I Have a Strong Stomach

Therefore, I've eaten a lot of strange things. I'm not a picky eater, and I'll try anything once. So, here are a few of my favorites (or at least favorite stories).

Haggis

I know. It's sounds gross. (In case you don't know - A national dish of Scotland, composed of a forcemeat of the heart, liver and lungs of a sheep mixed with oatmeal, well seasoned and put into bags made from the paunch of the sheep. The haggis is then boiled for 2-3 hours and left to get cold. When required for use it is simmered again for about an hour and is traditionally served with mashed turnips, potatoes and whisky.) When my friends I got to Edinburgh, one of our first orders of business to try some of this stuff. We even found a pub that served it at a discounted rate to students and backpackers.

I loved it! I think it's because I'm part Scottish, and my last name is definitely Scottish. Good stuff!!




Cottage Cheese and Pickle Sandwiches

Sometimes during the summer, we were on our own for lunch. We knew how to make sandwiches and things, so Mom trusted us. This mostly wasn't a problem. One summer, I was probably 10, I guess we were feeling rather creative. We all liked cottage cheese and dill pickles and bread, so we decided to put them together. We used the chip-cut pickles, a couple spoonfuls of cottage cheese, and two slices of bread. In case you were wondering, it's gross. Really gross. Just for the record, lemon juice and sprinkles on cottage cheese don't taste very good either.

Frog Legs

A delicacy in France, but we ate them at a restaurant called The Boondocks. It was right on the swamp and you could feed the raccoons out your window. They're good, kind of like slimy chicken.

Squirrel

In my 7th grade Texas History class we had a major project every semester. One of my classmates did a report on hunting and game (a wildly popular thing in the area). Her father, a hunter, brought in squirrel for the entire class to try. Try it I did. This tastes like chicken too, just a lot smaller.

Goldfish

If you're still thinking goldfish crackers after the rest of this post, you're way wrong. Every year in my high school, we had a spirit bowl where all the classes and teachers competed against each other. A male and female representative from each group would compete in each event while the entire school watched. Most of the events were normal things - tug of war, obstacle courses, etc. But then there's the Mystery Eating Contest. My junior year this was as simple as eating as many PBJs as you can while trying to down a gallon of milk. This was because the year before was goldfish. I was representing the sophomore class. The officiators rolled out a cart with a bowl of live, swimming goldfish. The objective - reach in, fish out little Goldy, and eat. 50 points if you just swallowed. 100 points if you chewed.

I couldn't let my class down (even though it's rigged and we were going to lose anyway), so I chewed.

I think I was the only contestant that didn't throw up by the end of the day.

It doesn't taste like chicken.