Super Taste

Howdy everyone! A long, long, long time no see! I've been busy doing the family stuff, with my baby now at one year old, keeping up with him is a busy but joyous chore! He (the baby) is growing up to be some kind of foodie...of the vegetarian/fruitatarian sort, you see, he won't eat any meat or eggs. I heard that is not uncommon for toddlers to not want to eat meat. As long as he is healthy, I will accommodate him and his vegetarian ways.

Lately, when I'd get a chance, I've been watching this Taiwanese travel/food show called "Super Taste" or "食尚玩家" and drooling for the most part.

The show have about 3 sets of hosts, all being young and the energetic sort. They'd take turns traveling to various parts of Taiwan, sampling local fares, as well as the occasional journeys abroad. I like it because it's a very light-hearted show and the concentration of the show is more about the what makes the local fares delicious and less about the high and mighty foodie television stuff.

Sometimes, I'd sit my baby on my lap and we'd watch these clips on youtube...he seems to enjoy them too!

Will go back to food posting later! I've got to remember to give an update on how we b eating lately!

Lately,

I've been wanting just about every kind of food from every other ethnicity but American. The kinds with lots of different vegetables. I don't know, for some reasons, my taste buds just pretty much wanted to quit your run of the mill American foods.

Could it be that American food is either too unrefined or too processed? I don't know. But taking a note from what my son has been eating so far (fruits and veggie purees), it made me wonder if food in its purest form is the best way to go, I mean, he seems to have so much energy!

I'm not by any means advocating some kind of raw food or all-puree diet, but it's just an interesting thought.

Cravings?

At about 16 weeks of pregnancy so far, I can't really say that I've got any special cravings, in fact, my eating habits are still very much the same as before. I tend to eat a bit of everything, and I welcome chances to eat dishes from various elasticities.... unfortunately, Northern Virginia where I am currently residing, is not huge on ethnic cuisines, instead, there are a lot of imitations.

I have noticed that, however, that my taste for beef has changed somewhat. In the way that I don't like it as much as before. The same old commercials which showed sizzling steaks and chops just don't make me drool anymore. Yet that is not to say that I don't like the occasional burger.

Fruits and veggies have started to all of a sudden taste better than before, even the texture of them have gotten different for my taste buds! I try and pack more of them for my lunches at work... not only is that better but it also helps to save a bit of $. I love soup and especially the kind that has both meat and vegetables in it!

If there is something that I'd really like to have for the sake of cravings and winter dishes, it's got to be the Chinese hot pot (or 火鍋)! To me, it's like the best of both worlds! You've got your soup (I love soup!) and your pot full of protein (lean meats and sea food if you want to add them in) and vegetables! It's like killing two birds with one stone in getting your taste and nutritional needs!

Care package from Houston!

When my sister came to visit us for thanksgiving, I had asked her to bring some dry food (mostly ramen) and seasoning aids that I could not find as easily here.

Here is the picture of what she had brought for me. Various assortments of the tung-i brand of ramen noodles (I've got to taper off on the consumption of these noodles!), anise seeds (for spicing up beef stews and other stewed goods with soy sauce base, dried noodles, and pork sungs (dried pork meat, you usually eat it with rice gruel, picked cucumbers and some tofu in the morning....assuming that you do have the luxury of a sit-down breakfast in the morning!)

My next entry will be what I've managed to learn from my sister in terms of some simple, home cooked dishes! I'm learning that it's simply not enough to love to eat and not know much about how to cook what you love to eat, so with her help, I'm stepping up! Besides, this growing baby inside should grow up not only knowing American food!

Thanksgiving 09'

My sister came to visit us for this thanksgiving. We didn't cook a turkey since she's severely allergic to cats and couldn't really stay in the house for too long, so instead, we went for brunch at the Ritz-Carlton at Tyson's Corner, Va. It's an area full of high-end stores and many of the big government agencies have annexes there. It was the most expensive food that all of us had ever had, but you only live once, right?

The picture above were a sampling of the desert spread, complete with miniature pecan pie, creme brulee, a piece of gourmet chocolate, and chocolate cupcake. I consumed more seasonal fruites, like strawberries, blueberries, as well as sides such as mashed potatoes (pretty darn good tasting, and the texture was just right!), steamed buns (they included some Asian theme with steamed buns, and sushi, which were not all that good, according to my sister.)

We ate until we were almost about to get sick, and basically refrained from eating for the rest of the day! Thanks sis! For such a great thanksgiving treat!

A bit of an variation

No, I'm not going to eat babies and tell you what they taste like on this blog, but as I slowly drag my ass back into writing and keeping this blog up, I've got an announcement to make....ready for this? I'm expecting! (We're finally old enough and my pets needs a playmate their size anyway.) My GF and I just found out about a week ago and I am already wondering what this baby (I'm guessing that it's one so far...but it's too early to tell.) will prompt me to eat as far as cravings are concerned.

I'm not having any morning sickness yet, but I've been told that they'll be coming. What are the chances, then, of me not having any?

So here's to 8 months of not eating cold cuts, no beer, no cigarettes, and no hotdogs! (That one hurts the most!)

Stay tuned as I, um, we, explore more food!

Simple dinner

All it took was a whole chicken, seasoned with salt, pepper, and rosemary on the outside and a pinch on the inside. Put about a cup of water in the pan, and then place in the oven at 350 degrees for about 2-3 hours depending on the size of the chicken. We usually like to cook some rice to go along with the chicken. Once we cut the chicken, the legs and the wings are often the first ones that we'd cut off and eat. If you don't finish the chicken, not to worry, the rest of the chicken will end up being chicken soup.

Every once in a while we just like food with minimal seasoning and very simple to make but are still good and substantial to eat.