UNDER CONSTRUCTION

so i've been toying around with the idea of starting a new and different blog. i'm passionate about being a mom, but i'm also passionate about food! i don't want to call it or myself a foodie, because i think the term is thrown around too much.. but the fact is, i really love food.

food is so visceral. everytime i think of a meal it brings back a certain, clear as crystal memory or even an emotion for me. i also have a more personal reason to write about food. as i start to raise the girls, i want them to have the same food memories that i had from my childhood. no matter what evening it was, my mom would always come home, and prepare at least 2 dishes for the family, and how my grandmother would welcome us home with a bowl of sausage fried rice. i remember whole chickens air drying/ hanging from twine on the cabinet nobs, and i remember how embarrassed i'd be when a friend would come over after school, and see said chicken hanging! i remember how i'd bring fresh fried shrimp chips to school instead of wise potato chips. i remember spare ribs, the hated(now loved) bitter melon, the winter melon soups, home grown tomatoes with sugar on top. i could go on for days (thus the need for a blog)

we all had our loves and hates. just recently, my mom cooked this pork dish, and she said she used to cook it for us as babies! i had no idea, i thought that was so cool! she said specifically that she had cooked it for lily and pearl. i want to retain my food heritage. i want to feed my girls' memories with home cooked meals rather than a bag of frozen dumplings (which are still really good in a bind!) they are voracious and adventurous eaters as well. i want to take ample advantage of that amazing gift.

i've also eaten my way through many countries.. heck i'll even plan a vacation around what's to eat. my job has always allowed me to travel far and wide. i've had the best chowan mushi in hong kong (it's where i first discovered this delicate custard.) chow'd my way around thailand with my eating buddy reiko- durian anyone? the fruit so stinky it is banned from many hotels in bangkok! kimchee in korea...rabbit sausage on the shore of paros, greece... pizza by the pound in rome... sea urchin in san francisco, cracked fresh and served in it's thorny shell...real jerk off a banana leaf stoked fire in jamaica.. the special fish in my native new york, at blue ribbon sushi... they first serve it to you raw, then they take the head and bones, deep fry it, and serve it to you again. you pick all the tasty morsels off and eat the bones.....and the infamous burger in london which put me in the hospital!

my good friend sandy says of me, "she'd try shit once, and if she didn't like it, she'd try it again, just to make sure."

bc3, the girls and i are are planning a trip of a lifetime to france. the region we are going to is officially the "midipyrenees," but guess what.. it's also the capital of the foie gras producing world!!! how freakin' excited am i? let's see, take a goose or a duck, fatten it up in the last 2 weeks of it's life, kill it, then lightly pan sear, and feed me the liver. now that's my idea of a good time...sign me up! also known for amagnac, famous white garlic, cassoulet beans, and of course.. red wine. let's not forget the cheese. roquefort to be specific. not just any roquefort. THE(long e) ROQUEFORT. the kind that is only deemed roquefort when it has been aged in the natural combalou caves of roquefort-sur-soulzon. now, i don't actually like any kind of overly moldy cheese, because the thought of eating it can't get past my brain and allow it to touch my tongue, but for THE(long e) ROQUEFORT, i will get over it, and eat the hell out of that moldy, stinky cheese. and i guess along the way, we'll see a few castles, some chateaux, a river, maybe the mediterranean...blah, blah, blah!

i think this trip is the perfect time for me to start my new food blog. i'll attempt to document every meal i eat, via photograph or journal entry... whether extraordinary or mundane. so stay tuned! title of food blog, as yet undecided.. and maybe i'll get some much needed inspiration in france.

i'm hoping the process will feed both my body and my soul.