Did we already do this one? I don’t think I did. And I saw it over on FeedYourLoves and felt like doing it. Here goes!
1. If you were stuck on an island and could only eat one cuisine (e.g., French, Italian, etc.) for the rest of your life, what would it be? Why?
That is a very difficult question, but I guess ultimately I would say Japanese.
2. What is the most unusual food you’ve eaten?
When I was in Mexico, I took a teeny tiny bite of fried grasshoppers.
3. What is the most unusual food you’ve eaten and liked?
When I was little, everyone thought I was totally freaky for liking eel (unagi). But now everyone likes it.
4. What foods will you avoid eating (either because of a dietary choice or allergies or just plain don’t like)?
Bananas bananas bananas. (just don’t like) Brussel sprouts. Beets. Anything licorice or anise tasting, including FENNEL. Except the fennel that Christine tricked me into eating at Pearl.
5. Do you cook (and by that, I mean prepare a meal that you’d serve to friends)?
Yes. But something about making dinners 5-6 nights a week for a bunch of oppositionally picky people has taken the wind out of my cooking sails. Maybe one day I will really enjoy it again, when I can serve meals that Certain People don’t push around with their forks and say, “Do I HAVE to eat this?!”
6. If yes, what is your favorite dish to prepare to impress someone?
Hm. That is a good question. I know that my Thanksgiving feasts have been fairly impressive, just on a yummy comfort level. Sweet potato casserole with bourbon and pecans, green beans with lemon butter and pecans, chicken-apple sausage stuffing, pecan pie. LOTS of pecans.
7. When you go to a restaurant, what’s your ordering strategy/preference?
I have no idea what this question means. My general approach is one of mass confusion and indecision. I always try to order last, after everyone else. My father’s strategy, which I loved and admired, was that he would poll everyone at the table (even up to 20 people), instantly memorize it, and then recite the whole thing for the server.
8. Have you ever returned a dish or wine to the kitchen at a restaurant? Why?
No, I never have. I am the self-effacing, suck it up and don’t complain kind of diner. If it’s a cheap restaurant and it’s bad, I figure I get what I’m paying for (not much). If it’s an expensive restaurant, I figure I don’t know enough to realize that the food is what it’s supposed to be like, and if I don’t like it, too bad.
9. How many cookbooks do you own?
About 20. But I only use a small handful: Cover and Bake, and the original Moosewood. I also use quite a bit of Epicurious.
10. What is one food that you wouldn’t want to live without?
Cheese. And rice. (whoops)
Now I tag all the Muffin Top contributors, and all of our readers.
