colon blow, anyone?

i've had more diarrhea in the last week than at any other time in my life. well, except that one christmas eve mass right after i moved to central america when i used a whole roll of toilet paper.

now you know.

among other who knew? facts: brussels sprouts are actually from brussels!

they are "a very belgian food," according to the belgians. i've avoided this vegetable for most of my life, outside of two events. the first was a well-meant attempt by auntie trish last summer.

the other was about 10 years ago. my family went to the sauvie's island market one saturday to stock up on fresh fruits and veggies. my dad spotted some brussels sprouts and excitedly brought them home. he proudly and carefully prepared them for his family, who protested the entire time. i vaguely remember some discussion and confusion about how long they should be cooked. as my family gathered around the table, my dad tried the old, "now you each only get ONE, and the rest are for me" trick. we all complained with new vigor, and announced that we would rather starve to death than eat one brussels sprout. my dad proceeded to authoritatively show us how to add a little butter to each delicate treat, and then pop it into our mouths (yeah, right). as dad bit down on the sprout, the expression on his face changed from kid-on-christmas-morning joy to i-think-i-might-be-eating-poo disgust. he fled from the table to the kitchen sink and hacked up EVERY last bit of sprout, then continued to run water over his tongue for many more minutes.

who knew? fact #3: over-cooking brussels sprouts makes them extremely bitter. in the meantime, back at the dining room table, the rest of us quietly plopped our brussels sprouts back into the pan. to the soundtrack of dad's brussels sprout removal (aka gagging over the sink) we solemnly vowed never to touch a brussels sprout again.

until... living less than 20 min from brussels, i felt obligated to give them a try. and, who knew, they are actually quite tasty. hmm.

ps: the two ideas contained in this post have nothing to do with one another... or do they?