Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I do not like mac 'n cheese. The more gourmet, the less I like it. I love all the components, but it's just too cheesy, creamy, gummy, yucky. I can eat the one in the blue box if I'm really hungry and need a carb, and that one is less disgusting to me than the expensive versions.....I've tried them all. You can put ham or bacon in it, or buttered crumbs on it, and still, no thanks. Nuts, I know. Baffles even me, but there it is in black and white. My personal shame.

I hate to eat lobster by itself (that is, boiled whole lobster with the meat extracted from the shell and dipped in butter). It makes me gag. I can eat lobster in a lobster roll, lobster bisque, etc., but I cannot eat it by itself. I find it too sweet and I don't like the texture!

@chisai ~ that's too funny! Reminds me of the lady on a diet who started cutting small slices off of the half of a birthday cake that was left. After she had eaten the whole thing, she had to bake another and ate half of that so it would look like she hadn't touched it. ;0

Mine is when I was about thirteen and my friends and I would like to go after my mother's wine (red) but we had to do something to cover the evidence (or what was left of the evidence) and would pour the black raspberry Kool aid into the bottle to cover our pathetic asses. Well shortly later that night my mother had company and I was going to have that friend over for dinner and one of the dishes she was making was her wonderful German red cabbage, which she puts red WINE into. Well you can guess at the dinner table everyone was taking helpings of this cabbage except my friend and i, we passed, and mom kept asking why because we both loved the stuff when she made it. It was hard not to laugh (I would not look at my friend becasue I would have lost it) and made some lame excuse that we had eaten earlier at my friends house. Never told my mother about this because even though this happen about 31 yrs ago my mother would still rip me a new a@#hole today.

My shocking confession is:- I don't know what a brisket is!! I live in Canada and it is something that I have never come across - I hear about it all the time from American friends and I realize it is a Jewish standby - but what is it? Is it a flank steak? Is it the same cut of meat as corned beef? In fact, is it corned beef without the "corn" (I know, I know the pickling spices?) Now I have made my shocking confession, maybe someone will enlighten me - I have been too embarrassed to ask in the past!

I have no fear of HFCS and drink at least one can of Coke every day - which I don't consider shocking, but seems that people here would consider shocking.

More shocking might be the fact that I prefer Swanson's canned broth to homemade most of the time. I buy it by the case and use it for everything. I don't even get the low sodium kind!

@deseree... i did the same thing in college not even kidding.. many an evening my snack was raw ramen. it wasnt so much lazy as i just really liked the little crunchy noodles...

my confession is, from a young age i have enjoyed mustard sandwiches... nothing else, just mustard and bread...and not even nasty wonder bread. I love it particularly on fresh italian, good crusty bread. My mother used to be ashamed when I asked for that in lunch because she thought they would call CYS on her...

also, i hate, hate, hate hate HATE egg whites... i'll eat yolks all day long but pick the whites out of anything they are in...

and i like french fries and frosties, and chips and ice cream...

I cannot stomach raw fish -- I have tried on numerous occasions -- suhi, seared tuna etc... just can't do it.

I also use several Knorr mixes -- hollandaise and roasted chicken gravy (both are in my cupboard right now.)

Whenever I make a cake for any function I also make a little taster cake for myself in a custard cup -- I like to think it is to test the quality of the finished cake, but actually it is because I just want a piece and don't have to wait until it is served to have it.

I don't like cheese. I can stomach some mozzarella on pizza (but not "extra" cheese pizza) and parmesan in a caesar salad, but that's it. Many people can't believe I don't like cheese.

I pretend to hate my husbands cheese food slices. I even say "cheese food" with a tone that suggests I am above them. When he is gone at work I eat them. They are perfect melted on tortillas...

he has no idea.

I hate orange vegetables. This isn't really a secret, but as a foodie, its pretty embarrasing. I just don't understand vegetables being sweet, blechhhhh. Fruit is supposed to be sweet, veggies are supposed to be savory. The only way I can eat them is if they are coated with enough salt/spices to cover up the sweetness.

