43 New-to-Me … The Wrap-Up

My 43 new-to-me birthday challenge has come to an end... and what a year it has been! I've discovered some amazing new favorite foods, as well as some foods that I'll be happy to never eat again as long as I live. For fun, I decided to rank the foods by the rating I gave them, starting off with the best of the best and ending with things that shouldn't even be called foods, in my humble opinion.

10: Bamba Peanut Snack, almond cake rusk, yuzu gummy candy, Orange and Lemon White Balsalmic Cream 

9: Sunkist Pineapple Soda, Thai tomato-flavor crackers, Big Red Soda, soan papdi, Cadbury Crunchie, quince, guanabana, Lemon Pie Sprouted Cookies 

8: black edamame, Peeps Mystery Chicks, nutmeg syrup, feijoa, rambutan, Cracker Nuts, green tea Kit Kat, Coffee Crisp 

7: peanuts in Coke, sunflower seed butter, pichuberry 

6: Birthday Cake M&Ms, rose petal spread 

5: mamey sapote, kombucha, Birne Spirituose pear liqueur, Special Uraro, mulberry berries, Cel-Ray Celery Soda, chia seeds 

4: papdi, boondi, aloe vera drink, green boiled peanuts, pastillas de ube macapuno, kiwano 

3: goji berries 

2: iris water, dried lily bulbs 

1: hemp seeds 

0: galangal, banana blossom

Seeing the list like this is interesting. I'd definitely make changes from my initial ratings on some of the foods. The goji berries, for example, weren't as bad as the green boiled peanuts, but I ranked them lower. I'm surprised I didn't give Big Red Soda a perfect 10. I love it. I think in some instances, the votes of my fellow tasters influenced mine somewhat. It would be fascinating to know how I would have ranked these if I'd tasted them completely alone. That wouldn't have been even a fraction as fun, though! 

And on that note, huge thanks to everyone who played along with my birthday challenge and made it so fun: Steve, Trevor, Mom, Dad, Jonna, Kari, Brian, Timothy, Marcia, JoAnn, Diana, Stephanie, Suzzi, Ronan, Dave, Pat, Rebecca, Cailei, Ken, Sheena, Nancy, Marco, Julia, Jennifer, Janelle, Linda, Evangeline, Lisa, Kelly, Karl, Gayle, Ellen, Tanya, Andi, and Ann.
I have one final page to share from my album. Since I tried 43 foods, that left one empty spot in the final page protector. I added this:

The letter stickers are silver. Not sure why they won't scan properly.

It's a list of all the other foods that either I'd hoped to try or that others recommended I try. Just because my birthday project has ended doesn't mean the fun stops. Quite the opposite!

43 New-to-Me… #43 Sprouted Cookies

Time for the last item from my 43 new-to-me birthday challenge, raw sprouted lemon pie cookies. I like lemon, I like pie, and I like cookies. As for sprouted? Sure. 

While very tasty, these did not remind me much of cookies. They were more like crackers, very thin and crisp. But that didn't stop the three of us from eating almost the whole bag. They only have four ingredients (coconut, sesame seeds, dates and lemon oil), so I didn't feel too guilty about that. All three of us gave them a 9 - an excellent way to end a very fun project!

Tomorrow I'll share a wrap up of the 43 foods from my project and show you the final page in the album.

43 New-to-Me … #42 Guanabana

Item #42 in my 43 new-to-me birthday challenge was guanabana, aka soursop. I tried to find fresh guanabana, but was happy enough to get both guanabana nectar and frozen guanabana puree. Guanabana. It's a fun name. 

 

So how did it taste? Yummy! It was sweet and tropical and fruity (as you'd expect from a tropical fruit). It tasted a little bit like papaya, banana and pineapple had a baby. I liked it a lot and gave it a 9. Andi gave it a perfect 10! Ann had a totally different reaction. She liked the nectar, giving it an 8. But she absolutely hated the pulp and gave it a 1. Both Andi and I thought the nectar and pulp tasted pretty much the same. One of the most interesting things about this project has been seeing how different people really do taste things differently from each other.

