Culinary Friday Five

If you were a food, what would you be?

A dark chocolate truffle, with cinnamon and chipotle peppers in the center. Warm and welcoming, with a little bite. And good for you, too, of course.

What is one of the most memorable meals you ever had? And where?

Last year, my sister and her husband went out with Ben and me to a local tapas restaurant. Aqua's head chef is a church member, and his food is amazing. We shared many small plates of fabulous food, and for dessert had a huge creme brulee. We also all got along, which is sometimes iffy for my sister and me.
And the second most memorable meal was one Ben's mom fixed for my birthday. Ben and I were engaged, and he wanted to do something special, so he got a woman from one of his churches to make my favorite cake (Dutch recipe fudge cake with cream cheese frosting) and his mom made his favorite meal: chicken with mushroom gravy (I don't eat mushrooms), rice, canned green peas (I don't eat those either), and congealed salad (I don't know why anyone eats that). We had a good time anyway.

What is your favorite comfort food from childhood?

It's a toss-up: mashed potatoes with cheddar cheese on top, or chocolate chip cookies. Pity they don't go together!

When going to a church potluck, what one recipe from your kitchen is sure to be a hit?

Fudge pie, no question. It has more cocoa powder than flour, lots of butter and eggs, and is basically sin on a fork. It's the only thing I've ever eaten that was so chocolate I actually wanted some whipped cream to lighten it up a little.

What’s the strangest thing you ever willingly ate?

Paste, I guess...I don't remember anything else, unless you count that truffle I mentioned in the first question. I have some weird food issues: vegetables shouldn't be sweet (sweet potatoes--yuck!), and I don't like surprises in my food, so that ruins a lot of casserole-type things for me. But I'm not really that picky. I eat most food (just not mushrooms, peas, Jello, sweet potatoes, or cooked carrots).
Late edit: when I was in high school, I took a course in Coastal Ecology. We used to dissect stuff (often fish we'd caught that afternoon) and then cook and eat them. My first calamari was in that class.
Late late edit. Pig brains, scrambled in eggs. I used to love this when I was a child, until the first time I helped my grandmother make it. Somehow I never thought it was actually brains...but sure enough, we dumped the little brain right into the skillet and stirred it around in the eggs. No more brains and eggs for me.

Bonus question: What’s your favorite drink to order when looking forward to a great meal?

Water. Maybe coffee with dessert. Don't want anything to interfere with the flavors!