Five Friday Favorites – Never Say Never Edition

Happy Friday, friends! Welcome to the first edition of Five Friday Favorites for 2013.

This week I am featuring my awesome Fab Hub. There are many reasons to love him, but one of my favorites is his complete and devoted enthusiasm for my cooking. In honor of his appreciation of just about everything that comes out of my kitchen, I bring you…

Five Things Fab Hub Said He’d Never Eat

Sushi. I love sushi. I was introduced to it long before I met my Fab Hub. I soon discovered, though, that he did not share my interest. Before we were married, Hub and I attended a family gathering. OK, we attended a bunch of these, but this one in particular included a sushi appetizer tray. Much of what was available was not actually raw, so I thought perhaps Hub would be interested in giving it a try. He was not. A well-meaning relative heard our conversation and took up a thirty-minute campaign to get Hub to try the sushi. On that day, he swore that no sushi of any form would ever pass his lips. Ten years later, my Fab Hub is a sushi champ. I wish I could remember when or why he actually tried it for the first time, but sadly I do not. Pretty sure that gets me the Bad Wife of the Day Award.  It’s probably a good story. Maybe the Fab Hub remembers. If he does, I think we should invite him to do a guest post.

Fish. OK, I guess sushi and fish are really sort of the same category, but I’m making them separate for the purposes of this list. There are people who enjoy seafood, but not sushi style seafood. And then there are people who do not like fish at all. Enter my Fab Hub. Not long after we started Not Dating, we started cooking together in the evenings  because it was way cheaper than our new habit of going out to eat every night. One evening, I asked him if he would eat a particular seafood dish. The answer was a definitive no. “If it’s from the sea,” he said, “it’s not for me.” I was shocked – I had never met anyone who didn’t eat seafood at all. It’s a vehicle for melted butter! What’s not to love? But no, he insisted, he would never eat fish other than the occasional tuna salad sandwich. Somewhere along the line I may have convinced him to try something by playing the melted butter card. Today, he has enjoyed many seafood dishes including varieties such as tuna, salmon, tilapia, haddock, cod, and more. One of the most impressive fish recipes Fab Hub has enjoyed is a Mediterranean Halibut Sandwich we found this summer while watching Food Network. I thought I had it posted here on the blog somewhere, but after an hour of searching, it seems I am incorrect. I will have to make it again and post the recipe because it is really something special.

Butternut squash soup. This may be my favorite of Fab Hub’s food refusals. Why? Because he announced his hatred of Butternut Squash soup on our honeymoon. OK, it’s not like this is a violation of any laws or Commandments, but what bride wants to know on her honeymoon that her newly-minted husband does not share her love for awesome food? So there we were…just a few days into our blissfully wedded life, enjoying a Winter Wonderland style honeymoon in the mountains. We had lunch by a lovely fire in a quaint little country kitchen eatery…homemade meatloaf with some kind of cranberry happiness on it, hot buttered rum, homemade butternut squash soup. Snow fell gently outside the window as I offered my new husband a taste of the soup…and he turned me down. He grimaced and declared it the most disgusting concept for soup on the planet. That did not stop me from learning how to make it myself, though. Now, however, butternut squash soup is a family favorite. Hoping the Hub will weigh in on his turnaround again. I’m starting to think that he probably tries things just because I annoy him to death until he caves.

Peppers. Sweet red, orange, and yellow peppers, to be precise. Our local market had a great summery grill recipe for baby tri-color peppers with a marinade of olive oil, lemon, red pepper…delicious! Since Hub is the King of the Grill around here, I asked him to toss these babies on the fire one night. We gave them a try and all three of us enjoyed them quite a bit. Since then, Hub has (almost) willingly tasted red peppers in several different dishes. He did ask that I specify that he will eat them reluctantly and only under certain conditions, however. But he eats them.

Edamame beans. This is our latest entry in the Foods Fab Hub Said He Wouldn’t Eat category. Just last night he ate edamame beans – something he has refused for as long as I’ve known him. We made a fantastic Marinated Seared Tuna for dinner last night. Its sidekick was Soba Noodles with Edamame and Peanuts. I knew I was treading on thin ice with the noodle dish since it includes mushrooms and edamame beans – two things on the No list for the Hub. But I knew everyone else at the table would like it and Fab Hub is usually willing to pick out any items he isn’t happy about. He definitely ditched the mushrooms, which Kidzilla happily adopted, but surprisingly, he ate the edamame. I guess he figures if we ask Kidzilla to at least try things before she says she doesn’t like them, then we should all do the same. Once again, the Fab Hub put a condition on his new food item, explaining that he would eat them in this particular circumstance and preparation. (The man loves food with a good Asian flair – see Sushi entry above.)  Fair enough.

 

The meal was absolutely fantastic, even if the food photography isn’t. It was fast and easy – one of those meals that really works precisely the way the TV chef says it will. We swapped out the peanut oil and peanuts in the recipes, though, because of a food allergy among our company last night. Grapeseed oil and cashews worked just fine.

So who really cares about the Fab Hub’s food interests? Well, maybe only me and Kidzilla. But it’s really not about the food. To me, this is just one of many examples of how we have grown as a couple and as individuals. We each have our own separate interests aside from those we have in common. We have enjoyed sharing our interests with each other. Sometimes these become a shared interest or love; other times not. But the best part is that we are able to continue to learn and grow as individuals, as a couple, and now as a family.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!