It’s Not What You Eat, It’s How You Eat It.

People have some strange eating habits. Well, some things are not so strange, but folks can’t seem to eat certain things unless those things are prepared or served a certain way. Example: ketchup. Some people can’t eat eggs or potatoes or whatever without ketchup. They won’t even try the food without the salty condiment. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a lover of ketchup, but if ketchup is not offered or available I will make do without. Like French fries – I’ll eat them, but sooooooo much better with ketchup.

And speaking of French fries, how do you eat yours? I never even thought about how I eat my fries until someone sitting next to me said, “that’s how I eat my fries, too.” Say what? How can there be more than one way to eat fries? “I eat them one at a time,” she said. “My sister grabs a handful and stuffs them all in at once.” Hmmm. I never even considered eating more than one fry at a time. Dipped in ketchup of course.

Now, I know we’ve all had those discussions about the correct way to eat an ear of corn; round and round, or end to end. I’m an end to end girl, but apparently, round and round is the more popular way. Who knew? And ice cream cones – same thing. Do you lick up and down or round and round? Me? I do both, depending on how fast it’s melting.

And then there’s the dilemma with meat; cut it all up into bite-sized pieces at once before enjoying, or cut one piece at a time and savor before cutting another? Is there some kind of rule about this? In “polite company” do you just observe what others do and follow their lead? I usually cut a few pieces, set my knife down, enjoy what I’ve cut, then repeat. Am I doing it wrong?

Pizza eating is another awkward defining moment in a person’s life. Fold it in half and stuff it in or try to finagle the wilty pointy end in your mouth before stuff starts sliding off? Or, gasp, cut it with a knife and eat smaller pieces. It’s all so confusing if you stop and think about it. And then there’s the condiments – hot pepper flakes, Parmesan cheese, ranch dressing, anchovies. So much to consider when trying to enjoy a cheesy meal.

Now, I can say, I do have an interesting pancake eating technique. I’m a dipper. I don’t like the syrup to soak into my pancakes and make them soggy. Yuck. No thank you on the soggy pancakes. I pour my syrup in a little puddle on my plate and dip each bite into the delicious sweetness. That way I get to enjoy the sweet cakiness and the gooey syrup in two different textures. I’ll admit that may be a bit weird, but hey, what can I say, I don’t like soggy pancakes.

What strange eating habits to you have? Are you a dipper? A ketchup slatherer? A pizza folder? Come on – fess up. I told you about my weird pancake eating habit. Don’t leave me hanging here.

Word of the Day: Quassia

Fun fact about me: I hate when people throw salt or ketchup or hot sauce on food before even trying it first.

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, December 2017. Photos courtesy Google Images.