I'm totally with you on the wonders of bean paste in all kinds of varieties! In my friends' defense, though, I'm known for being an experimental cook in my off time (as well as a Japanese cooking class teacher on random occasion). And I've done things like inventing Dagobah swamp ramen by accident (okay this was ten years ago, I've learned a TON since then, but the thought process went 'seaweed is seaweed, right?' Only substituting nori for konbu, er, didn't work out so well visually. Nothing wrong with the taste, it just... er... looked like Dagobah Swamp, hence the name. So they've got a string of reasons for laughing when I go "oh hey guys I've got a food idea!" XD
I still think strawberry pancake takoyaki was a much better-tasting idea than the amount of ribbing I continue to get for it, though!