I love Jello.

As a kid I would butter a slice of white bread.. and nuke it in the microwave

@bareneed - I know, she just loved the stuff, it was like her sick version of PB & J sandwich or cookies and milk after school snack. She is the ONLY person I have come across in my life that did that unless the others were closet about it, i know if i did that I would be lol.

@therealchiffonade - I know what you mean. I am a Newfoundlander and I don't like many types of fish, so I feel like an imposter.

I like peanut butter and cheese wiz sandwiches.
I cannot bring myself to enjoy balogna or traditional ketchup.

i'm 25% Italian and I hate Italian food. I also used to work in an Italian restaurant...

I really have no "___ second rule". If I drop it, I will 100% most likely eat it. (unless it was in a bathroom)

When I was in elementary school I had the biggest sweet tooth and love powdered sugar. I would put it in a little cup and eat it with a spoon. It would kind of solidify with my spit on the spoon and form to it so it would be a powdered sugar spoon and then i'd bit it off in chunks. I also would eat "fun-fetti" frosting with a spoon that I hid in my room. (I no longer have the desire to eat sugar at all anymore...I can't stomach it).

My junior year of high school I want through a Ben&Jerry's Phish Food ice cream phase and ate a pint of it every night. I kid you not. And I never gained an ounce. :-)

It is no secret that I love mangoes, sweet potatoes, and butternut and acorn squash. They happen to be my favorite foods. I eat a mango everyday at breakfast and sweet potatoes and squash quite often as well. All of them happen to be very high in vitamin A. The secret is I have been told by many doctors to stop eating them! The palms of my hands have an orange tint ad the corners of my eyes have a very faint yellow tint (only I have noticed this), but I can't stop!!! AH

I have not gone a day without peanut butter or almond butter in 2 years. It's another serious addiction.

Went to mom's house for dinner one day and she had broccoli with a cheese sauce, which wasn't all that uncommon, but she kept asking how we liked the sauce -- all the while she had this evil grin. Turns out that it was just Campbell's cheese soup, undiluted, dumped on the hot veggies.

Later, I made nasty comments about the use of canned soup in place of an actual cheese sauce or melted cheese, but to be honest, if people didn't know it was cheese soup, they liked it. So, even though I scoffed at the idea of cheese soup instead of real cheese, I sometimes did the same thing.

I haven't used that stuff in many years, but if someone served it to me, I'd probably still like it.

I love instant mashed potatoes.

-Dawn
Wicked Good Dinner

@buffy - I'll do you one better: I never even tried girl scout cookies:-)

as a kid i used to make sandwiches with ketchup mustard and muenster cheese. not melted or heated just plain.
I cant stand mac and cheese in the bluebox if its made up, but have been known to use the powder in sour cream and devor that "dip"
I love fritos but only used to scoop up peanut butter.
the problem is I'm not really ashamed of any of that I just like what I like and let others like what they like.

i hate cilantro. it ruins any meal.

i love mayo. the more, the better. and i want to store the mayo jar out of the fridge but i don't cause my bf would think it's weird.

i've had escargot but never chewed or tasted it. just swallowed. same with raw oysters and sea urchin.

i used to eat sugar and butter sandwiches on white bread, and water with sugar dissolved in it.

One of my favorite quick dinners is a packet of ramen with a can of Costco chicken and a handful of snow peas.

Comfort food when no one else is home is blue-box mac-n-cheese with cut up hotdogs. Actually I hated "real" macaroni and cheese until I turned 25...

I keep butter on the kitchen counter so its spreadable - my DH is convinced I'm poisoning him.

I love canned corned beef - straight out of the can.

@ bessfour... AMEN TO THAT! Cilantro tastes and has the mouthfeel of way paper!

I have on occasion (not for a long time mind you but I still crave it) eaten miracle whip slathered on "broke assed" white bread.

