No-thank-you Bites

Children have an advantage over grown-ups.  Most of them have parents insisting that they try new things because it is good for them.  Learning the clarinet, playing with their third cousin once removed with the perpetually runny nose, eating their broccoli.  Especially when it comes to food.  However, the motives may not always be altruistic.  Personally I got sick of making cheese tortellini every day for two years and was glad when my oldest son expanded his culinary horizons and now at 15 voraciously consumes everything from brussel sprouts to Saag Paneer.  One mother of a particularly picky eater would make her daughter take "No-thank-you bites" whenever they were eating at a friend's house.  She would have to make a good faith effort at a bite of an unfamiliar food and if she really did not like it she could say "No thank you" and her mother would slip her something more palatable.  As adults we either need to find our own means of motivation or we will go through the rest of our lives never experiencing the vast range of tastes and textures available to us.

It's impressive when an adult pushes themselves past their comfort level.  One friend wanted to spend her 50th birthday on a "Monkey See Monkey Do" rope course.  Several of us accompanied her and a few of us, myself included, were afraid of heights but climbed it anyway out of love and solidarity.  It was great.  Definitely scary, but that made the accomplishment of finishing it all the more worthwhile.  There is a blog that I follow called Picky Niki (http://pickyniki.wordpress.com) and the author's goal is to try a new food every day for a whole year.  She is on Day 69 today--not one of the more interesting choices, 3 bean salad. I wrack my brain weekly thinking of something to make for dinner that we haven't eaten every week for the past 4 years (especially with 1 picky eater still in the house) so how on Earth can someone come up with 365 new things to eat?  What really keeps me reading her posts every day, is to know more about a woman who is making herself take her own "No-thank-you Bites."