Linda | 
10 29th, 2009| 
Ten Random Food Facts about Me
1. As a baby, my mom used to feed me and coax me to eat by cooing, “mum mum mum,” probably while doing the airplane spoon thing. My first word ended up being “mum” usually said over and over again and translating to “FEED ME, MOM. FEED ME, MOM!!”
2. Growing up, everytime my dad made me ramen (which wasn’t often at all, by the way) he also paired it with a glass of milk. Til this day, I love my ramen with a glass of milk. I find the cold milk with the piping hot noodle soup a very comforting pairing. I even remember the green glasses we had back then which gave my milk a green glowy tint that delighted me. If I ever find green tinted drinking glasses, you can bet your bottom dollar I’m buying.
3. I do not like raw onions. Most squid textures bother me but I do love calamari. I didn’t like escargot but I’m willing to try again.
4. I once ate 25 slices of pizza competing with an exboyfriend who ate 21 slices of pizza. I also ate 8 plates of Chinese buffet food competing with Chris. Chris ended up throwing up. I did lose at an icecream eating contest. I’ve since retired from food eating contests because after graduating college, my metabolism has slowed.
5. My ideal comfort food is warm gooey chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite kinds of cookies. I don’t do that many kinds of cookies. Sugar cookies are yucky but fun to decorate. I used to settle for McDonalds chicken nuggets for comfort food but Alan has shamed me so often the last couple of years that I think McDonalds comes with a side of guilt now.
Escargot
6. I have major wanderlust and insatiable appetite for life and life experiences. I think this is why I love books, movies, and food so much. It’s a very affordable and convenient way of seeing and experiencing the world. Some of the crazier things I’ve consumed: silkworms, escargot, pig’s blood, haggis (Mary Ellen and I both did this in Scotland), chicken and duck feet.
Durian Icecream
7. My favorite flavors: chocolate chocolate chocolate, avocado, pistachio, coconut, lychee. I never ever get vanilla icecream, I think that’s incredibly boring. However, I love vanilla flavoring in other things. Like chocolate chip cookies. Did I mention I love chocolate chip cookies?
8. The very first time I made cookies when I was still in middle school, I left the cookies in the oven to ‘cool.’ That is just the beginning of a slew of baking mistakes I’ve since made through the years. I hate baking. I’m not a very good baker. Sometimes I forget an ingredient when cooking and I can just either subsitute with something else or just dash it in right then and there. Baking, you can’t do that. Once things are mixed and in the oven, they’re mixed and in the oven! Ovens also add another element of difficulty for me. I often undercook or overcook. I just made Cindy’s chocolate chip cookies for a potluck last week. See below for the recipe. They’re not as orgasmic as when Cindy made them. I guess all this just means I need to bake more.
9. I like things SPICY. Not only do I like things with a lot of heat, I like it to fit into context. I like jalapenos in my burgers and some Asian saucy dishes. I like hot salsa in my burritos. Tabasco in some American and Mexican cuisine. Sriracha and jalapenos in my pho and Sambal sauce in my Thai food. Red Pepper flakes in my Italian. Point is, I would never put Sriracha in my Alfredo and Tobasco in my pho. What made me think of this was I noticed Alan’s Tobasco use is more universal than me.
10. I notice food with my loved ones and try to commit their quirks into memory so I can consider them when I cook for them or when I invite them out. I know Jessica does not like ANYTHING “exotic” and only like Thousand Island as a salad dressing. I know Brandi can’t handle any mild spice what so ever. My brother is not a big fan of tofu. Mary Ellen loves hot pot fanatically. I know Alan always gets a jalapeno when he gets Rudy’s; I know what he likes in his Chipotle. Nino is basically a Vietnamese/Thai boy when it comes to his palate. Kim and Cindy love adventure. No wonder they make GREAT food buddies. (case in point a, case in point b). So as you can see, food is one of my love languages in that it is how I communicate love.
Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
Passed on to me through Cindy who got it from AllRecipes.com. She made these cookies twice for me. Once near when we first met and I invited her to go gun shooting with me and Kim. And then once more last year when she stayed with me for a couple of months. They are mouthwatering when she makes them. They weren’t as orgasmic when I made them recently but I haven’t given up on this recipe yet.
Ingredients
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 cups butter, softened 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar 2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix 4 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 4 cups semisweet chocolate chips 2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.
Texas native. Living and working in Austin, TX. Twenty something. In hot pursuit of good food, adventure, and laughter. Dreams of owning her own place with a big giant library.
October 29th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
I’m always shocked when people don’t want to try my food. I suppose it’s an Asian/family-style thing. When I eat out with other people, I want to try EVERYONE’s food, haha.
I, too, am not a baker. The closest I’ve come to baking involve the pre-made cookie-doughs from the store. I tried making cookies from scratch once and they were not edible. But you know what, maybe I’ll try that chocolate chip cookie recipe someday…=)
I love trying new foods!! I’ll try anything once (that’s supposed to be eaten).
My favorite noodles will probably always be the ones my dad made for us to eat late at night (and we weren’t supposed to tell mom because she doesn’t like us eating late!).
Linda– we should try a new restaurant sometime the next time you’re in Houston!! I’m always looking for excuses to try a new place =)
October 29th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
jess,
me too! alan doesn’t always try my entree when we go out and it boggles my mind. jon and i used to split entrees half way through.
let’s try a new place! i’m still looking for a job so we’ll make it a cheap eat restaurant (plus I’m suppose to try Hugos brunch one more time with Kim)
u’d be such a great food buddy if you lived in atx. :( sigh.
October 29th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
I’d definitely be down for some new cheap food! Let me know when you’ll be in town! =) And let me know how Hugo’s brunch is! I thought about having my birthday brunch there but figured it was too expensive to make other people pay for it too.
Yeah, I find that as we grow up, everyone just ends up all over the place!
October 30th, 2009 at 12:39 am
Hehe, I love how those cookies are somewhat symbolic of when we first met, no? Keep trying! I’d say you’re better off underbaking than overbaking…if you underbake, you can always pop ‘em back in the oven. :)
October 30th, 2009 at 1:07 am
Jess, I’ll def let you know :)
Cindy, I’ll keep trying. maybe after I start going to the gym again haha. i’m getting a little pooch :(
October 30th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Sweetheart, I’d love to say that I did try the haggis when we were in Scotland. I WANTED to try it. But it was one of the days that we hadn’t really been fed (remember the day we tried to eat at Pizza Hut thinking it would work?); I chickened out and had the salmon so that I would be sure to have food to eat.
October 30th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
I absolutely LOVE to bake & for birthdays, I usually bake cookies or cupcakes for all my friends & then head to their house to surprise them. But I saw the potluck posts & I love the letter potluck idea! I think I might start doing potluck dinners too.
I’ve never made cookies from scratch (usually buy the dough lol) but I think this week I will have to try this recipe out for myself. Thanks! `=O)
October 31st, 2009 at 3:41 am
meffy, i should edit that shouldnt i? haha my memory is fuzzy. i think you keep telling me that
vee, you should blog about the potlucks! i’d love to see what kind of eats people bring.