Fourteenth Confession

I like to eat.  It's one of those things that doesn't make too much sense when you say it aloud, but it makes perfect sense if you look at my track record.  Squid in its own ink, Chinese food, Thai cuisine - all of it delicious and all of it fun.  If there's something on the menu that I've not had before, I want to give it a try.  After all, it wouldn't be poisonous if it were on the menu, right?  ....right?

That being said, my favorite place to eat breakfast is at the local gas station or convenience store, especially when I'm on the road.  I usually stay at a place that serves a free breakfast, so I grab a couple eggs from there, then head on over to ye olde filling station for my morning energy drink.  Last time I was out of town, I tried the Monster Java varieties, and found that  the Irish was one of my new favorite ways to take my iced coffee.  When I'm at home, breakfast usually consists of two yogurts and something else from the fridge.  Sometimes cereal, sometimes not.  The past couple days, I've even had a grapefruit, which is a rare treat. 

One rule of thumb for dining out: the more questionable the surroundings of the Asian food restaurant (yet SAFE, don't be stupid), the better the cuisine there is.  For example, my favorite Thai restaurant in the Columbus area is in a dilapidated strip mall off of Sawmill Parkway.  The Thai Orchid, from the outside, reminds me a bit of the Chinese restaurant from "Big Trouble in Little China."  Not much to look at, but once you get inside, it's all a bit posh.  The menu is brilliant; however, beware when it says that the food is spicy.  The last time we ate there, Joy had something tasty, and I had something incredibly hot.  It was so hot, my mouth literally went numb; I had to go to the restroom and gargle some mouthwash to restore equilibrium.

Chinese buffets are, in my humble opinion, a great way to be introduced to Chinese cuisine.  Typically, there is a lot of food, a good variety, and a few dishes for the inexperienced to fall back upon.  No one goes away hungry, and if you're up for it, there's always something slightly more exotic than mac and cheese to eat.

I like my steak, but I also have a fondness for vegetables.  I have a tendency to stress eat celery or a bag of lettuce when I'm upset.  I'm not sure if that's some programming from my parents' raising me, or if it's something more sinister.  But a well mixed salad is a work of art: the crunch of spinach and radicchio, the flavor of beet greens, the tingle of the endive... and that's just the leaf basis.  Add some celery for benefits, carrot for color, peanuts for crunch, cucumber for cool, and radish for spice, and you've got yourself the beginnings of something wonderful.  Chunk up a chicken or some roasted cow atop it, and you've got a meal.

Now I'm salivating for dinner tonight...