Healthy Appetites.

I was raised to clean my plate. When I was a child if someone served you a plate of food you ate it. Unlike my cousins, who were picky eaters, the Cobb boys would eat almost anything. We didn't shy away from many foods, we loved veggies, and always politely ate what we were served.

I like to think that I'm an adventurous eater. But I do know that there are certain foods I don't appreciate. Innards, for instance, are not my cup of tea. I tried chitterlings once and had to drown them in vinegar and hot sauce just to get the taste of pig ass out of my mouth. The other night we went out to a japanese steakhouse with the family for Sara's birthday, and my dad, brother and sister-in-law all got a chicken liver appetizer. Sara and I decided to be open-minded and try the livers. Never again. The consistency was overwhelming. I can only compare it to what I imagine biting into a turd feels like. I almost couldn't choke the liver down.

My point? I enjoy the Travel Channel a great deal. I have seen some crazy dishes scarfed down in the name of entertainment, and thought to myself, "I would blow chunks if I had to eat that."

Last week I saw Mark & Olly eat monkey paws. They were trying to prove their worth to the Machiguenga Tribe and couldn't refuse the offering. At one point they said that you couldn't quite shake the feeling that you were eating a child's hand.

I can't even go into Andrew Zimmern and all of the various foul pieces of entrails, reproductive organs and putrid foods he samples. I hope that man carries a bottle of Listerine with him everywhere he goes because I can't imagine his breath smells too pleasant.

I just watched Anthony Bourdain eat a goat head soup in the Phillipines. He peeled the skin off of the skull and ate it, popped an eyeball into his mouth, and then rooted around for the tongue. I was sitting there enjoying a cup of coffee as the man mangled the goat's skull, and I have to tell you I was enthralled - hungry, no - enthralled, yes!

PS. I also HATE rutabaga!