@cowprintrabbit - I also keep my butter out on the kitchen counter (in a butter dish, though, so it's covered). That's how we did it when I was growing up, and it never made any of us sick. There's nothing worse than having a fresh piece of toast, but no soft butter!

Forgive me Foodies, for I have sinned: I have been known to polish off a bag of FunYuns while drinking wine from a box. *hangs head in shame*

I butter my bread for almost any kind of sandwich/butty. It wasn't really shocking when I lived across the pond, but I notice that here doing this makes people slightly perplexed. I've trained my OH though - no, he doesn't do it for himself, but (several culture-clash incidents later) he now knows to always butter my bread when I ask him for a sandwich.

when the bf goes away i love to make the 59cent pot pies. can't stand the better ones. i used to sneak a1 on white bread when i was at a friends house. i thought they were rich we never had that. and everyonce in a while i have to have frosting or brownie batter. can't do anything until i have it.

@ cookiepie - I have the same secret. I don't like potatoes either. Although every once in a while I will steal someone's fastfood fries (but I don't think there is much real potato in those). Also I can not stand cooked carrots. Maybe its a root vegetable thing.

On the eating side, I will buy a package of pepperoni, mini sausages or hard salami and eat the entire package as a "snack."

I like PopTarts too, but only unfrosted blueberry.

@pjracz10 that is quite the crazy concoction, I am pretty sure I never would've thought to do that!

@hungrygrl7 I must admit that I too do like the flavor of the raw noodles. :) And I also LOVE LOVE LOVE fries with milkshakes. There is just something about the sweet and salty.

I love Kraft mac and cheese. And Cheetos. I try not to buy these things, but the blue box shows up in my house pretty frequently.

I think cakes made from box mixes taste better than homemade cakes.

I like canned sauerkraut better than the fresh stuff. I even enjoy it cold.

I also went through a mustard sandwich phase. I liked it on a roll with lettuce.

@pj ~ I think you may be referring to the pope's nose on the turkey.

I hate cilantro and parsley. I hate how cilantro is in EVERYTHING these days … if you add cilantro to something, it doesn’t make it gourmet. Ugh, don’t even get me started on parsley.

Ohh I too hate cilantro. It makes me so sad when I'm all psyched for a yummy looking salsa or guac & someone's gone and ruined it with cilantro...

I will eat a whole package of dried beef without even batting an eye.

When I was a kid, my dad and I used to cut up radishes & dip them in salt & eat really salty radishes.

My dad and I also (he's obviously a horrible influence.. love ya Dad!!) will sit and eat cheese puffs/curls dipped in horseradish mustard. It should not taste good but it does... uh, to us anyway...

I use to love this Italian bread you could get in mid-Michigan, I could eat an entire loaf tearing it bit by bit, put a glob of butter on and and dipping in ketchup... Alas I have moved and can no longer get the bread and a wheat allergy has put the kabash to it anywho...

OMG - this post is making me feel sooo much better! I'm almost in tears - apparently, I'm normal!

-- I also love to eat raw ramen, with the flavor packet sprinkled on top. Always have, always will (no matter how much it freaks my husband out).
-- I also hate orange vegetables. I agree that vegetables should be savory, not sweet.
-- I was lucky enough to live in France for three months and got sick of eating French food.
-- I am a native (and current resident) of the pacific northwest and I hate salmon... and all seafood... including seaweed. So yes, I don't eat sushi.
-- I hate mayo - unless I "don't know" it's on my sandwich. Then I love it.
-- I love cheetos, and when no one is looking I eat cereal for dinner.

Whew - I feel better!

