Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Broadening Horizons...

I think a great quality to strive for in a relationship is to continually want to be a better person for your partner. Grant demonstrated that this weekend when he sat down to dinner with me on Sunday evening.

I really wish I had pictures for it--and I actually did think of getting out the camera, but I didn't want to over-dramatize the situation (we're done with that stuff, and enjoy the nice, boring married life).

He ate mushrooms. Willingly.

When he told me he wanted to try them so he could get over his abhorrence, I didn't think much of it. I cooked some up with onions and steak so he'd have plenty of other flavor to try them with. When it came time to eat them, he approached them the way I approached active labor--with lots of hesitation. First, he stared at them. For a very. Long. Time. Then, he took a deep breath and put them on his fork. Next, he wiped his face and brow several times--and that's when I realized the magnitude of the event. Eventually, he put the bite in his mouth. First he tried a tiny piece of mushroom with a giant piece of steak. Then he gradually adjusted the ratio until he had much more mushroom than steak in his bite. And finally, he tried the mushrooms just straight up.

It wasn't toooo bad, he said. I was really impressed and proud. He certainly could have gone his whole life without eating mushrooms and no big deal. That's not like me and active labor, unfortunately. And after seeing him do it, I relaized and appreciated what a monumentous event this was for him. This was no small potatoes sort of aversion.

I started him out on simple button mushrooms--next up, we're going a little more delicious and little more hardcore in the realm of mushroom consumption.

That's right--portobello, baby.

6 comments:

Kristina said...

Yes it was a huge accomplishment when I got Seth to try portobello burgers with me. He wasn't all over them but I think he ate most of his. He still picks out about half of the mushrooms whenever I cook with them, but it's still a big accomplishment on both our parts. Way to go Ashley, and Grant, and Seth!

Michelle said...

I was going to tell you the story about how Dave reacted to his portobello burgers, but I don't want to scare you. Let's just say, there is still some Ketchup on the ceiling. FYI - don't try to go vegan on your husband without telling him first. It's just a bad idea.

Laura said...

Hahahahaha. That was funny. Especially having grown up watching Grant torture over one bite of a beet for HOURS. I have a terrible memory, but THAT is one thing I vividly remember - Grant being force-fed food he doesn't like and watching him carefully hold it in his mouth, reFUSing to swallow. Stamina, man. Haha. WAY TO GO OVERCOMING YOUR DISLIKES, GRANT!! YOU'RE AWESOME! (To be honest, I don't think I'd eat as much mushrooms as he did. Blech.) ;o)

Seth said...

That was a manly story. He went all out on that mushroom.

Way to show the shrooms who is boss

Kristina said...

Wow, are there any Farnsworths who like mushrooms?

Grant said...

Yeah. Mom does. I'm pretty sure no Farnsworth men do. Actually, I'm not aware of any man who likes mushrooms. It's a chick thing.