I can't like that

A while back, my three year old neice, Cassidy, and my brother came to my house for dinner. I thought I'd come up with an ingenious plan to get her to eat the tomato and chickpea dish that I was serving. I put a little of the pureed mixture (sans the whole chickpeas) in a small bowl and presented it to her with some crackers. I told her it was "dip" - Cassidy calls anything in which you dunk something else dip (the ketchup for french fries, the tamarind chutney for pappadums, etc.). Though Cassidy has become a picky eater, she loves dipping and I thought she'd be so charmed by the presentation she'd forget to scrutinize what it was she was about to eat.

Ha - wishful thinking. I set it before her, she gave it one look and pronounced, "I can't like that". Of course, I had to stifle my laughter - she'd obviously confused "can't" with "don't". Or had she? I thought about it a little and realized that for so many of the foods I say I don't like, it really would be more honest to say that I can't like them. Whether it's the appearance or just of idea of it, I've passed judgement before even tasting. It would be so much easier to be open-minded about food - why can't I?

I'm afraid won't be answering that question today, but I did want to share the latest food which I've decided I can't like (though, in this case I am mildly curious) - the Kool-Aid Pickle, aka the Koolickle.