I had never even heard of yogurt before I was in college, and then it was the fruit-on-the bottom Dannon. I made my own with a yogurt maker in the seventies, but since it stopped working, I just use the crockpot-wrapped-in-a-towel method.
2. Whole wheat bread
We only ate white Sunbeam bread (Batter Whipped?!) when I was a kid, but during that broadening of my horizons that was college, I discovered whole wheat bread. Now almost all of the bread we eat (except for homemade cinnamon rolls!) has some whole wheat flour in it.
I had never heard of this until some European friends shared theirs with us 30 years ago. It used to be impossible to find, but Amazon and health food stores make it easy now.
4. Chard
I honestly hadn't eaten this before my husband started planting it in our garden about five years ago. It's not one of my favorites, but I'm experimenting with new and better ways to prepare it, so I like it a little more every year.
5. Fresh tomatoes
I grew up in a non-gardening family, and we ate supermarket tomatoes, even in the summer. Once I tasted fresh tomatoes from my father-in-law's garden, there was no going back to the sad supermarket imitation of a tomato.
6. Turnips
My husband loves these, so we eat them often since we've been growing them in the garden. Crapshoot (our version of clapshot) is my favorite way to fix them.
7. Brussels sprouts
These were definitely not in my mother's rotation of frozen vegetables when I was a kid, but I have my husband to thank for these also. I probably like the way they grow and their cute miniature cabbage appearance a bit more than the taste, but growing them yourself does make them taste better.
8. Marinated anything
While marinating isn't terribly exotic, my mother didn't marinate anything. I found the world's best beef/game marinade about 15 years ago, tinkered with it over time, and now use it weekly, especially in the summer. I'm still looking for the world's best chicken marinade, so I'd love your suggestions!
9. Game meats
I'm lucky enough to have a family with two hunters, so we eat a lot of game meat. The taste was an acquired one for me, but I'll always choose venison or elk over beef now. Venison is a staple in our house; we've also enjoyed elk, squirrel, rabbit, and bear.
10. Pad Thai
I'm thankful that my older son helped me branch out and eat a tiny bit more adventurously. We searched for Pad Thai during our road trip across the country to move him to Colorado, and had fun trying all the Thai restaurants in Fort Collins. My area back in NJ is woefully deficient in decent Thai food, so I may try making my own Pad Thai as soon as I can find rice noodles, fish and oyster sauces, and tamarind concentrate!