43 New-to-Me … #41 Hemp and Chia Seeds

Have you noticed that seeds are everywhere lately? Pretty much anywhere you can buy food, you can buy seeds with claims of all sorts of healthy benefits. I've eaten most of them, but I was pretty sure I'd never had hemp or chia seeds, so I got both. Together, they make up #41 in my 43 new-to-me challenge. 

We sprinkled our seeds on plain Greek yogurt and then tried a handful plain. 

The chia seeds were what I expected - plain and pretty neutral. I gave them a 5. Andi said 9 and Ann said 8. On the other hand, I absolutely HATED the hemp seeds. Hated them. They tasted sour, almost rancid, and just awful. I gave them a 1. Andi said they tasted like almost-rancid almonds, but still gave them a 5. Ann liked them just fine and gave them a 6. I couldn't get either of them to take the extras home though!

43 New-to-Me … #40 Dried Lily Bulbs

My first reaction when I saw a bag of dried lily bulbs at the Asian market was, "Aren't lilies poisonous?" Next, "What on earth do you do with them?" And finally, "I'm definitely buying these!"

This is the kind of insanity that happens when you do a project like 43 New-to-Me. But the beauty of it is that you occasionally find some amazing foods that you had no idea even existed. Unfortunately, that was not the case this time.

 

I did a bunch of research before trying them (as I still had a nagging feeling lilies were poisonous) and learned that dried lily bulbs are used in long-cooked soups, stews and desserts. They are, allegedly, a good source of fiber (which was no surprise to me after I opened the package. They looked a lot like toenail clippings). They had a very strange, very difficult-to-describe smell that had some tartness and sourness going on. I chose to make Lily Bulb Congee, reasoning that it wouldn't mask the flavor of lily bulbs the way a recipe with other flavorful ingredients might. 

My friends, Andi, Ann and I tried a bite of dried lily bulb and the prepared congee with a bit of trepidation. Once you get past the toenail thing (admittedly hard to get past), the flavor wasn't much of anything. Until suddenly it was. It was weird, as one bulb would have literally no flavor and the next would be pungent and sour-tangy. The majority were essentially flavorless (and thus fine), but the ones that were strong were awful. I gave them a 2, as I didn't have to spit them out, but it was close. Andi and Ann both also rated them a 2. 

Perhaps the next new-to-me food will be a treasure...

43 New-to-Me ... #39 Coffee Crisp

Funny story about new-to-me food #39. The story starts back in December with a foreign stranger and involves me showing up uninvited to a gathering for Canadians only. But I'm ahead of myself.

There is a Facebook group for Craft and Hobby Association members. It is very active leading up to the big CHA Mega Show in January. I saw a post from someone I didn't know named Roberta, who asked if anyone wanted her to bring them food from Canada that you can't get in the US. Do I? Are you kidding me?!? YES! We became Facebook friends and sent messages back and forth, with plans to meet up during the show. But by the 5th day of the show, we still hadn't managed to coordinate our schedules. At this point, I was NOT going to leave without meeting her and taking a Canadian food that she'd schlepped all the way to Anaheim. So I showed up, uninvited and unexpected, at the meeting of the CHA Canada Members, hoping to find her there. Success!

Roberta was busy (it was a meeting, after all), so I chatted with the various people who were milling around the food. They all thought it was hilarious that an American had crashed their meeting and assured me I was welcome. Canadians are famous for their politeness for a reason! They named me an Honourary Canadian (complete with the U). Thanks, guys! 

I finally got the chance to meet Roberta in person. She gave me some Coffee Crisp candy bars before we each had to run off to classes. That evening, when Tanya and I met to debrief, I pulled out the Coffee Crisp and split it with her.

I'm not sure why I didn't get that this is coffee-flavored. For some reason, I had it in my mind that it was to eat with coffee (like coffee cake) rather than flavored with coffee. As it turns out, the coffee flavor is very mild and has a delightful butterscotch note going on. The candy was crisp and sweet and yum. Tanya gave it a 9 and I gave it an 8. Thanks again, Roberta!

