Let's Eat!

I’m not sure when exactly I became a Foodie.

Foodie? Is that a real word?

foodie: [foo-dee]- noun. Slang. a person keenly interested in food, esp. in eating or cooking. related words: bon vivant, epicure, epicurean, gastronome, gourmet

Gastronome– now that is a fancy word.

Gastronome.   Gastronome.

That might be my word of the week… let’s see how many times I can use gastronome in a sentence in everyday conversations.  Mission accepted!

Back to the task at hand. Can you tell I sometimes get off on a tangent?

I’m a foodie… a gastronome (ha! 1 time so far!) It was a gradual process for sure. Growing up my dish of choice was Blue Box Mac & Cheese and pepperoni sandwiches. The thought of one more dinner of roast beef or barbecued chicken made my stomach ill. I can remember a few oddities thrown in that predicted my love for different tastes… the Hot & Sour Soup I craved from the chinese restaurant, the eggplant I preferred over chicken in my parmigiana, my hatred of ketchup. I really can’t remember the day I became a cook or an avid consumer of all things new and different– but I do remember the early days of cooking for my husband on a limited food budget. This is the defining moment of my culinary creativity. The days I would look in my fridge and all I would see is ground beef, a block of sharp cheddar cheese, & some cans of Dr. Pepper– and would think to myself. “What can I create with this and what I have in the pantry?” Many ground beef concoctions were created in those days; some keepers– some thrower-awayers. That is when I discovered my go-to site: AllRecipes.com. Check out the Ingredient Wizard. Type in what you have and what you don’t like. Voilà! Up pops some recipes. I still use AllRecipes often.  Just the other day I was craving salad from one of those Japanese cook-on-your-table establishments. I had some ginger laying around and here is the recipe I found: Japanese Ginger Salad Dressing. I added some fresh carrot to the recipe’s ingredients for some extra texture and nutrition and pureed using a food processor. Delicious! Take that $50 for overcooked tough steak & flaming onion volcano place! I can make your salad at home now! (However, the flaming onion volcano I will leave to you.)

I love to cook, to create, to taste, to consume, to evaluate the yumminess of a dish (whether made by myself or others).So, in the days to come- I will share my love for all things food. Recipes, tips, tricks, & delicious places from my repertoire. Let’s Eat!