I'm not one of those brilliant people that can conjure amazing new food combinations that turn out fantastically tasty. Anya is. Now, she always was, now that I think about it, so, it's not just the pregnancy talking. But, even if it were, I think pregnant women deserve that gift... to be able to imagine new twists to food and still enjoy them.
Today, Anya came up with this: She put out some Ritz crackers, a small bowl of peanut butter, and a bowl of melted chocolate. We took two cracker rounds, put peanut butter on one side, smushed the two crackers together, and then dipped them into the melted chocolate.
SO good! It's a gradual mixture of salty and sweet. Salty cracker, salty and sweet peanut butter, topped with just sweet chocolate. Even Lilia couldn't resist dipping into the fun.
With that in mind, I'm thinking of the other yummy food combos that I've picked up from other people...
I remember one of my middle school boyfriends turned me on to something that sounded pretty gross at first. His green hair glowed as he ordered at the Wendy's counter. I don't remember what I ordered anymore, but he just asked for a medium order of French fries and a Frosty. He took out a fry, dipped it into the Frosty, and ate it. "What are you doing?" I asked him as he laughed at me. "Try it before you knock it," he took a crunchy fry out of his box (my favorites are the crunchy ones), dipped it in the chocolate milkshake goo, and held it to my face. Knowing me, I either obeyed and opened my mouth or I scowled at him, took the stupid thing out of his hands, and placed the frosted fry in my mouth myself thank-you-very-much.
To this day, it's just not right to have a Frosty with some dipping fries.
Speaking of fries, I didn't use to put anything on them at all. My brothers are ketchup fiends and I've seen other people dump cheese on them or chili (ugh) or, at least, load them up with salt. When not having a Frosty, I do what my Daddy does. I can see him now holding the box of pepper... thumb and ring finger keep it in place while he taps the box with the pointer and middle fingers as though tinkering some tune out on a piano. I finally tried it in my teens and now that's all I ever put on my fries.
I followed a recipe once that called for a blueberry sauce for pork. Pork is one of those meats that goes well with fruit sauces of one kind or another... but I had never thought to use a berry with pig meat. It actually turned out pretty well and we were a little hesitant to throw out the leftover sauce. I think we kept it for a couple weeks wishing we had some idea of what to pour it over... chicken didn't seem right and steak didn't either... All those "special sauce recipes" make more sauce than there will be meat on which to pour it. Note to self: Cut these sauces in half.
I followed another recipe that comes from someone else's brilliant idea... Chex Mix. The mixes range from salty to salty and sweet. I've had the kind with chocolate, dried fruit, and pretzels as well as the other kind (my favorite) with the dark bagel chips, pretzels, nuts, chex cereal, etc. My all-time new homemade favorite calls for chow mein noodles (cooked in soy sauce, brown sugar, and covered in seasame seeds as it hardens), peanuts, wasabi peas, and red pepper flakes. If you're into the Asian flare on normal snacks, this one is fabulous!
My French friend made this... I guess a meatloaf... but inside the meat part, when you sliced through it, you'd find hard boiled eggs. I had never seen such a thing... and this is the dish that broke my 13 year streak of not eating red meat. Just amazing.
This sounds simple and silly, but my mother freezes grapes. Go do that. NOW. Take seedless grapes and stick them in the freezer. By the end of today or tomorrow, you'll have a chewy, cold, candy-like treat that's nice and cold to beat the uncomfortable warmth and humidity of summer.
Anya's mom makes this great summer salad. She buys prepared beets from Trader Joe's and cuts them into small chunks. Then she dices some oinion (I think spring oinion or red) very thin and mixes it. Next she adds chunks of feta cheese and then seasons with salt and peper. And that's really all you need. My mouth is watering just thinking of it... the mixing makes it funny looking, maybe even unappealing to the eye as the feta turns pink, but the taste make up for it.
For Rosh Hashanah, we've learned to make more interesting honey sauces. Traditionally, for this holiday, one dips apples into honey to symbolize the sweetness of the new year. We have made honey sauces infused with citrus (so orange, lemon, and lime rind) or mint. What is really special though, and our current favorite, is infusing the honey with rosemary. I would never have thought of that on my own, but it's really a beautiful combination of flavors and smells. Something about the earth honey taste and smell brings up the feeling of autumn and the harvest time while the piney rosemary reminds us that the winter holidays are just around the corner...
And speaking of holidays, I'll be sitting on Anya's couch this year looking forward to another one of her specialties... Crunchy gingerbread cookies dipped in a mug a hot, mulled wine cider... Oh, I suddenly miss winter...
I'm sure I've left something out... feel free to remind me or tell me of your own bizarre and ingenius mixture!
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