43 New-to-Me … #38 Green Tea Kit Kat

I didn't have too many ideas of what new-to-me foods I wanted to try when I began my birthday challenge. But it was fairly early on in the Googling that I came across something I definitely wanted to try: Green Tea Kit Kats. I'm not sure why, as I don't like green tea. But I kept seeing them mentioned as something you HAVE to try when visiting Japan and the top request people ask them to bring back from Japan. With no friends heading to Japan and no plans of my own to go there any time soon, I didn't expect to get to try them this year. So I was thrilled when I saw them at an Asian market. 

Literally the day after I bought them, I came across this blog post entitled, "The Shocking Secret of the Green Tea Kit Kat." Which type did I have? I was partly hoping it was the type meant for foreign taste buds (since I don't like green tea), but the fact that I got it at an Asian market suggested it might have been intended for Asian taste buds. 

 

We shared them with our friends, Karl and Gayle and their daughter, Ellen. Gayle is Japanese (though born in the US) and likes mochi, which I despise. Would she and I agree on the Kit Kats? 

Answer: sort of. I was pleasantly surprised that the green tea taste was so weak it was virtually undetectable. It basically tasted like a white chocolate Kit Kat, which is to say inferior to a regular chocolate Kit Kat, but still tasty enough. I gave it an 8, as did Steve. Trevor gave it a 9. Karl was less enamored and gave it a 6. Gayle was also surprised that the green tea taste was so weak, which was the very reason she gave it a 7 instead of a higher rating. Ellen didn't rate them, but she clearly felt very positive about them, based on her interest in continuing to eat them. 

I've since learned that green tea is only the tip of the iceburg when it comes to Japanese Kit Kats. I desperately want to try some of the others, like the Citrus Golden Blend, the Pear, the Cinnamon Cookie and the Brown Sugar Syrup. I'm on the fence about Red Bean Sandwich Kit Kats because, while I know that I would HATE them, I would enjoy finding out just how awful they are. Hook me up if you happen to travel to Japan, please!

43 New-to-Me ... #37 Kiwano

Next up for my 43 New-to-Me birthday challenge is #37, kiwano. This fruit is part of the cucumber and melon family, but it's the exterior that made me buy it.

I like cucumbers and I like melons, but I wasn't crazy about the kiwano. To me, it tasted more like banana than melon. I don't love bananas. It definitely had a squash taste, but the texture was unfamiliar. The jelly simply did not want to separate from the seeds. The seeds are edible, but too large for me to want to eat. I gave the kiwano a 4. Steve said 3 and Trevor said 5. So not the worst thing I've tried by far, but not the best either.

43 New-to-Me... #36 Quince

As promised, here is the next food in my 43 New-to-Me challenge, quince. I've been making a habit of scouring the product section of every market I enter and was delighted to find quince. I tried it both raw (OK) and cooked (fabulous).

While closest in appearance to an apple, I thought it was closest in taste to a pear. Steve, Trevor and I each gave it a 9. Seven foods left to scrap and share!

43 New-to-Me ... #35 Ube Macapuno Candy

I've been browsing the Asian market again. It's a great place to find new-to-me foods, which is actually somewhat surprising to me. I grew up with Chinese and Vietnamese neighbors and close friends, our family hosted 4 Japanese exchange students when I was a kid, I had Chinese and Thai roommates and a Korean boyfriend in college, and I taught for 11 years at a school with predominantly Filipino students. All of the above shared their foods and culture with me on a daily basis. I've tried a lot of different Asian foods. Yet, at least half of the foods at the Asian market are completely unfamiliar to me. The challenge isn't finding a new-to-me food. It's deciding which seems interesting enough to purchase and try.

When I saw the Pastillas de Ube Macapuno, I was interested. The name translates to Purple Yam and Gelatinous Mutant Coconut Candy. How could I not try gelatinous mutant coconut?! I bought it. I'd assumed "gelatinous mutant coconut" was a bad translation, but no! Gelatinous mutant coconut is an actual thing. And it turns out that it is frequently paired with purple yam to make cake, ice cream, salads, drinks and more.

So how was it? Unfortunately, the candy was not as awesome as its name. Kelly described it as "not good, but not horrible" which is pretty much how I felt about it. I gave it a 4. Kelly said 5. Lisa gave it a 2. She didn't finish hers. Trevor and Steve tried some after Trevor got home from school. Neither of them finished theirs either. Trevor agreed with Aunt Lisa, rating it a 2. Steve was mentioning negative numbers, so I put him down as a O.

