I Love Food!

Food grew on me. No, not like a fungus! What I mean is that it took me a while to start seeing food as anything but an interruption in my day. Oddly enough, I used to feel the same way about the Holidays. It made me crazy to have everything stop for days while everyone watched fireworks and ate fried chicken. I had things to get done, and the forced stops were frustrating! Awe, the follies of youth.

Somewhere along the line, I discovered real food. I’m talking about a perfect steak, fresh sushi, and the only dessert I’ve ever really cared about is creme brûlée. The list is, of course, much longer than that, but you get the idea. 

I love all kinds of food as long as it is made well with good ingredients. My motto is - If I’m going to pay for it, I want the best I can find. Now, that doesn’t mean that everything I eat has to cost a fortune, but It does mean I like the food I spend my money on to be exceptional. I’ve had some yummy hot dogs, and there are days when the mood hits that I’ll spend a lot of effort to find a good one. 

I grew up on cattle ranches, so having a delicious steak was pretty standard. It wasn’t until we moved off the ranch that I found out how hard it is to get a great steak. It must be organic and cooked, rare to medium-rare. Yes, I know all of the never-eat meat people are scandalized, but that’s how life on the ranch goes. 

I fell in love with sushi when my then-husband introduced us. It was in Mildenhall, England. We had this excellent dinner at a table outside on the grass by a beautiful slow-moving river. It was all delicious, but the best course was sashimi. It was not the sashimi we usually see in sushi restaurants here in the US (not that that’s bad). They sliced it paper-thin in sheets the size of my open hand. There were five varieties of fish fanned out, and because of its cut, it all but melted in my mouth. Yum! My taste buds did a happy dance that I can still remember all these years later. 

I don’t remember my first creme brûlée. I do remember my husband and I searched for the best one on many of our vacations. I think that Jake’s in Portland, Oregon, and the Marriott’s restaurant in St. Thomas tied for first. Don’t forget to add a warm glass of Grand Mariner - Heaven.