A-Z Munchin' Monday: How to deal with Y?

Well, I have looked at some lists and nothing leaps out at me. Sure, I like yogurt; i tend to eat a lot of it at continental breakfasts at hotels. And yams and yellow squash are ok, but y'know, just OK.
So what we will do with Y is make a YUMMY list of some of the favorites ever, and to balance it out, a YUCKY list of stuff I would not or do not like to eat.

THE YUMMY LIST

1. A seafood platter I had with Linda at her Aunt's in Tom's River, NJ, many years ago. It was on the ocean, and the seafood was amazing. Not that deep fried stuff. Just wonderful.

2. Princess chicken served up at the House of Hunan somewhere on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Delicious and just hot enough. The guys I was with ordered something much hotter; their foreheads were perspiring but they were happy.

3. A hamburger I had as a high school aged kid in Ocean City in the off season. Just some hamburger joint made it, but I still recall it as excellent.

4. A really fine Italian meal some friends set up for us in a restaurant in Little Italy in Baltimore a few years back. Our friend Diana was sorta like a concierge at the time, and had some excellent connections - probably still does. The restaurant did something with romaine lettuce that was fairly incredible - sorta cooked it in the salad.

5. Linda's marble cake she makes for me without fail every birthday, topped with a couple scoops of (usually) vanilla ice cream. While we are on the topic of deserts, Linda's Mom could whip up a pie of excellence, working from experience and not recipes. There have been some true winners over the years.

6. Kudos also to my sis, Margaret, and her husband, who always ply us with wonderful meals when we visit. They have quite the touch in the kitchen. Just had a fine filet/shrimp salad/fruit salad/pasta/dinner rolls/appetizers/what am I forgetting? meal there last month.

7. This list could go on forever, but I will close with crabcakes. I would not be a true product of Baltimore without slapping those bad boys on the list. And more specifically, the cakes produced by G&M restaurant in Linthicum Heights, MD.

THE YUCKY LIST:

We have covered some of this ground over the weeks of A-Z, so sorry if I repeat myself.

1. Never will understand the South's fascination with hominy / grits. I just don't get it.

2. As much as Mom tried, I never acquired the taste for beets. I guess they are manageable when they are heavily pickled or something. But just the natural beet flavor does nothing for me. Cool color, though.

3. Then there's parsnips. Not sure God intended it as a food.

4. I tried escargot once. I did not become an escargot aficianado. Chalk it up as one of those inexplicable things the French like to do.

5. As a kid, I wanted no part of asparagus or scallops, two other items that Mom would serve up far too frequently (which could have been once a year for all I cared.) Funny how tastes change, though. Now I am a moderately big fan of both, if they are cooked enough and the texture is "right".

6. And speaking of texture, nothing is much worse in my view than a way undercooked sweet potato that is hard to chew and then has that "stringy" thing going on. On the other hand, it is hard to beat a properly cooked sweet potato with the butter and maybe cinnamon and/or brown sugar, etc...