Garlic Rockets

Three things that made me happy today, with addenda:

1. My cucumber, arugula, avocado, cherry tomato, sweet corn, and bok choi dinner salad with balsamic vinaigrette seasoned with celery and oregano leaves, salt, and garlic. Those who know my food preferences will be surprised by the inclusion of raw tomato because in the ordinary way of things, I don't like raw tomatoes. But thanks to some new genetic variants, there are a couple kinds of small cherry and grape tomatoes that don't have the vile bitter acid I find so repellent in most tomatoes.
   
   This acid's not just something in the seed slime, but endemic to the whole tomato. It cooks out meaning that I like almost every form of cooked tomato, and dislike almost every raw tomato. Except for this most tasty variety that has no name but comes labeled "sweet cherry tomato" from the Japanese lady who sells me curly cucumbers. I buy the curly cukes because I get more per dollar for them being tricky to cut.



2. Microwaved garlic cloves will spin like a Catherine wheel when nuked on high power for 15-20 seconds. Whee! Try it! They can then be put into a dinner salad tasting more of baked garlic than raw, which I find on the bitter side. You might be noticing a theme.
   
   I've often wondered if I'm a "supertaster" because I'm extremely averse to bitter foods. I find coffee, raw tomatoes, tonic water, cooked spinach, cooked cabbage, cooked brussels sprouts, and until very recently, dark chocolate, largely inedible. (Stir-fried "cooked" are fine, but stewed, UGH! I love mattar paneer but cannot get near saag paneer.) I eat grapefruit regardless, and I can personally taste a lot of sweet in broccoli.
   
   I would love to get ahold of some PROP to check it out because I tried to count my taste buds and came up with about nine, but I'm pretty sure I'm at least a normal taster so I must have gotten the methodology wrong somehow - "non-tasters" have fewer than 15. And in searching for links I just found a picture of tongues in each category and mine looks more like the normal/super tongue. (If only I could mention my super tongue on match without attracting the skeevy types.)
   
   UPDATE: I checked out my tongue last night with a little ring of paper and once I knew better what to look for after checking the pictures which is that I have a few giant taste buds and a lot of little skinny ones (which I had previously discounted) - I counted about 50 in my 7mm circle which is way more than 35. So yep. Supertaster. This is why I brew my tea for about 45 seconds with not-quite-boiling water rather than 3-5 minutes with a rolling boil - that extra heat and time leaches out bitterness (tannins?) that I cannot enjoy.
   


3. Books! Only a few more weeks until Suz Brockmann's Force of Nature hits shelves.
   I'm still totally sucked into my Serenity screen play book with color glossy photos but that will end soon. To tide myself over I hit up the border's today for The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes (found in "Summer Reading" not Romance), got suckered in by the 4 for 3 sale, and also picked up a copy of the new Icky Thump. I'm trying to decide whether or not to hit up the pre-Potter ball the bookstore is throwing. I think it would be kind of fun. Anyone want to join me? Say yes before I add more gratuitous links to this blog.