My First Meme: The Cook Next Door

Until today, Food Migration has been a food blogging meme wallflower. My blog has watched glumly from the sidelines as other more popular and good-looking blogs have been asked to answer a circulating list of questions relating to their owners' eating habits and history. Food Migration has remained in the shadows, sipping punch and trying to look cool, but all the while she has been secretly hoping somebody would ask her to join in the fun. And now, Amy of Cooking With Amy has crossed the dance floor and broken the ice. Thank you, Amy! (This meme originated at the blog Delicious Days).

To be honest, I'm still not quite sure what "meme" means. I guess I could research it, but I prefer to speculate that it is either a) a made-up internet word, or b) one of those scary graduate school words like philology or liminal that I repeatedly look up and then forget the meaning of.

Anyway, on to the questions. (Is a meme just a list of questions that you get to answer self-indulgently in the name of contributing to the blogging community? If so, I'm all for it, cause this blog is all about self-indulgence, if you haven't already noticed...)

What is your first memory of baking/cooking on your own?
Baking bread in third grade. I checked out a bread-baking book from my elementary school library over and over and made white bread that had a long slit in the crust which I would brush with honey and butter before baking. I don't really remember cooking anything before that, and I have no idea what inspired me to start baking bread to begin with, but the smell of those first loaves is burned into my brain forever. I had to stand on a stool so that I was tall enough to get leverage for kneading.

Who had the most influence on your cooking?
My mom influenced me by absolutely encouraging me to cook anything I wanted when I was growing up because then she wouldn't have to (she doesn't like to cook). She also took me out to loads of restaurants when I was little, so I got a lot of exposure to new and fancy foods through her. My dad probably supplied my love-to-cook genes and my tendency towards gourmandism, as well as my enthusiasm for ethnic foods and spice.

Do you have an old photo as 'evidence' of an early exposure to the culinary world and would you like to share it?
Um, not really, but I will because I want to do this meme thing right. A bit of background: this first Christmas card was produced when I was in fourth grade (note the uber-hip Esprit shirt):

Now, here is my parent's Christmas card from 2003. I was 26.

It is the same picture! The same pie, in fact! The only change is the improved orthodonture! Actually, the pie I made in fourth grade looks better than the one at age 26, but I must tell you I was baking in an extremely unfamiliar and temperamental oven in St. Louis that year, so cut me some slack for the burned bits, at least. Plus, that wine glass I'm holding probably wasn't the first of the night. Family gatherings, you know.

I show these to you to provide the required proof of my interest in cooking at a young age, but also to demonstrate how mortifying it is to have parents that insisted on making me the focus of their Christmas card at age 26. My friends mocked me unceasingly after that little number arrived in their mailboxes. I made my mom promise never again. For the good of the meme do I share with you this horrifying morsel from my past.

Mageiricophobia - do you suffer from any cooking phobia, a dish that makes your palms sweat?
I don't think I could eat a raw egg or an eyeball without gagging (or balut, which combines the two into one disgusting package) but other than that, I'll try anything. Not a fan of beets and raisins, though.


What would be your most valued or used kitchen gadgets and/or what was the biggest let down?
Most valued: rice cooker, microplane grater for parmesan and zesting, garlic press, Le Creuset pink sparkly spatula, KitchenAid mixer, jadite pie pan. The pie pan and spatula make me happy every time I use them. Who can argue with that?

Biggest let down: I almost never use my blender, and I have never found a decent and affordable espresso machine. I also hate gimmicky shit, such as anything sold on a informerical, or anything dedicated to helping you cook things in the microwave.


Name some funny or weird food combinations/dishes you really like - and probably no one else!
Broccoli with mayonnaise, and strawberries with brown sugar and sour cream in the summertime. These are family favorites but everybody on the outside seems to gag when I mention them. I also love large-curd cottage cheese sprinkled with Tabasco sauce and black pepper.


What are the three eatables or dishes you simply don't want to live without?
- Beef teriyaki combination dinner from Akai Hana
- Pho tai
- Brownies, or pretty much any other dessert involving copious amounts of chocolate

Your favorite ice-cream
Pumpkin ice cream with hot fudge from Miller's ice cream stand near Oberlin, Ohio

You will probably never eat...
Balut! Not if I can help it... and I will never eat ais kacang again, after attempting it in Malaysia. I'm sorry, but that was soo icky.

Your own signature dish
Gosh, I don't think I have one. At this stage of the game I just don't repeat recipes often enough. I'll have to work on that.

A common ingredient you just can't bring yourself to stomach
Beets! Raisins!

Which one culture's food would you most like to sample on its home turf?
Italy's. I hear all these wonderful things, but the one time I was there the food was unmemorable. We didn't hit the right spots.


The people I am tagging are:
Yum!
Folkfood