43 New-to-Me ... #34 White Balsamic Cream

My sister-in-law, Lisa, is a travel agent who specializes in cruises. When she recently traveled to the Mediterranean, she asked if I'd like her to bring me back an interesting food. I'm not sure why she even asked. OF COURSE I want an interesting Mediterranean food!!

She attended my most recent new-to-me luncheon, where we tried Pichuberries and Green Boiled Peanuts. The third item we tried was the White Balsamic Cream she brought back from Greece. It was flavored with orange and lemon and it was spectacular. We tried it on raw veggies, crackers and fruit and it was excellent on all of them. I honestly think it might go with everything! I gave it a rare perfect 10. So did Kelly, who was very disappointed to hear that she'd need to go to Greece in order to purchase some. Lisa rated it a 9. It was really, really good.

I had some fun with the layout, making a ransom note inspired title from seven different partial sticker sheets. I don't like mixed-font titles when there are multiple colors also, but I don't mind (too much) if either the font OR the color is varied within a word.

I'll share new-to-me food #35 on Monday. Then only 8 more until I've finished the project, with almost 6 months to go. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be trying new foods beyond just 43. This has been too much fun to stop now.

43 New-to-Me ... #33 Green Boiled Peanuts

I don't buy a lot of canned food, so that aisle has been a great place to look for new-to-me foods. I was curious about a can of Green Boiled Peanuts. When I saw they were labeled "The South's Favorite Snack!" ... well, I couldn't resist. Who wouldn't want to try the South's Favorite Snack?!

I was optimistic. I love peanuts. Dry-roasted, honey-roasted, made into peanut butter, and even raw (we grew them when I was a kid)- all delicious. I had no reason to believe I wouldn't like Green Boiled Peanuts. Until I opened the can. 

Let me interrupt myself by saying that I have visited the South on many occasions and have many wonderful friends with a Southern heritage. For the most part, they have impeccable taste. Or so I thought. If these Green Boiled Peanuts are indeed their favorite snack, I have seriously misjudged them. 

When I opened the can, I was overwhelmed by the smell. If you've been to a camp or institution that served overcooked, fat green beans from industrial-sized cans, you know the smell. The taste was similar. The peanuts were mushy, musty, soggy and salty. They weren't inedible, but they were a far cry from what a peanut could (and should) be. 

The three of us (my sister-in-law Lisa and friend Kelly) tried the peanuts straight from the can, then heated, following the directions on the can. Lisa had a slight preference for the heated version, while Kelly and I had a slight preference for the room-temperature peanuts. While heat seemed like it would help, it just made the overcooked green bean smell more intense. I gave them a 4, but in retrospect, I think that was too generous.

I'm smiling because I hadn't tasted one yet.

Southern friends- what do you have to say for yourselves? Are Green Boiled Peanuts indeed your favorite snack?

43 New-to-Me ... #32 Pichuberry

I've now made a habit of looking carefully at the produce aisle of any grocery store I visit. Every once in a while, I find an interesting new-to-me food for my project. Such was the case with Pichuberries. I'd never heard of them, so I turned to Google. Interestingly, Pichuberries have an official website. Equally fascinating, the name Pichuberry is always capitalized and is trademarked. From their site:

"The berries are small, round fruit, about the size of marbles or cherries. They have smooth, waxy skin that ripens from green to orange or yellow. Inside, the fruit is sweet and juicy, with many small yellow seeds. Pichuberries grow inside husks that assimilate small lanterns, as tomatillos do. In fact, the Pichuberry® fruit is sometimes associated with Ground Cherries and many people think they come from the same plant.
The difference is that the fruit of the Pichuberry® plant (Physalis Peruviana) has a different flavor and grows differently than the Ground Cherry."

Expect to be hearing a lot about the Pichuberry in the next year. I get the feeling that it's the next acai berry, in terms of popularity.

So how was the Pichuberry? Not what I expected! It is not a typical sweet berry. Instead, it has the texture of a cherry tomato and a very tart, yet pleasant, taste. The first was quite a surprise and I wasn't sure I liked it, but the more I ate, the more I liked it. I rated them a 7. My tasting companions Lisa and Kelly rated it 6 and 8 respectively.

