It's that time again. Time to clean out the great big barn of my brain and release some grasshopper thoughts. Today, for some reason, the tangent went off towards food related thoughts, so that's what I'm writing about.
 |
Photo courtesy of
Bing images |
I live in the southern United States - Tennessee, to be specific. There are a great many culinary delights that are unique to our region, with one of them being sweet tea. Jug or table wine is another term you'll hear. Sun tea is a slightly different version, but for the most part, we make sweet tea here. Very sweet tea. I'm not a huge fan of the super sweet taste, but the grasshopper thought here is that I learned a few years ago that outside of the southern U.S., tea is rarely sweet. Picture my reaction one of stunned surprise. Okay, I was more than stunned; perhaps I went beyond surprised stare to flat out goggle. I hadn't heard of this fact and it just surprised me. Most restaurants in the south offer both sweet and unsweetened tea, but I didn't know that outside of the southern states, tea is normally served unsweetened. How 'bout that.
This, then, led me onward to other food related grasshopper thoughts with the next one being cereal and the Great Soggy vs. Crunchy Debate. I cannot abide soggy cereal. I prefer it crunchy with ice cold milk. Soggy cereal looks like....well, I won't go into gory detail about what it looks like to my eyes. Suffice to say, it looks like something absolutely nasty and it tastes and feels just as bad. As in gag-inducing bad. I'm sure there are many of you out there who will disagree with me and wave the soggy cereal flag enthusiastically. There will remain a Great Divide between us, but a friendly one!
Who made the decision that burnt cheese is a culinary error? No, no, no! That's the best part! Not burned to charcoal, mind you, but a nice golden, toasty cheesey crust...mmm, yes indeedy. This does not, however, apply to popcorn. Unless you're my Mom. She loves it. Just barely burnt microwave popcorn makes her a happy soul. Go figure.
Popsicle sticks - you know how most people almost hit the ceiling when they hear fingernails on a chalkboard? The sound of fingernails down a chalkboard doesn't bother me in the slightest. A popsicle stick hitting my teeth, however, well....let's just say it is highly unpleasant. It produces a repetitive wave of shudders similar to the timpani of a cymbal on the eardrum, only the waves are repeating on my teeth. I'm still a fan of popsicles, don't get me wrong. Banana flavor is my favorite. I just take care to keep the popsicle stick from hitting my teeth.
Moving on to cosmetics, I have a particular aversion and peeve. It applies to lipstick or lip gloss w/ cheap candy scent/flavor. Some cosmetic companies - some of the very high end ones, in fact - use horrid candy flavors such a cotton candy, sugar, vanilla and wedding cake paired with equally horrid, fake scents. The combination can bring on an instant headache, and make people around you ask who brought cupcakes to work. At the very least, manufacturers could post one of those Surgeon General Warning labels on lipstick and lip glosses containing vile scents and flavors to alert the innocent consumers. If they have to slap flavor and scent into lipstick and lip gloss, I prefer it to not be one that fights with my whole immediate environment and my palate. Since it's my blog post and my version of my own mystical CosmeticLand, I arbitrarily declare that a minty flavor/scent rules the day.
"Off w/ your head!" is the secondary declaration should you choose to dissent this mandate and slap those fake, cheap flavors and scents in cosmetics! Aren't you glad this is a
mythical, mystical land?! Heads would be rolling left and right if it were real.
These are the grasshopper thoughts that consumed my mind for, oh...a good 2.83 seconds, I would guess. Writing it all down took longer, but it did open the barn in my brain and allowed the grasshoppers freedom for a wee bit. I have no idea what next month's grasshopper thought might be, so stay tuned!
____________________________
*Disclaimer: No monetary gain has been made from posting the cereal bowl above and mentioning the website where it can be purchased.
I agree, particularly with the fake scents in products. Yuck! Thanks for your thoughts! :)
ReplyDelete*L*...thanks Danae! I figured I couldn't be the only person walking the planet who shares this same peeve. Yuck, indeed. ;-)
ReplyDelete~ Dawn
Love a toasty cheese crust . I enjoy it when the cheese is gooey and hot!. Toast with butter and apricot jam and a slice of pepper jack cheese! hmmmmm
ReplyDeleteSavira, what an interesting combo! I'll have to give that one a try. Thanks for coming along for a trip through my convoluted thoughts. :)
ReplyDelete~ Dawn
Interesting thoughts; I love ice tea but can't stand sweet tea! =D I love toasted cheese especially on pizza & cereal always has to be crunchy. The chalkboard thing bothers me but not the popsicle sticks & as far as lipstick I can only comment from kissing....I prefer to kiss a woman with non scented lipstick.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the fun,
Hugs,
Bill
My Yankee family loves sweet tea! But this guy likes it unsweeted...but really the truth is I don't like tea. Coffee is the only drink for me!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
OH YUM! I LOVE burnt popcorn.
ReplyDeleteAnd I like soggy cereal. If I didn't, over the course of a lifetime, I'd save myself about 4 years of time waiting for it to turn soggy.
