A list of foods I wasn't so fond of until becoming old:
Egg nog
Nuts
Dates
Beer (heh)
Coffee (pretended to like it in college while working as a barista)
AND
Molasses,
Molasses is weird and gingerbread cookies and cake to me as a kid were a waste of time because where is the chocolate? It kind of LOOKS like chocolate but SURPRISE it tastes like mineraly spicy sweetness.
For a while growing up, my parents had two cows. I remember being fairly terrified of them on account of their massive size but also curious about them for the same reason. The curiosity part led me to lick their mineral block which is flavored with molasses...possibly furthering my distaste for the stuff. I still sort of associate it with livestock, but I also wierdly love it.
But old me is reaaaally into molasses. I can remember the first time I ate it and thought "dang, this isn't just cow good, this is people good too". I was strolling through a farmers market in L.A. while visiting my bother (a farmer's market that was so totally different than the farmer's market I'm used to in the parking lot of Rural King on Saturdays) I casually squeezed this tube of brown stuff that I assumed was chocolate into my iced cold brew with cream (this was pre actually liking coffee times). Well it wasn't chocolate, it was molasses. And it turned out to be super delicious paired with the really strong brew and delightfulness of the cream. That was the moment my taste buds shifted from toddler to refined old person.
I added a little bit of steel cut oats on a whim because I like weird textures in my granola but you can totally replace with more rolled oats. I have used both pecans and walnuts with great results. AND if you aren't THAT into molasses, you can use some honey or agave instead of the full dose of the brown stuff.
I'm writing this next to a sleeping baby boy while Austin hangs out with Ruthie. I've gotta end it here because I can hear him snoring THEREBY failing at his fatherly duties this evening.
