) are a good idea, ice cream with chunks of stuff (chocolate chips, bits of coconut, etc.), grease-soaked French fries over the crisp ones (I know this seems like the opposite of the trend I’ve set with other foods, but something about the texture of those greasy fries is so much more appealing to me than the crisp ones). I’ll always choose a candy bar with stuff in it over the non-crunchy variety: Hershey’s with almonds instead of the plain milk chocolate; Snickers instead of Milky Way; Crunch bars, Twix, Mr. Goodbar; Almond Joy over Mounds (though I do like dark chocolate, so I miss out on that by choosing the crunch of Almond Joy). My absolute favorite candy is Cinnamon Imperials/Red Hots. Those are some crunchy candies! I like Hot Tamales, too, but I prefer the crunch of Red Hots.

Anyone else out there a tactile eater? What else gets you excited about food?

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