43 New-to-Me ... #31 Yuzu Gummy Candy

Item #31 in my 43 new-to-me project is yuzu gummy candy. I've been wanting to try yuzu, the Asian citrus fruit, for a long time. I haven't been able to find the fresh fruit yet... but I'm not giving up. Trevor and I discovered yuzu gummy candy at the Asian market that was essentially yuzu juice, sugar and gelatin and I was happy to get that as a substitute until I find the fresh fruit.

I'm so glad I bought the candy. It is so good! I gave it a rare 10 out of 10. My friends who tried it with me rated it a 7 (Evangeline), 9 (Janelle) and 9 (Linda). I'll definitely be trying some of the yuzu juice concentrates and other yuzu products until I'm able to get my hands on the real thing.

43 New-to-Me ... #30 Banana Blossom

Number 30 of my 43 New-to-Me challenge was banana blossom. I didn't know banana blossoms were edible until I saw them at the Asian market. Each blossom was individually packaged and about the size of two mangoes end to end.

Such a pretty color!

Let's see what's inside!

You can see my iPad open on the table in front of me. I'd looked up "how to eat banana blossom" and was reading the preparation instructions as I cut. As predicted, when I peeled the first outer leaf off, a bunch of little bananas-to-be fell out. Cute! I'll try one! 

HUGE mistake. That was one of the worst things I've ever eaten. So, of course, I made my friends try one too.

The article I was reading said that banana blossoms are somewhat like artichokes. Peel off the outer, tough leaves to get to the tasty parts, which you can eat raw or cook. 

We tasted the inner part. Just as hideous as the first taste had been. I can't even describe it, other than to say it was bitter, sticky, astringent, and mucousy. Totally gross. My friend Evangeline, who grew up in the Philippines, kept saying that we needed to cook the banana blossom, that she'd never heard of it eaten raw. I did some more Googling, put on a pot of water, and got out the steamer. 

I cut the banana blossom in half to speed the cooking time. I put half into boiling water with a bunch of vinegar (which would allegedly remove the bitter taste) and put the other half into the steamer. 

After 20 minutes, I retrieved the blossoms, which were now soft. But the mucus was still there. Check it out: 

We cautiously tasted both the steamed and the boiled banana blossom. Both were just as terrible as the raw version. I don't spit out food, but I spit this out. All four of us agreed that the banana blossom should be rated 0... or lower, if such a thing were possible. 

Further research indicates that I should have soaked the cut blossoms in acidic water for a long time to remove the bitterness and the goo. I wish the first two seemingly-trustworthy sites had mentioned that! I'm not willing to buy another banana blossom and try again any time soon, but maybe someday. In the meantime, I can say with confidence that banana blossom is now officially the worst new-to-me food I have tasted, dethroning galangal (shudder). To add insult to injury, my cutting board is now stained black. Curse you, Banana Blossom! 

As disgusting as the banana blossom was, I do like the layout I made.

43 New-to-Me ... #29 Sunflower Seed Butter

The 29th food in my 43 New-to-Me challenge was Sunflower Seed Butter. I've had a lot of different nut butters over the years, but I'd never even known that sunflower seed butter was a thing until they tasted it on Spilled Milk. So I went looking for it and found it without too much effort. 

My friends (Janelle, Linda and Evangeline) and I tried it on plain crackers and were a bit underwhelmed. It tasted exactly like sunflower seeds, but desperately needed a bit of sugar and/or salt. We tried it with a tiny bit of grape jelly spread over the sunflower seed butter and that made all the difference. Yum! I rated the sunflower seed butter on its own as a 7. Janelle, Linda and Evangeline all gave it a 5. We all agreed that it was greatly improved with a little bit of jam. I tried it later on an English muffin and a sprinkle of salt and it was excellent. I'm not going to have any problem finishing the jar (unlike some other new-to-me foods that are lingering in the fridge...)

When I went to make the layout, I remembered that I had a piece of photo-realistic sunflower paper from eons ago. I glued my photo, title and journaling to a dark brown mat. I placed the mat on the sunflower paper and snapped a quick picture. I repeated this three more times, rotating the background paper 90 degrees each time. Here are the four different versions. Which would you have chosen?

