On a blog far far away, an extremely delightful and intelligent blogger by the name of Ros tagged me for a meme. Unfortunately, along the journey to posting there were all kinds of crazy obstacles that kept me from reaching the destination, like friends visiting from across the country and finding a new job… Okay, enough cheese, lets get down to it!


Here are 5 things you (probably) don’t know about me:

1. I won’t drink prune juice…but not because I think it’s nasty. I grew up with a grandmother who thought we needed to have a BM everyday. So every time my parents would ditch us with her while they went on vacation, she would force me to drink prune juice till I went.. uh, to the “potty”. Agh! Damn me for being to young during those days to know how to lie!

2. One of my favorite sandwiches as a child was a peanut butter, sharp cheddar, and mayo sandwich. Hey! Don’t wrinkle you’re nose! Peanut butter and cheddar taste awesome together! Seriously guys, if you can get past eating a sandwich made with two layers of fat, I would suggest giving it a whirl….although it’s been quite sometime since i’ve eaten the sandwich with mayo (i don’t really eat too much mayo period), i’m sure it would still be quite tasty.

3. I have never had foie gras!… There! I said it! I’ve eaten plenty of liver, just never the delightful fatty liver that is so highly acclaimed. I really really really want to but for most of my life I haven’t lived in areas where it was easily accessible (or worked in restaurants that served it). Since we moved to San Diego I haven’t been working in kitchens and have been extremely poor (due to working in the non-profit mental health field until recently) but I SWEAR I’m gonna get some soon! *06/26/2007 update: i’ve been back working in a kitchen since february! woo hoo. i still do some desk work, and i still haven’t eaten any foie.*
Update 3/03/07: I’m still working as a personal chef and I HAVE now eaten foie gras. I like it a lot, but there is only so much fat I can take in one setting!

4. (This one I’ll steal from aria because it’s oh-so true!) I’ve been known to just toss out really nasty dishes that have things growing on it rather than deal with the funk. Fortunately, I don’t really let things get to this state anymore, but when I was in college… wooooaaah.

5. I’ve got a terribly dirty mouth that would shock 99.9% of all humans on earth. Fortunately for all humans, I know how to restrain myself, and tend to keep my fowlness for those near and dear to me, like T(ea)-cakes… aka pepita brittle.

While I’m not going to tag anyone else for this meme (mostly because you’ve all done it already… several times!), if anybody wants to do it, go for it!

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I have graciously been tagged by the mega-talented photographer/writer/cook, Bron Marshall, to participate in the the meme “5 things to Eat Before You Die”. The meme was originally started by the fantastic Melissa, from the Traveler’s Lunchbox, inspired by the BBC veiwers’ poll “50 things to eat before you die”. I love this concept because it has allowed tyler and i to compile a list of our absolute most favorites (okay, most of them are mine, but if you know t, you’ll figure out which one he was really pulling to get added to the list). So here goes nothing:

1. My family’s cheasapeake bay blue crab cakes, that use only 8 saltine crackers/pound of fresh from the bay meat for a binder. The best are sauteed in butter to a golden brown so the delicate flavors of the crab, butter and caramelization just make you go “mmm”. In my family, this is refered to as a “crab sigh”.

2. Any well made, real indian curry, so spicy that it brings tears to your eyes with each bite and requires a lassi to help you recover.

3. Lebanese fried cheese with fresh pitas to soak up all the glorious olive oily, garlicy goodness.

4. A spicy duck and sausage gumbo made with a dark roux, thick slices of okra, traditional louisiana spices, and a side of garlic butter french bread.

5. A fresh frenched rack of lamb butchered by a nice soul who left on a reasonable amount of fat, so during the cooking process the fat melts away and leaves a juicy medium-rare present from the gods. For me, the lamb would be encrusted with S&P, rosemary, and mustard, then finished by drizzling a red-wine reduction made with the pan drippings all over the rack (and whatever else is lucky enough to have made it on the plate with the rack).

Okay, so there you have it. I know, i know. it all sounds so rich. I feel like i should put fresh picked berries or ruston peaches or…. any of the great fruits and veggies that i love and get excited about. but for me, i think i would go out on a rich note before i die.

Now for the next victim’s of the meme. I can’t wait to see what these folks responses are:

Anne from Anne’s Food
Adam from Men in Aprons
Aria from passionatenonchalance
Michelle from Michellephant: a year in food
Marianne from The Unemployed Cook

I hope you’ll all participate and fill us in on what is the ultimate for you!
-Amanda

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