For those who know me they understand I love food; good food, weird food and food I have never had before. I don’t really look like I love food because of my size but…I try to realize what one needs to do to maintain health. So for me food is not just something to sustain life and for that I am thankful because for so many that is the case. I love telling the story of growing up and on Sundays my family would have steak, not a big deal necessarily but when I say we had steak, I mean we had a steak for the five of us. We would split it up and that was it. I am not sorry or embarrassed by this fact, I am grateful. With that experience I had some small understanding of not having everything I wanted. Clearly we weren’t in the situations that many find themselves with nothing to eat or just eating very bad food. To this day I can eat myself out of house and home by how much I could eat and the type of food I would want.
My brothers and I grew up with a lot of game on the dinner table since our dad was an avid hunter. He grew up hunting to have more food for the family. Deer, squirrel, rabbit, quail, dove, duck, goose and fish were a common occurrence. So many people miss a great food experience if they have never had these. Some would consider wild game as cheap food but in reality this same food in a nice restaurant would fetch the highest prices.
I have some simple rules for food, try something new whenever possible, absolutely! My suggestion is to step out of your comfort zone and eat something new. Food can be a journey like anything else. I feel like my food journey has just begun because there is so much out there I have never had. As a child I was a picky eater but as I get older I want to try it all. As my niece and nephews would say, YOLO, you only live once. Here is the deal, if you try something and you don’t like it, oh well. What is life without discovery?
Today I had lunch in a small quiet restaurant; it was great simply because I needed to get out of the house. I had soup and a sandwich with my hot tea with honey and some precious time to think. That is what food did for me today. It was some great alone time but my absolute favorite thing to do is share a good meal and conversation with someone. In the past year my favorite lunch spot in St Louis closed which was crushing; they had the best iced tea. But on the bright side I was able to try some foods I had never experienced before, a fantastic lamb burger, Branzino fish, beef tongue and calf brains. May the next year add to my journey.
Food is what we make of it and for me I love the many faces it can be. As my food journey continues this year I will share the fun, delicious and gross events as they happen. Did I mention I like food?
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