I eliminated Option A first. I don't like the way there is a blank space in the bottom right corner. It looks off-balance. Option B was out next. It seems a bit top-heavy, plus the sunflower to the left of the number is competing with it. I debated between Option C and Option D. Ultimately, I thought one of the two did a better job of drawing the eye where I wanted it.

That choice was Option C. I like the sunflower center that sits directly above the title, drawing the eye in and forming a visual triangle with #29 and the large sunflower center on the bottom right. 

I should mention that Janelle took that photo of me a good 5 minutes after I started stirring the sunflower seed butter, trying to work the oil that had separated back in. It was hard work! I'm storing the jar upside down in the fridge now so I don't have to spend that kind of time stirring in the future!

43 New-to-Me ... #28 Aloe Vera Drink

Growing up, aloe vera was something I put on my skin to soothe sunburns. I got burned a lot, despite my best efforts not to. Anyway, in my mind, aloe vera is a lotion, not a beverage. So I had to buy some and try it as part of my 43 New-to-Me project.

I think this was the hardest to rate of all the new-to-me foods so far. The taste was actually pretty good, but the gelatinous texture was so off-putting that I had great difficulty finishing my small sample. Like kombucha, the aloe vera drink is something I'd drink again... but only if I filtered it first. I gave the aloe vera a 4. My friends didn't mind the gross texture, rating it 6, 8, and 10. Trevor agreed with me. ("It tastes good, but why is it so gloppy?"). Steve declined a taste.

I had some fun scrapping this page. I'd served the samples to my friends in tiny little teacups, so I decided to cut one out to hold my title. It's completely out of proportion with the bottle of aloe vera drink, but I like it. I've never tried to cut a teacup free-hand before. The handle is a little lopsided, but I was happy enough with my first attempt that I stuck it to the page. In retrospect, I should have followed the Rule of Thirds and used a smaller strip of woodgrain to balance the layout better. Oh well. It's been enjoyable trying new things for this album and not really caring how each page turns out.

43 New-to-Me ... #27 Goji Berries

New-to-me food #27 was goji berries. I had high hopes. I love berries. 

Unfortunately, it turns out that I do not love goji berries. At least not dried. They tasted like a combination of old coffee, stale raisins, and that really cheap, brownish-black, off-brand licorice. Not good. Not horrible, but definitely not anything I'd snack on. Jennifer and I both rated them a 3, while Sheena gave them a 4. I'd like to try fresh goji berries if I can find them to see if the old/stale taste was because these were dried and not a normal characteristic of the berry.

43 New-to-Me ... #26 Iris Water

Since beginning my 43 New-to-Me project, I am drawn to ethnic grocery stores like a moth to light. I love browsing the aisles in search of things I've never tried (and often, never even knew existed). I often find myself buying something with no idea how to consume it. Such was the case with iris water. I'm familiar with rose water and have had it in multiple things, but I had to do some research after buying the iris water. 

I learned that Punjabis add iris water, sugar and ice to milk for a refreshing summer cooler. So that's what I did.

The iris water smelled fantastic as I was adding it to the milk... but in a "that perfume smells great" way and not in a "that makes me want to eat" way. Still, it seemed promising.

Alas, no. I like ice cold milk, especially sweetened, but a few drops of iris water were enough to turn the milk into something I didn't want to drink. Bummer. Steve and I both rated the iris water a 2. Trevor gave it a 3. We still have 4.99 fl. oz. left from the 5 oz. bottle, so expect me to offer you some iris water to try if you ever come by our house.

43 New-to-Me... #25 Cracker Nuts

It's been over a month since I shared my latest new-to-me food, so now it's time to catch up on the backlog. New-to-Me food #25 was Cracker Nuts (original flavor).

I liked Cracker Nuts a lot. They were crunchy and salty with a strong peanut flavor. I rated them an 8, though in retrospect I think that was a bit high. The half-eaten bag is still here two months later, which is not true of anything else that I rated an 8. My co-tasters rated the Cracker Nuts 7 (Steve, Trevor and Julia), 5 (Marco) and 4 (Nancy). 

I'm really tempted to try the Adobo flavor. Has anybody had them?