A food survey!

What's the last thing you ate? Bowl of Campbell's Chunky Chicken Pot Pie soup (I suck...)

What's your favorite cheese? Gouda

What's your favorite fish? Tilapia

What's your favorite fruit? A good peach is deeeelicious.

When, if ever, did you start liking olives? Never!

When, if ever, did you start liking beer? I generally don't but I can finish a cup of Miller Lite before it gets warm, so yay?

When, if ever, did you start liking shellfish? I still don't much like shrimp but I do like crab and scallops, which was probably about 2 years ago.

What was the best thing your mum/dad/guardian used to make? My mom makes good potato soup.

What's the native specialty of your home town? Lexington? I suppose stuff like derby pie and mint juleps but that's really more Louisville.

What's your comfort food(s)? Campbell's tomato soup, with a grilled cheese sandwich made with lots of butter, Wonder Bread (or equivalent spongy pre-sliced bread) and Kraft Singles. Sliced diagonally.

What's your favorite type of chocolate? Mint chocolate. Or if we mean chocolate candy, probably Raisinets.

How do you like your steak? Medium

How do you like your burger? Medium

How do you like your eggs? Swirled into egg drop soup. Alternately they're not bad in fried rice as long as the chunks are small and dry and not very eggy-tasting. I don't really like eggs for breakfast at all though.

How do you like your potatoes? Roasted with rosemary, thyme and garlic; mashed; scalloped with a nice cheese sauce

How do you take your coffee? Smelling up the grocery aisle. That's about it.

How do you take your tea? I don't but I'll make sweet tea for Alex if he requests it.

What's your favorite mug? I don't really have one, but that's probably because I'm not a huge fan of hot drinks.

What's your biscuit or cookie of choice? Chocolate chip. Peanut butter is a close second.

What's your ideal breakfast? 2 slices bacon (crispy but with a bit of chew to it still). Two pancakes with butter and maple syrup. One small bowl either fresh fruit (melon, grape, banana, etc) or baked apples. Small glass apple juice. One small bowl Frosted Flakes with milk and strawberries on top. (That's like, ultimate breakfast. I can't actually imagine eating all that in one sitting.)

What's your ideal sandwich? Turkey, melted swiss, bacon, tomato (GOOD tomato), shredded lettuce.

What's your ideal pizza (topping and base)? Thin crust, with bbq sauce instead of pizza sauce, and ham (or Canadian bacon) and pineapple chunks. Alternately, chicken instead of ham would work. It needs to be so overloaded with toppings though that it practically falls apart when you pick up the slice.

What's your ideal pie (sweet or savory)? Nana's cherry pie is still the best pie ever.

What's your ideal salad? Romaine, thinly sliced carrots, celery half-moons, green pepper strips (not rings, those are difficult to eat in salad), good (big) garlicky croutons, shredded cheddar, diced smoked ham, slices of cucumber, with honey french dressing.

What food(s) do you always like to have in the fridge? Chicken broth, leeks, fresh herbs, broccoli, zucchini.

What food do you always like to have in the freezer? Cabbage, potato or mushroom dumplings (preferably Alex's mom's varyeniki but from Ho's works too), frozen vegetables, boneless skinless chicken breasts

What food do you always like to have in the cupboard? Various oils/vinegars/cooking wines, soup mixes

What spices can you not live without? salt, pepper, rosemary, parsley, cayenne, basil, ginger

What sauces can you not live without? soy sauce, ketchup, applesauce

Where do you buy most of your food? Dillon's but I like to go to Hen House when I feel like spoiling myself.

How often do you go food shopping? Weekly.

What's the most you've spent on a single food item? Probably in the $20-$30 range for last year's Thanksgiving turkey or something.

What's the most expensive piece of kitchen equipment you own? Probably one of the Calphalon pans.

What's the last piece of equipment you bought for your kitchen? Alex's cast iron small teapot.

What piece of kitchen equipment could you not live without? Santoku.

How many times a week/month do you cook from raw ingredients? When I am being good, roughly 3x/week. When I am not being good so much, roughly 3x every 2 weeks.

What's the last thing you cooked from raw ingredients? Broccoli last night (which I posted about here)

What meats have you eaten besides cow, pig and poultry? Does seafood count? Oh wait I've had venison! Hah! It was really tasty too.

What's the last time you ate something that had fallen on the floor? I think a broccoli floret fell on the floor while I was chopping last night (or maybe it was a bit of mushroom the night I did risotto) and I picked it up within 1 second of it falling, inspected for grit, and then put it back on the cutting board and proceeded as normal. That's my usual procedure, if it doesn't have visible particles on it it's fine. And I've never had food poisoning so *shrug*

What's the last time you ate something you'd picked in the wild? I think I had mulberries or some other sort of wild berry once this summer from trees at Alex's parents' house.

Place in order of preference (greatest to least): Chinese, French, Italian, Mexican, Indian, Sushi,
Moroccan, Thai, (I have never had Moroccan or Thai)

Place in order of preference: garlic, basil, mint, caramel, ginger, lime, anise,

Place in order of preference: cherry, strawberry, apple, banana, orange, watermelon,

Place in order of preference: the internet, food, movies, sex, fashion, sports

Bread and spread? White toast with margarine spread. I am classy.

What's your fast food restaurant of choice, and what do you usually order? Panera Bread (I know, it's not REALLY fast food but it does have you walking to the counter to order so I think it counts), and I get a chicken caesar salad. If Panera Bread doesn't count, then Wendy's, and a #1 with cheese (no onion/tomato/mayo).

Pick a city. What are the best dining experiences you've had in that city? Madison WI: Laredo's. Ella's Deli. Noodles & Co (yeah, that's a chain but I haven't been to one outside of Madison even though there are some in KC that I know the location of). Culver's (also a chain but I was introduced to it in Madison and used to eat it almost religiously).

What's your choice of tipple at the end of a long day? Coke, generally. Apple juice sometimes though. Ooo or apple cider!

What's the next thing you'll eat? Tonight... likely some sprees. If I don't eat anything else tonight, then tomorrow morning I may have some of those vegetarian broccoli-cheese bites (even though they smell weird and give me icky burps, they TASTE fine), or maybe some of those Asian dumpling thingies... or the rest of the can of peaches I put in the fridge the other morning... or I may try to finish off some of the leftover fusilli or rigatoni before they go bad. (Not the risotto though... that first reheating convinced me that the rest of the leftovers are pretty much a wash.)