- I will eat the raw ramen, but without to flavor packet
- I also used to eat plain dry hot cocoa mix, and ALL of the marshmallows
- I am 26 and have never tried velveeta
- When I was a kid my mom would serve us potato chip and mustard sandwiches served in a pita- they are yummy!
- as a kid I would snack on sprinkles when my mom wasn't looking

Ok. I hate peanut butter. I have never had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The texture and smell of peanut butter is absolutely gag inducing. I grew up on Nutella and Banana sandwiches. I used to live in England and I got onto it there--when we came back to the States, I was the weird kid that ate whole grain bread and chocolate and fruit sandwiches. I brought in extra for my lunch mates one day and voila, they saw the light.

I love to slice up fresh Buffalo mozzarella, drizzle it with balsamic vinegar and just eat that.

I put Texas Toast croutons in my soup.

The reason I order caesar salad is for the dressing. I would bathe in caesar dressing if I could.

I have eat an avocado half with a sprinkle of salt and a spoon. And OMG, was it good.

I am addicted to diet Dr. Pepper. I drink like, 4-5 cans a day. Don't judge.

Orange juice makes me GAG. However, I can eat the frozen concentrate with a spoon.

Soy sauce on leftover chinese white rice has been my dinner many, many nights.

I put hot sauce on EVERYTHING. Franks is my lifeblood. I put it in my salad.

I have made "soup" from my Sunday gravy (tomato sauce) by adding a little water to dilute it and throwing in some canned mushrooms and frozen peas, corn and green beans.

I can and, have eaten with a fork, a block of Feta cheese drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

I call myself a vegetarian. But I LOVE french onion soup. I deal with the tummy ache for a crock of that holy deliciousness.

I put extra wasabi on my food to burn my nose and make my eyes water. I love the rush after the pain subsides.

I add hot cocoa mix to my vanilla yogurt.

I really, REALLY dislike fried food. But after a night of heavy drinking, a sandwich akin to a Grease Truck fat cat will only do. (Double veggie burger, mozzarella cheese, mozzarella sticks, onion rings, french fries, mayo, ketchup). I dislike mayo. It is gag-worthy.

I like Chain Restaurants, eeek!!

I have tried, but I hate white wine. I love Pinot Noir only. Cabernets make my jaw hurt and Merlot tastes like feet.

Sigh. So unrefined :)

Oh, and sweethunibabi ... totally with you on the yummy avocado + salt combo eaten with a spoon; in fact, I wouldn't even put that in the category of something that needed to be confessed! Surely everyone eats or has eaten avocados that way?

And ditto for the Diet Dr. Pepper. I loved it even before they started doing all those annoying product placements on Top Chef this season ...

1) I hate cilantro. So does my mum, dad, and baby sister, along with my friend and I who cook together all the time. I just want to to add that in.

2) I enjoy eggs cooked, unbeaten in a little butter and flipped, feel testing until the yolk is cooked but runny. My boyfriend must cook all the liquid-y deliciousness out of his egg before he'll consider eating it. Then he'll eat it with ketchup. Ugh.

3) I dislike bananas. I never ate then when I was small, and even now, as a guest I can eat banana bread. But that's really about it.

4) When I was small, I used to eat salsa with a spoon. My mum thought it was cute. ((I am from Texas.))

5) I adore the skin on a roasted chicken. My roommate won't eat it because she's healthy and whatnot, but I will.

6) Apple butter on anything bread-like.

7) Nutella is desert when there is nothing else in the house. I just need a spoonful and I'm set.

I love vegetables on their own, but pretty uniformly hate them in anything involving bread. I hate veggie pizza; I don't eat vegetables on my sandwiches; I don't want lettuce on my taco; I don't want broccoli in my casserole. My mother despairs of me. I eat them veggies the time, though - just by themselves or in soups! The one exception to this rule is spinach, which is delicious in everything.

I second those who don't like cilantro. I think there's them that like it, and them that don't, and I'm definitely one of them that don't. I can immediately tell when it's in a dish, even a little, and it ruins it for me.

I love caramelized onions and cooked tomatoes and cook with them regularly, but I won't touch raw onion or tomato with a ten-foot pole. Bell peppers are the exact opposite - I love them raw, but I really don't like them at all when they're cooked, especially when they're part of a larger dish. The taste just overwhelms everything else.

