Today’s post is super late because I’m at a writing retreat in the NC mountains with my critique group, the Sisukas. This evening we had an exciting adventure. Rebecca Petruck is working on a middle grade book to be published by Abrams next year. It’s called WILL NOLAN EATS BUGS. It’s not even a spoiler to tell you that, yes, the main character does in fact eat bugs.
Rebecca decided that this week was the appropriate time to finally eat her first bug as research. She also decided that the rest of us should eat some, too. Yay??? So tonight we had cricket tacos for dinner. And you know what? They actually weren’t that bad.
The anticipation was definitely the worst part. Since the crickets were frozen, they had to be thawed out first, so they sat on the counter in a bowl all day. I kept staring at them and thinking about those legs and antennae getting caught in my teeth.
As the dinner hour approached, Rebecca started cookin' us up some crickets. I think seeing them sizzle in the pan made the freak-out factor even worse.
And then it was time.
Time to eat crickets.
Rebecca went first, gamely popping the first one in her mouth. She liked it enough that she quickly followed it up with a second one.
So Kathleen was excited to try hers next. She said it tasted like bacon. She lied.
And then it was my turn. See it for yourself.
Despite the expression on my regrettably makeup-free face, it really wasn’t that bad. It didn’t taste like bacon, but it was a mostly neutral taste. Rebecca had put salt and pepper on them and cooked them in butter, and that was pretty much all I tasted. I wasn’t a huge fan of the dry-ish crunch texture, but it was nowhere near as awful as I had imagined, since I had conjured sensations of prickly legs scratching my mouth.
Kami went next, and I didn’t get a video of her, but she added salt and lime like she was doing a tequila shot. Ha!
After eating a cricket all by itself, it was no big deal to add them to our tacos, so we proceeded with dinner. Mixed up with all the other stuff, you couldn’t even tell they were there.
While I won’t be adding crickets to my regular meal rotation, it was definitely fun to step WAAAAAAAY outside my comfort zone to try them.
If you want to learn more about the benefits of eating bugs, click here for an interesting article.
And in honor of today’s adventures, this week’s 15 Minute Tweet Tales word is:
entomophagy – the practice of eating insects.
6/7 – She's thrilled when he cooks dinner for their first date. Then he reveals his fascination with entomophagy. She stares at plate in horror.
Play along and write a tweet tale for the above word. If you’re willing to share, post it on twitter with the hashtag #15tt or add it below in the comments because I’d love to read your tales. Any thoughts about this week's tweet tale or #15tt word?
Today’s post is super late because I’m at a writing retreat in the NC mountains with my critique group, the Sisukas. This evening we had an exciting adventure. Rebecca Petruck is working on a middle grade book to be published by Abrams next year. It’s called WILL NOLAN EATS BUGS. It’s not even a spoiler to tell you that, yes, the main character does in fact eat bugs.
Rebecca decided that this week was the appropriate time to finally eat her first bug as research. She also decided that the rest of us should eat some, too. Yay??? So tonight we had cricket tacos for dinner. And you know what? They actually weren’t that bad.
The anticipation was definitely the worst part. Since the crickets were frozen, they had to be thawed out first, so they sat on the counter in a bowl all day. I kept staring at them and thinking about those legs and antennae getting caught in my teeth.
As the dinner hour approached, Rebecca started cookin' us up some crickets. I think seeing them sizzle in the pan made the freak-out factor even worse.
And then it was time.
Time to eat crickets.
Rebecca went first, gamely popping the first one in her mouth. She liked it enough that she quickly followed it up with a second one.
So Kathleen was excited to try hers next. She said it tasted like bacon. She lied.
And then it was my turn. See it for yourself.
Despite the expression on my regrettably makeup-free face, it really wasn’t that bad. It didn’t taste like bacon, but it was a mostly neutral taste. Rebecca had put salt and pepper on them and cooked them in butter, and that was pretty much all I tasted. I wasn’t a huge fan of the dry-ish crunch texture, but it was nowhere near as awful as I had imagined, since I had conjured sensations of prickly legs scratching my mouth.
Kami went next, and I didn’t get a video of her, but she added salt and lime like she was doing a tequila shot. Ha!
After eating a cricket all by itself, it was no big deal to add them to our tacos, so we proceeded with dinner. Mixed up with all the other stuff, you couldn’t even tell they were there.
While I won’t be adding crickets to my regular meal rotation, it was definitely fun to step WAAAAAAAY outside my comfort zone to try them.
If you want to learn more about the benefits of eating bugs, click here for an interesting article.
And in honor of today’s adventures, this week’s 15 Minute Tweet Tales word is:
entomophagy – the practice of eating insects.
6/7 – She's thrilled when he cooks dinner for their first date. Then he reveals his fascination with entomophagy. She stares at plate in horror.
Play along and write a tweet tale for the above word. If you’re willing to share, post it on twitter with the hashtag #15tt or add it below in the comments because I’d love to read your tales. Any thoughts about this week's tweet tale or #15tt word?
