I think I'm adopted

Ok, so not really. Anyone who knows me knows that I look exactly like my dad and grandma, and have the same personality as my dad in a lot of ways. So there's no way that I'm adopted. But when it comes to food, I have no idea where I came from.

This dawned on me tonight as I was sitting here dining on Shrimp Tikka Masala with Naan and rice. Yum. But I have no idea where my love of different foods came from, because I certainly didn't grow up with them.

My dad is a picky eater. He eats very few vegetables - green beans and corn are the only cooked veggies he'll eat, and he eats a few more raw, but you can probably count the number of veggies he'll eat without taking off your socks or shoes. He's very much a meat and potatoes kind of guy. And while he likes good food, he's not very adventurous. I think the most ethnic thing he's ever eaten is Sechuan Beef from Imperial Garden.

Mom, on the other hand, is a bit more adventurous, but she doesn't like spicy things too well and she definitely doesn't like curry.

I, on the other hand, love all things Indian and Moroccan. I adore sushi. In fact, it's rare in our house to eat something "normal" anymore. Ricky and I both love the non-traditional, and lately my heart has been in India. Curry, Garam Masala, cardamom...yum.

The question is, how in the world did I learn to love these things? I was never exposed to them growing up, but in the past few years I've come to replace my regular meals with things like chicken korma, paneer (yum!!!), chutney, samosas, Oregon rolls, pesto, gnocchi, and all kinds of other foods that are definitely not the norm.