I like soggy cereal.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about cosmetics, though. Why does EVERYTHING have to be scented. These scents then clash. Why bother wearing quality perfume if it will clash with the cheap scent in everything else?
Burnt popcorn: ew.
ReplyDeleteCereal of any variety: ew.
Sweet tea: better than nonsweet.
Burnt cheese: yum-o!
I grew up in New Orleans, with a boatload of relatives in north Louisiana. Sweet tea was the standard beverage (we called it tea back then -- we didn't know there was any other kind). And every soda was called a Coke, thanks to Coca-Cola's historical domination of the Southern market ("Would you like a Coke?" "Sure!" "What kind?")
ReplyDeleteLove the almost burnt cheese. Cannot tolerate soggy cereal.. that's why I eat mine with yogurt insted of milk.. and even at that.. I don't really mix them so the cereal stays super crunchy.
ReplyDeleteGlynn- the same is true in Newfoundland I hear.. people oder "orange coke" "7-up Coke" etc. Odd.
I have a love/hate relationship with some lip balm I bought that smells like maple syrup. I love maple syrup, but hate that my lip gloss makes me crave waffles. So there you have it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great thread of comments this one has sparked! In order, here we go...
ReplyDeleteThe person whose name is in Asian characters, I agree with you - our differences are what make us all fascinating!
Bill, I laughed out loud about the kissing part. Another sin to lay at the doorstep of cosmetic manufacturers - they're interrupting valuable smooching time w/ those nasty scents & flavors!
JC Dude, I have Yankee family in Indiana, and even though my Aunt was born & raised in East TN, over the years she assimilated to northern preferences. I believe she even...*shudder*...puts SUGAR in her cornbread mix. This is a considered a crime in the south! Oh, and coffee? I'm in the minority there - cannot abide the smell of it. Funny, the preferences we each have.
M.D., I did not know this about you and burnt popcorn! You & my Mom are going to get along great at some point in the future. I DID know you like soggy cereal, but I overlook this flaw because I really care for you so much! ;-)
Helen, GOOD point about highly scented cosmetics clashing w/ any fragrance we wear! You'd think cosmetic manufacturers really would 'get' these complaints. I hereby swear, when I start my own cosmetic company (and I plan to do this for real), that I will not slap nasty cheap/fake flavors & scents into product! You can quote me on this!
Lainie, you boiled my whole blog down to four lines - I am sitting here in true admiration of this talent! I have to work hard to keep my content to a sane, i.e., relatively short, length!
Glynn, I can remember that type of thing from my childhood. Soda drinks were also called 'dopes', going back to the time when Coke really contained cocaine, I guess. "A yellow dope & a Moon Pie" was a classic pairing, i.e., Mountain Dew being the 'yellow dope'. What a fun walk down Memory Lane!
Fire Fly, I like dry cereal on Greek yoghurt, like the Fage brand that's super thick. It keeps the cereal from getting soggy as quickly as the more runny type of yoghurt - give it a try!
Wendy, oh my word...maple syrup?? Someone has slapped THAT into a lip gloss?? I think I'd turn green withing 20 seconds and be scrubbing it off in record time. Don't get me wrong, maple syrup is delicious, but the scent of it right beneath my nose all day would be atrocious. Your craving comment made me laugh, but I can see how that would happen!
Everyone, both old friends and new visitors to my page, thanks for the fun comments! Duane's carnival link seems to have brought me some new people & I want to say a warm Thank You for stopping by! I will investigate each of your blogs in return & will look forward to getting to know you all.
Namaste',
Dawn
What a shock to move from the north to the south and order ice tea and discover SUGAR! I've learned to love it. I've also learned to love grits with butter and pepper--but my DH still tops it with SUGAR, which drove the southerners mad.
ReplyDeleteAnd our Georgia friend always called soda (pop, sodie) Co-Cola. No matter what kind.
And toasty cheese crust, slightly burned . . . YES!
Sandra, I imagine it was a huge shock to your system to move from north to south, particularly in regard to iced tea! Psst, don't speak it out loud, but I've been known to put clover honey on my grits once in a blue moon. Yes, it's true...I'm a rebel that way. Usually I like them with cheese and crispy bacon on top. We don't call all sodas Co-Cola here in Knoxville, but I guess it depends on what area in the south you're living in. I like all the little quirks and colloquiallisms; it's what makes each region unique & fascinating! Thank you for visiting & leaving such a fun comment!
ReplyDelete~ Dawn
I hate soggy cereal so much that I can't even stand to have milk in it. I'm a dry cereal kinda guy! It's just...I don't know. I think I tasted it once, threw it against the wall (maybe I was 2? LOL) and said "never again" (because I was that articulate when I was 2).
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, my wife always teases me that I should just eat it like candy if I'm not going to put milk in it.
Dave, I've been known to keep a box of cereal in my car for those mornings (which happen a lot when I'm doing onsite contracting) where I get a late start. That way, I can eat as I drive, sans milk...usually Cheerios because I can't deal with sweet stuff first thing in the morning. I love the crunch too!
ReplyDelete~ Dawn