Eureka! (But not happy about it...)

For the past few days Wes and I have had this mysterious bitter taste in our mouths. We can't figure it out! I knew it had to be something we both ate. Spinach? That's never bothered us before...and it's been about 3 days now of this awful taste. So I went to the internet. After 30 minutes of reading about how Wes and I both must have a matching tumor or mouth cancer, I had had it. All of the medical results were panic-inducing. I took a deep breath, rolled my eyes and tried Google again. I found this post on someone's blog that lead to Wikipedia. Here was my experience (my responses are in red):

Are you suffering from a bitter taste in the back of your mouth every time you eat or drink? "YES."
Has it lasted for more than a day? "YES."
Are you starting to worry that perhaps there’s something terribly wrong with you? "YES!"
Don’t worry, it’s probably not a brain tumor. Sigh of relief.
Perhaps pine nuts are the culprit! Hysterical laughing followed by angry growling.

I made this for dinner Monday night, courtesy of Martha Stewart (click photo for recipe):

Thanks, a lot, Martha!!! I now can't taste any of the delicious foods I love to eat because of some blasted pine nuts! Good thing I sent Wes out of his way to BUY the pine nuts that I needed for this deliciously deceptive recipe. Here's what I found on Wikipedia:

Risks of eating pine nuts

The eating of pine nuts can cause serious taste disturbances, developing 1-3 days after consumption and lasting for days or weeks. A bitter, metallic taste is described. In general, a minority of pine nuts on the market present this problem. Though very unpleasant, there does not seem to be a real health concern.

This phenomenon was first described in a scientific paper in 2001. Since the article, experiences of the phenomenon have been reported by hundreds of people worldwide (US, Canada, South Africa, Finland, Iceland, Germany, and many more).

So it looks like I could suffer up to WEEKS with these symptoms (I am hoping for just a few days). At least I know I am not sick, but since I have no appetite, Maya is going to start to hate me soon.

I bought my pine nuts at Ralph's (the equivalent of Fry's and Kroger, I think). The brand is Good Sense. And I definitely have the good sense to write the company (who guarantees satisfaction) and tell them to stop selling bad pine nuts! Pine nuts go bad very quickly, so you have to check the date, make sure they go straight into the fridge or freezer, or buy them already from a refrigerated section. Or better yet in my case—DON'T BUY PINE NUTS ANYMORE. Yuck. NOT worth it.

I'm off to suffer through a mid afternoon snack. Bitter, metallic tasting pineapple or acidic strawberry jell-o. Tough call.