We're All Foods

There are so many different ways to describe ourselves and others that involve food:

• Apple of My Eye
• Whole Enchilada
• Nuts
• Bananas
• Peachy
• Beefy
• Chicken
• Cheesy
• Long, Tall Drink of Water
• Couch Potato
• Corny
• Red as a Beet
• Honey Bun
• Sugar
• Sweet Potato
• Cool as a Cucumber
• Cereal (serious)
• Full of Beans
• Milky Complexion
• Hot Dog
• Sandwich
• Salty
• Spicy
• Fruitcake
• Shrimp
• Icing on the Cake
• Doughy
• Whole Hog
• Bringing Home the Bacon
• Egg Head
• Full of Vim and Vinegar
• Feast for the Eyes
• Fishy
• Cracker
• Pumpkin
• Shrimp
• Muffin Top

What food descriptors do you or others use?

Good Eats

I've been blessed with wonderful, varied cuisine.  Our family has always decided where to eat out by deciding if we felt like Mexican, Thai, Indian, Italian, French, Vietnamese, Chinese, Sushi, steaks, burgers, etc.  To send Julia off for her last semester at Georgetown she chose our favorite steamed dumpling restaurant.  As with some of our other favorite places, the physical plant is unimpressive, but the food is superb.  In my estimation wherever you find food that you enjoy with those you love, you've found "good eats".  Food is a central part of our fun, festivity and memories.  Our kitchen has been filled with holiday sweet treats from family and friends.  Fortunately, we've had a rotating house full of young snackers to share the bliss and the calories.  By sharing our "good eats" we've had additional abundant fun, festivity and memories.

I Love Thanksgiving Leftovers

I love everything about Thanksgiving including the leftovers. I treasure the time with family, friends of all ages popping in for a visit, spades competitions and the Thanksgiving evening feast.  This year everyone except Papa made a signature dish.  It was fun having everyone in the kitchen infusing the food with love, talent and tradition.  And the menu evolves each year to incorporate yummy new recipes to complement our must have favorites.

As much as I enjoy every bite of the actual feast, I also eagerly anticipate the day after Thanksgiving leftovers.  The food is terrific when formally served on Thanksgiving Day and equally delicious when casually enjoyed the next day.  It's fun to see the contrast.  Everyone enjoys some of everything within their dietary restrictions on Thanksgiving.  The next day some family members choose equally broadly and others very narrowly. Some microwave a replica of the previous evening's meal; others choose only dessert or heaping sandwiches on reheated rolls.  And I can almost taste the potato soup that we'll create from last night's mashed potatoes.

I'm thankful for all of my blessings including Thanksgiving leftovers.

Fun and Food with Friends

The most obvious reason to entertain is to spend quality time with family and friends.  We love trying new restaurants, revisiting favorites and hosting dinner parties at home.  It's easy to get into a rut. Mixing familiar and novel places, dishes and participants creates anticipation, excitement and memories. 

A favorite childhood rhyme emphasizing the importance of literal friends can be expanded to include experiences:  "Make new friends and keep the old; some are silver and the others are gold".

Outrageously Delicious

I am blessed to be surrounded by accomplished family and commercial chefs.  Fortunately, I have an ability to moderate expectations.  My family chefs (Mama, Edgar, Julia and Gar) consistently delight the palate with their creative concoctions, prepared with love.  And since we are foodies, we are always seeking the "best of category" from commercial chefs. 

Ambience is a bonus, though not required to earn high marks from our discriminating crew.  Though we've eaten at many of the world's most acclaimed restaurants, many of our most memorable, outrageously delicious meals have been prepared with love by our family chefs.

Tastes of Summer

There are so many things to love about summer - more relaxed time with the kids, swimming every day, vacations and food.  The tastes of summer in Arkansas are spectacular - Cave City watermelons, Anna's cucumbers, Daddy's corn, Aunt Irene's okra, and vine-ripened tomatoes and squash from many green thumbs throughout Batesville. 

When asked why the tomatoes in Arkansas are so much better than those we buy in Houston, I answered that the Arkansas produce is infused with love.  Whatever the special bounty, the growers are anxious to share with others who they know will delight in the flavors.  

Though it would be remarkable to capture and enjoy the tastes of summer throughout the year, we might take them for granted if they weren't seasonally available, joyfully anticipated and immediately enjoyed. 

In the Middle

My mother has always been an amazing cook.  My daughter has also become an inspired chef.  I've finally realized that though I will never create their amazing meals (I don't cook), my role in their creative food worlds is to encourage, applaud, set the table, enjoy and clean up. 

They are passionate, prepared and professional chefs.  I have appetite, appreciation and applause for their amazing meals.  Though I will never rise to their level, I am happily stuck in the middle as their publicist and fanatic foodie!

Food!

It's (almost) embarrassing to admit that eating is my favorite hobby.  I've been surrounded by fabulous chefs my entire life - first Mama and now Edgar.  And Houston is a foodies' paradise with world-class cuisine from every desired point on the globe.  We've enjoyed grand meals in the finest, acclaimed restaurants and marvelous surprises in no-nonsense diners.  It's always a treasure hunt and treat to discover a new restaurant and/or chef that/who hasn't yet made the papers or gotten the wide-spread word-of-mouth buzz.

Food is the catalyst for festive, fun-filled functions.  Enjoyable feasts, great and small, provide immediate gratification and create multi-sensory memories.

Let's eat!