Gross food you grew up eating

Lebanon bologna and scrapple are both great, but I never had either one until I was well into my 20s.

The meal I couldn't stand as a kid was fried chicken livers, which were always served with Chinese hot mustard.

My grandparents used to feed me squirrel, rabbit, dove, quail, sometimes with a piece or two of number seven shot still in them, but they were always pretty good. They had a jersey cow for a few years and made fresh churned jersey butter. I think I would eat a dish rag if it was soaked in fresh melted jersey butter.
  My dad would eat cow brains, pig's feet, and cow tongue.  I could never bring myself to try the pigs feet. Just the sound they made when he would spoon them out of that gelatin....*shudder*...I tried the tongue and brains, and while they didn't taste bad, I just couldn't enjoy them.  Of course, as I got older, and I would sit at the table after a long Saturday night, trying not to puke while he ate a fried brain sandwich, dad would mention that I didn't seem to mind frying my own brains once in a while, hahaha. 
   I've told this story before, but I think it bears reference here: I once overheard two coworkers loudly arguing over the joys of brains vs tongue. Finally, one of them asks "So, you're telling me you would rather eat the part of the cow that licks it's own asshole than the part that thinks about it?"
  A couple of years ago, one of my neighbors had me work on their satellite system. They were older folks, and my mom had been pretty good friends with the lady, so I didn't charge them. Since I wouldn't take any money that day, she gave me a big bowl of tongue and noodles. She explained how she prepared the tongue to make it taste more like roast beef (or something) for a fraction of the price.  When I tried it, I had to admit it was pretty good, and didn't seem to have that weird texture that always grossed me out. I remember she said she would peel off the outer layer with the taste buds...*gak...cough*...
  I still can't deal with liver. GF loves liver and onions, and I've known people who swore by fried chicken livers. I'll pass.
  One sort of gross thing I always liked was when mom would make chicken and noodles, I used to ask for the boiled chicken heart. Mmmm, tasty.
   I like a slice of baloney once in a while, and baloney sandwiches were a staple when I was a kid. I have seen people stack slices of baloney, pour ketchup over them, and eat them like pancakes. I can put up with that, even though everybody knows baloney needs mayo, or maybe even mustard. The thing that horrifies me is pan fried baloney. Why, just why?


Edit: I just remembered the time my cousin got a job as a meat cutter in a local grocery store. He tells me "I learned how to cook a kidney today. You boil the piss out of it!"

I don't really think so, but the reaction of the guy he said it to was priceless.  The fellow that came up with that comment never let facts cloud his opinions, anyhow. I heard him get into some pretty heated discussions over the weirdest shit sometimes, and when he was losing an argument, his other go-to ending remark was usually "Oh, yeah, well I'll burn down your house."
  Strange dude, he was.

I have seen cows licking their own butts - these would be Holsteins, but maybe dairy cattle are more flexible than beef cattle.

It's not a gross food because it's absolutely delicious, but I was shocked and aghast when an ex who didn't grow up in the midwest had no idea what I was referring to when I mentioned enjoying 'puppy chow' around Halloween.

Ah those Campbell's 'Cream of' soups were a favorite of mine growing up. I believe they were mainly meant to be a recipe ingredient, but as a kid I would dump that soup loaf in a pan, add a canful of milk and heat til (mostly) non-lumpy. I even liked the cream of onion, and cream of asparagus. Now I shudder when I think of those gross lumps that would never fully dissolve and the unidentifiable veggie chunks floating within. I guess I'm kind of a food snob now, cause I will automatically discount any recipe that uses canned soup as an ingredient. 

Nobody's mentioned fried brains, which are a thing in southern Indiana (I guess none of y'all are from southern Indiana)... apparently formerly popular in St. Louis but now it's mostly the Evansville area.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fried-brain_sandwich)

Also, Trurl, we used to eat a kind of ghetto stroganoff which my mom called Hamburger Gravy and Rice, and yeah, it was basically hamburger meat, onion and cream of Whatever over rice. Salty as hell and I loved it as a kid.

I remember, as a kid, hearing about, and then finally seeing, the notorious "Brains 25 cents" sign in St Louis.
Brains and donuts (or more correctly, do-nuts). Sure, why the hell not?

The scurvy and syphilis kind of clued us in.

I didn't know what puppy chow was until the last year or so when I saw a recipe for it pop up on my Flipboard recipe feed. I haven't had the chance to make/taste it, but it's on my food bucket list now. 

In that I'd like to eat a bucket of it. 

Although I have noticed in recent years stores around KC selling what should be rightfully known as puppy chow as "human chow." Putting aside the sacrilege that puppy chow should always be homemade, I have to surmise that a substantial amount of people must have assumed it to be actual dog food.

Is there a standard recipe, or is it endlessly customizable? I've seen various versions, including one with (bestill my heart) Reeses mini peanut butter cups in it, but not sure if those are considered sacrilegious. 

Now I want there to be a Beavis and Butthead themed mix called "Butt Munch."

I never heard it called "puppy chow" til three-four years ago. It was always just "chex mix", no matter what was in it.