(In)Edibles

For some reason most of my picture responses on Facebook come from the foods I post. Food is so completely essential to who we are. I am still a picky eater, but I have learned to looooove so many different kinds of foods. I know that I love them when I get a craving for something. Like butter chicken and papadams from the Indian restaurant. I never really craved Chinese food and I don't really here, either, but when we are at a Chinese restaurant, I definitely look for certain things I "need" for lunch or dinner. One whiff of green curry and I'm instantly transported to a greasy table along a back alley in Thailand, slurping up heavenly spoonfuls of the stuff and washing it down with the all-necessary icy beer.

I don't think I would ever get tired of or stop missing a great pizza or a fantastic burger. We ate tons of both this summer and it never got old. Here I'm willing to drive over an hour for real "American" pizza and spend over $10 for a burger that comes pretty close to home. Other things, like Mexican, I just make do. I fall into throes of ecstasy over strange things like Twizzlers. I binge on raspberry chipotle sauce over cream cheese that someone brought to book club. I have spent over $7 for a box of cereal because...well, just because. Food is so much more than stuff that fuels your body. It's comfort. It's memories of people and places past. It's part of who you are, no matter where you go.

Which means, of course, that food is, well, different around the world. I'm not talking sea cucumbers and chicken feet. Although I do have pictures. Sometimes I'm baffled by other things. Like corn, for instance. The Chinese love it. It goes on pizza. It comes as a side at McDonald's. You can have corn yougurt. Or corn ice cream. But nowhere can you get a big juicy ear of corn bathed in butter and sprinkled with salt. And some things just don't seem to work togther. Pea-flavored popsicles? Lemon tea potato chips? Hmmm...

There are those things that fall under my "picky eater" radar. Mushrooms, for example. I have tried so many different ways to eat them, but finally gave up. I'm just not going to like them. Ever.

Tofu is another. Tried it. Get the point of it. Tastes fine, because it absorbs whatever it's being cooked in. The feel? I can feel tofu in a mouthful of anything. But this spicy Sichuan-y bowl looked yummy.

I love salty things like soy sauce. I am passionate about cilantro. I adore sesame oil. Don't even get me started about garlic. I put it on everything. Really. Even if you tell me you hate it, you'll get some. So thescucumbers...well, it's a match made in heaven. I ate them for breakfast, too. Mmmmmm.

Another j'adore is shrimp. Seriously. Can there ever be anything wrong with them? Especially these little guys, with some sort of bare

ly-there spicy batter and fried garlic. It's worth burned and messy fingers to get at the tasty parts. Although it wouldn't kill someone to just freakin' peel them before they cook them. Although the Chinese probably pop them in, head, tail, and all. But they could be more free with the napkins.

At the end of the day, it's hard to complain about: 2 plates of kung-pao chicken, 1 plate of ginger mushrooms, 1 order of fried shrimp, 1 spicy tofu, 2 marinated cucumbers, 3 sweet and sour pork, 2 scrambled egg and tomato, 1 corn with pine nuts, 2 plates of dumplings, 8 orders of steam rice, 1 plate of fried rice, 15 bottles of water and 8 large bottles of beer that fed 7 adults, 5 teens and 3 littles: all for less than $200. Seriously. What's not to love about that?!