Also, though I don't think this is much of a confession on this site, I'll put a fried egg on anything that stands still long enough. Period. A fried egg makes everything better.

I put plain yogurt on just about anything, and put just about anything in plain yogurt--i use it instead of mayo in egg salad, I crumble crackers in it, I dip veggies and bread in it, i mix it into almost all leftovers, sometimes I even make yogurt sandwiches (this is especially good with greek yogurt).

@Aynsl156: I'll have to check Kang Shi Fu brand out - maybe I've tried it but didn't realize it. We regularly buy our favorite ramen by the case. While we may spend $25-30 for ~20 count case, depending on which ones we buy, it's 10% off the price we would pay if we bought it per packet.

I understand how it can be annoying to have extraneous cilantro and parsley everywhere if you are not a cilantro / parsley lover, but just a note in defense of these lovely herbs - I LOVE cilantro on just about everything. Salmon, chicken, noodles, guac, chinese, mexican, you name it - cilantro is AWESOME.

Oh and also, my mom used to make us cream cheese and black olive sandwiches on white bread for lunch quite often when we were kids
And bacon and avocado sandwiches too. Both of these are still quite yummy as an adult, although as you can imagine we got some pretty weird looks at these sandwiches as elementary school kids.

i think wine is yucky.

I hate parsley - both curly and Italian flat leaf. I know it's the "go-to" finish for so many main dishes and vegetables, but I hate it. I totally admit to loving Cool Whip, however, and eating it straight out of the container. I guess my other confession would be that I also eat brown sugar straight. Any time I bake anything, I always end up snitching little chunks of brown sugar and eating them. I'm sure my dentist would love to hear that.

^I promised brooke29 try Nutella by Friday but did not--I just didn't crave it, and it's hard for me to eat something I don't feel like eating :( I feel guilty, and will try to 'break my Nutella cherry' at some point when I have more of a 'nut butter' craving.

I absolutely cannot stand Indian food. I haven't pinpointed what spice it is in the curry...probably the cardamom since it's the sort of sweetness that grosses me out. Just smelling curry makes me nauseous. Why, country of India, would you take perfectly nice vegetables and cheese and smother them in disgusting, over-seasoned goopy sauce? WHY??

I taste my batters and doughs far too much, as well as any other frosting or sauce or filling I make when I am baking. Or cooking...I am often not hungry anymore by the time the meal is on the table. I have some pretty disordery eating quirks all around.

@gumbolicious - You're absolutely right, Weaver battered chicken WAS all @ the batter, not the chicken! It was sooooo tasty! How to describe it adequately @cowprintrabbit? By today's standards, the batter was rather plain - most of today's battered chicken is incredibly overspiced, IMHO - but the weaver batter was... light golden in color. And it *looked* like a batter coating, mostly smooth, the exterior sloping and rounded. While thick on the chicken, it seemed to allow you to pull it off the chicken in very large pieces. And yes, gumbolicious, it definitely gave your mouth a sweetish aftertaste.

Revisiting this thread made me remember something else. It's not my confession, actually, it's something our friend Vince would relate @ graduation parties and the like. It seems that when he was @ college, to keep himself awake in giant lecture hall-type classes, he'd bring a large jar of instant coffee granules, and snack on them - dry and crunchy - throughout the lecture. (He was also working full-time @ the night shift @ a GM plant.) At one of the lectures, the girl sitting next to him put out her hand. Now, obviously, Vince would tell us, she had no clue as to what he was eating out of the jar, but he seemed to be enjoying himself. So, despite misgivings, and not wanting to appear selfish, he offered her the jar. She stuck her hand in, pulled out a fistful of granules, and popped them into her mouth. A few seconds later, choking, she spit them out, gave Vince an "I'll-kill-you-later" look, and ran out of the hall.