Just like Sam-I-Am, caregivers invent creative and carefully designed ploys to get their charges to eat or at least try something new. Do the words “Picky eater” ring a bell to anyone? Try as we might, getting that spoonful of strained beets and carrots down the hatch of that toddler writhing in his high chair is an act of futility.

Pets are no different when it comes to choosing which foods they’ll try, our dogs hate taking their pills so I conceal them in a bit of hotdog or other tasty tidbit which supports the idea presented by Mary Poppins that indeed a “spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down in the most delightful way”.

I admit I’m a creature of habit and tend to gravitate to things that I know for certain will have a positive outcome like ordering the same thing every time I frequent a restaurant because I don’t want to take the chance of wasting money on something I don’t like and having a bad experience, everyone has a go-to item on the menu or at the store that gets chosen out of habit.

During my teen years at home, dad tried his best to get us to consume powdered milk which after the initial glass full resulted in us “sticking up our noses at it” as my dad would say, as we’d only drink “regular milk”. He even tried mixing the powdered milk with the regular milk to stretch the family budget a bit but we caught on quickly and would perform a test where the milk was swirled around in a glass container, if tiny granules or particles were observed on the side of the glass, the batch of milk was considered “tainted” and we wouldn’t touch it. I’m sure dad was frustrated to no end trying to get us to put a dent in the bags of powdered food storage milk in the storeroom.

Our family beagle would eat anything and everything so she became the recipient of anything “yucky” presented covertly under the kitchen table and she seemed to know which of us was most likely to offer up handouts regularly.

I, for example, can’t stand the taste and texture of raw tomatoes, “I do not like them in a house. I do not like them with a mouse. I do not like them here or there.”. I do not like them anywhere.” Tomatoes are sneaky and can find their way into many dishes which in a pureed form mixed with other spices are acceptable, like ketchup, Spaghetti sauce or BBQ sauce but just a slice of raw tomato no matter how hidden will always get the boot if it’s on my burger.

Sometimes trying new things or the combination of things creates newfound favorites, or the opposite like eating a dill pickle and then drinking a glass of milk, the resulting cottage cheese created on the way down the throat was a new personal “nope, not doing that again” moment. I was fascinated when for the first time I watched my grandfather break up some pieces of bread in a bowl, drizzle molasses over it then pour milk on it like it was breakfast cereal. I tried it and quite enjoyed the concoction!

I love the smell of vanilla extract but sneaking a swig out of the bottle when no one was looking when I was a kid produced a rather unpleasant result as did breaking off a chunk of baking chocolate and popping that into my mouth, trial and error at its finest. I’m not sure which one of us discovered that stirring spoonfuls of Nestle Quik powder into soft vanilla ice cream created an amazing treat, and of course dipping oreo’s, graham crackers and chocolate chip cookies in milk was a favorite.

Lynda and I went out and tried a new burger place for Valentines Day, the menu suggested some topping choices that I wasn’t at all familiar with and ended up ordering something that was new to me. The flavors on the burger were amazing and we plan on visiting “Cooks Underground” again as our new favorite burger joint..

Taking that first leap of faith and trying something new (not just with food) might lead down a new path to discovery, like the old commercial where Mikey tries Life Cereal, “Hey he likes it, Mikey likes it!”

Maybe after that first new try (whatever it is) you’ll say “Sam! If you’ll let me be, I will try them, you will see” and just maybe you will.