Tag is a Many Splendour Thing

Our first rite of passage - mom and dad blogger Redacted Recipes put me into "oh gawd, I really have to figure out how to do links properly hell" by tagging us. Psychgrad is already the family expert and I the unwilling grasshopper when it comes to mastering new internet related things.

Here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

So, here goes - 5 Things you may never want to know about Gizmar (aka Giz) or Psychrad.

1. The thought of eating celery in raw form makes my stomach turn. Although it's never done anything to me, the texture, the smell and even the look of it is a total turn off. (Giz)

2. Related to sickness, I spent over 5 years totally food restricted - no whole grains, no legumes, extremely limited fruit choices, low sodium choices. After a successful kidney transplant in January, 2007, although still obsessed with sodium content in foods, I can eat anything and everything. (Giz)

3. Food disappointments have, on occasion, sparked irrational emotional reactions. For example, while living in England for the better part of a year, I really missed Strub's full sour pickles.



I would even have gone for a Claussen (I have no idea who this guy below is, but I agree with him, even though I had to laugh at the guy).



After multiple sweet pickles, which I spat out on the first bite, I got really excited when I heard that the deli in Harrod's food area served something that sounded like a corned beef sandwich. I think the sandwich was something like 10 pounds. Add another quid or so for a pickle. So...at $25 dollar (Canadian) sandwich seemed reasonable, right? Ok...not so much. But I was really jonesing for a corned beef sandwich with a pickle. Surely, the pickle would be sour -- who eats a sweet pickle with a corned beef sandwich? R and I shared the sandwich -- not because it was massive. We sat patiently waiting for the sandwich. I'm sure to the unaware (of my massive craving) observer, I looked normal. But my taste buds and all other sensory neurons in my body were leaping in excitement for my long-awaited corned beef sandwich and pickle. Finally, it arrived. R doesn't seem to have such attachments to pickles, so he let me take it for myself. I took my first bite....

It was sweet. In the "not sour" sense. I spit out my biteful and handed the pickle to R. Without any intention to respond strongly to my disappointment, tears started streaming down my face. R freaked out - "what's wrong? what happened?" Nothing (my usual response for -- I don't want to talk about it). "Why are you crying?"

I figured, if I'm going to cry in the middle of probably the most famous department store in the world, I should explain it. "I really wanted a sour pickle". Between his laughs, R promised to buy me a full jar of full sour pickles upon returning home to Canada. It wasn't until R and I returned home and he met my mother for the first time, who had cheese blintzes with strawberries waiting for us when we walked into her house after landing in Canada, that he truly understood how important food could be.

For further evidence of my irrational responses to food disappointment see a story from my personal blog (language warning). (Psychgrad)

4. After high school and before beginning my university education I had the bug to do some travelling. One of the spots I visited was the middle east, more specifically Israel. I fell in love with the country and the people and decided to take a longer hiatus from schooling than originally planned. I made many friends, one of whom was a tour guide. We were on a day trip and stopped to visit with some Beduins who were in transit. My friend spoke with them in Arabic and both kept turning to me and smiling. Not wanting to offend anyone, I just smiled back in response. The conversation between the two men continued for about 15 minutes. I couldn't understand any of it but just kept smiling and being polite. Suddenly my tour guide friend suggested in a rather stern voice that I go back to the car and stay there. I didn't really understand why he changed so quickly but once we were on the road again he began laughing hysterically. What??? He proceeded to tell me that he had a wonderful opportunity to sell me to the Beduins for 5 camels and 10 sheep. Apparently this is an extremely good price. To think that I could be part of a harem. (Giz)

5. I tried out for the Canadian Olympic Volleyball Team and received a rejection because I was too short. Maybe in my next life. (Giz)

People we are tagging:

1. Kevin at Closet Cooking
2. Dori at Foodie Fashionista
3. Ronell at My French Kitchen
4. Ruth at Once Upon a Feast
5. Larissa at The Larissa Monologues