But I don't like mushrooms.

As I think I've mentioned before, I have very little patience with people who say things like "I don't like (some ingredient)". If you're older than 15 you should be over the whole petulant power struggle. But I had a few things myself that I didn't care for.

I hated olives. They always seemed to sneak up on me in a pizza or a pasta and punch me in the palette. (I hated pickles for a similar reason- my most notable experiences with pickles was when I forgot to take them out of Happy Meal burgers and they would suddenly pop up, the slimy sour little fuckers.) Because I knew I didn't like olives, I only encountered them by accident, like in the Everything Pizza. I picked off the ones on the top, but I really liked the Everything Pizza, it just had more taste than the cheese or peperoni we ordered with it. I think it was the olives.

A little over a year ago, I had a summer internship in DC and my friends from home came to visit me. We did museums and sightseeing all day, and I was starving by the time we decided to get dinner. We went to an Italian place in Dupont Circle that was probably out of our price range, and if it hadn't been 5 pm we would have had a hard time getting a table, cause we looked like raggedy college students. they brought us some beautiful rustic chew bread and a plate of kalamata olive tapenade. Now, I don't like olives, you see, but this just looked so exotic and sophisticated and kind of subversive, this unctuous, subterranean purple spread. My vegetarian friend to my left dug right in, and, surprising myself, I followed her. My picky-eater friend to my right spread a monolayer on her bread, took a tiny bite, made a disgusted face and spit it out. No really. But this stuff was amazing- it didn't hurt that I was starving, but I couldn't believe the depth of taste in this simple stuff. Now that I know what I'm getting into, I'm always looking out for recipes with olives- my favorite Greek salad just got so much better. And a week ago, I made a pasta dish from Fine cooking with canned tomato, artichoke hearts, and kalamata olives. This is in my top 5 pasta dishes. I'm not sure I've ever been so satiated by the recommended serving size of pasta (2 oz).

Next came eggplant. When I was younger, I think I was put off by the texture and the beigey-ness. Even the undeniable delicious baba ganough has a weird sounding name and a weirder appearance. My newfound love for eggplant grew over time, but I think again I was seduced by the color. I liked buying them at the farmer's market, I liked having them in my fruit and veggie bowl on the counter. That gleaming dark purple is hard to say no to. I want a sweater dress in Eggplant. I'm always a little sad when I have to peel away that skin. Some of my favorite eggplant recipes include, of course, baba ganough. One of my favorite (and pretty!) eggplant dishes is Eggplant Cannelloni. Slice eggplant lengthwise, broil both sides for 5-10 minutes per side. Spread with cheese (mixture of goat cheese and mozzarella and basil is great), roll up and bake till warmed through (10 minutes). Eat with tomato sauce. Or tomatoes.

But I never thought I'd learn to love mushrooms. I didn't mean to, and I still haven't quite accepted it. It's like that timed I hooked up with this really fratty cool kid from Penn State thinking there was no way we'd get along, and ended up totally falling for him? It's kind of like that. I want to tell my mom about this pad thai with mushrooms I made this weekend, or this amazing potato mushroom gratin I made for dinner tonight, she, or anyone else, will ask "But I thought you didn't like mushrooms?" Dude, I know right! I'm almost afraid to admit it. I'm not sure how this happened, this mushroom business. They snuck up on me, and suddenly I'm searching them out. Two weeks ago, I went to the melting pot with my family and friends (I know, I know, Melting Pot? But between the Picky Eater Friend, the Vegetarian Friend, and the Even Pickier 16 year old brother, this was a good choice) and I found myself sneaking mushrooms off of my friend's plate. They weren't even exotic enough to make me feel cool, just plain old white button mushrooms, but cooked in that coq au vin bouillon, they were amazing.

I couldn't get into the idea of a beige food. But now that it's almost kind of feeling like fall, and as the economy continues to suck at life, creamy beige comfort food is increasingly attractive.

Cauliflower is the only thing I can think of that I have yet to develop an appreciation for. I think it was their mashed potato impersonation that turned me off. But give it time. In a few months I might be making every version of cauliflower I can come up with.