There are people who don’t like different foods to touch on their plate.  There are people who eat all of one food before moving on to the next.  And there are some people who must eat all of their food evenly.

Some of us can’t stand crumbs in the margarine, or peanut butter in the jelly jar.  (Guilty!  For crying out loud, clean the damn knife!)  Some of us have to eat breakfast food as the first meal of the day, no matter how late we sleep.  Some of us can’t stand the texture of certain foods, like mushrooms, for instance.  And some of us have to cover our restaurant plate with a napkin when we are finished eating.

Many quirky food habits are born from childhood, but I think others develop as we age, like fine wine or cheese.  (Us and the habits, both.)  I’m sure when my kids are adults they will blame me (among other things) for the particular quirk of not filling their drinking cups all the way.  It’s a habit left over from when they were toddlers, moving from sippy cups to open cups.  It made absolutely no sense to fill the cups all the way – they’d either spill it or leave it unfinished.  Either way, it’s a waste.  Two of them are teens now, and I still catch them only filling their cups part way.

After reading and laughing at some other blogs about weird food habits, I realized I had mentally compiled my own list.

1. Deli Meat: Once upon a time, a Boar’s Head representative was at Stop & Shop offering up a tray of free samples.  I tasted maple honey turkey and never looked back.  Now I am a Boar’s Head turkey snob; I  won’t buy any other kind.  Well played, Boar’s Head Guy, well played.
2. Gatorade: I hardly buy the stuff, and not just because it’s full of sugar.  As a child, whenever I was sick with a stomach bug or the flu, out came the lemon/lime Gatorade (the only flavor in the 1970’s).  My mom would hand me a plastic cup that promised to restore all my lost electrolytes and rehydrate me. I hated the taste of it.  I remember very clearly taking the smallest sips I could manage.  It would take me a whole day just to consume one cup.  Consequently, to this very day, I cannot drink this stuff.  At all.
3. Butter/margarine: When I was growing up, the only time butter ever appeared on our table was at Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.   So while I like it a lot, I never got used to having it around.  I did however, become a connoisseur of butter substitutes and margarines.  And let me tell you, some were G-R-O-S-S.  So my criteria is pretty simple, but strict:  it must melt when spread on warm-toasted-whatever.  If it doesn’t, it gets tossed.
4. Leftovers: I like leftovers.  A lot.  And I’ll eat almost anything as a leftover.  Except for steak.  My husband loves it when we have steak, not just because he loves steak, but also because he doesn’t have to fight me for the leftovers.
5. Sauce and meatballs: You’d think that growing up with an Italian grandfather and a mom who always made her own meatballs (I can still smell them now…), and thought it practically sacrilegious to buy jar sauce, that I’d follow the tradition right?  Not so much.  Pasta night in our house is known as a “sleaze meal” because it’s basically not cooking.  (I actually do, on rare occasions, make my own…)
6. Raw meat: Does anyone else have what my husband refers to as my “chicken paranoia”?  I can handle raw meat, but with a few provisos.  I need to set the meat container into another pan or dish to catch any possible leaking when I open the package.  I then proceed to wash my hands every single time I go from touching the meat or the package to grabbing a dish, a utensil, or opening a cabinet.  I must thoroughly decontaminate every counter surface near and far, which may or may not involve obsessive wiping and re-wiping.
7. Pickles: There are always two jars in our fridge. I prefer bread and butter, hubby prefers dill.  And never the two shall meet…
8. Cheese: I’m old enough now that I will never again eat slices of cheese that come individually wrapped.  However, I still have a soft spot for Velveeta.
9. Lunch Routines: I typically make myself the same sandwich for lunch every day. And I don’t get tired of it.  I actually look forward to it.  Weird, I know.  When I find a combination I like, I ride the trend for months and months.  It usually involves Boar’s Head maple honey turkey.  (Again, job well done, Boar’s Head Guy.)   And because I’m sure you’re dying to know what the latest trend is, I’ll indulge you.  It’s a wrap with Boar’s Head honey mustard, turkey, and lettuce.  Before that, it was a wrap with hummus, turkey, roasted red peppers, bread and butter pickles and lettuce.   (Any new ideas for me when the current one runs its course?)

If you’ve made it to the end of this list, you’re either nodding your head, or thinking “What a weirdo.”   There are no passing judgments allowed, unless you are willing to share your own quirky food habit in the comments below.  Because we all have them, whether we admit it or not.