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Happy, happy freaky freaks. =)

Find a new boyfriend.

I am a food freak and proud of it. My dude fully supports my food addiction!

My superior online deaden reservoir? What's a deaden reservoir?

Anyhoo, yes, to most people we are probably not freaks so much as dorks. Thinking about food as much as I do is not advisable.

Even if we are, I'm fine with that. I don't know about the vast majority, but at my last office job (not at all food related; it was, in fact, a bank), I was fortunate to have colleagues who were also my close friends and as much "food freaks" as I am, so for the most part I was surrounded by people who spoke "the same language", so to speak. All of us travelled quite a bit, and all our travel stories were always peppered with lovely descriptions of local foods (plus, we had a tradition of bringing something back when returning from a trip, for everybody to sample - usually chocolates, or pastries, or biscuits). I certainly didn't feel like a freak then.

While my OH certainly supports and enjoys my love of all things food, his family doesn't really share our enthusiasm, to put it mildly. Oh well, I can live with that. Seriously, no matter what you are passionate about, there will most likely be someone out there who'd consider it odd or daft. It probably is best that that "someone" isn't your boyfriend though:-). That said, things can change - and your boyfriend may still grow to appreciate food as much as you do.

Most of the people I know think that I'm nuts to like cooking as much as I do. Not all of them hate cooking.To them, it's just another household task, like vacuuming or doing laundry. Maybe not the worst chore in the house, but still a chore.

I do know a few people who like cooking certain things, but only in season or when the mood strikes them. Like guys who like to grill stuff outside, but would never dream of whipping up a soup or making spaghetti sauce.

So even some of the non-cooks will bake cookies for the holidays and have a little fun with it. Or they'll enjoy doing an occasional special dinner, or they like making their one special dish, but the daily stuff annoys them.

And most of those people do not drool over new bakeware or want cooking stuff for Christmas.

Yes we are freaks. And I'm happy to be one.

Haha, yes, it's definitely a weird obsession, as my sister and my roommate cheerfully remind me at every opportunity. But hey, when you love something, you love it =). And like hungryinhouston said, you have to eat to live! So why not enjoy it?

A co-worker of mine at work spent 200.00 on a "heritage turkey" for Thanksgiving. I asked him, so you are making gravy? He responds, oh yes, my DW is buying the jarred gravy. I about had a heart attack. WHAT?? You are spending 200 bucks on a turkey and you are not even going to make gravy. I've never made gravy, he responded....well....I gave him all the instructions, both the "slurry" method, and the roux method. He says OK I'll do it...THEN, I run into he and his family in the market a couple days later...guess what's in their cart...Jars of GRAVY. I asked his wife, you aren't going to try making gravy? His wife said "drippings??" like I mentioned a turd sandwich. Anyway, he made the gravy, they loved it...and that made me happy. I Iove the fact that a lot of friends and co-workers ask me for and try recipes from the things I bring to work. It is so satisfying.

DTMFA I'm laughing sooo hard! oh, sorry. ROTFLMFAO!

PumpkinBear--I actually think your bf is in a 'freaky' demographic regarding food, though. Teenage boys and young males who have traditionally had women cook for them, mothers, girlfriends and wives (sorry) tend to care about food less than just about anyone I know.

A friend of mine went to Princeton for example, and at the eating club dominated by the jocks (this was when the clubs were still self-selective) the largely male body voted to eat hot dogs and white bread and nothing else to have a bigger beer budget.

Brian Wasink who does all the 'what makes people eat more' experiments once wrote he never uses male undergrads because they skew the results because they eat EVERYTHING without discrimination.

It seems like if you can eat whatever you want without caloric consequences, don't have to cook, and are in the habit of thinking good food 'appears' that you inhale, the idea of cooking and thinking about making food taste good is odd. Lots of guys I know change when they have to slow down with what they eat, have to tinker with their nutrition to keep doing the sports they loved when they were younger and could run 12 miles at a 5:30 mile pace on chicken wings and a hang-over.

And lots of people I know are very into their 'food thing'--even if they are not foodies, they are fascinated by weird foods on the food network, and panic if they can't get their favorite holiday or 'special' foods.

I am quickly becoming accustomed to the blank stares I receive as I wax poetically about whatever random food knowledge I have decided to share for the day.

Remember, the word fan, as in sports fan, comes from the word fanatic.

If they ever talk to you, I'd be really curious to know what's in their fridge, besides beer and ketchup.

Hi. My name is izzy and I am a Freak. Make that a Super Freak. ;-)

Can someone help a sista out? DTMFA? I am not that smart.

Off-topic, I know, but what does DTMFA mean?

not freaks at all. Just people who have found a place we we can all discuss one of the interests we have in common. What kind of response do you think you'd get if you posted a baseball thread here? I'd bet a very similar response to posting a food thread on a baseball site.

@juliebugsmama~ That's awesome.

Okay so I admit it, this is a "passion" I don't share with anyone outside of this site. But, just to boast a little, my meals are sitting on two corporate desks in KC, MO today with curious passerbyers asking, "What did she make for you today?" And my family comes through the door every evening saying,"Something smells good!" And it ain't my perfume!

I'm in the midst of finals week and I should be studying like crazy....

BUT, ALL I can think about it how excited I am to go home in a few days and start baking!! Then eating. Baking some more...

Not everyone in my life understands my love of food, but I'm glad there are others out there like me! Embrace that love of food, goshdarnit!!

DTMFA...
like Junie - can someone tell me what this means?

Everyone in my family is a foodie - it's what we talk about when we get together and it's usually the reason we call each other frequently.

People at work who don't "get it" often goof at me and tell my I probably buy cows to get the milk to make something and churn the butter myself but they eat all the treats I bring in.
Some people just don't get it and that's ok.

I know so many people who eat to live. Calories in to sustain energy for the day is all they care about - it doesn't even have to taste, bland is fine. That is freaky! Not the other way around.

On the other hand I start thinking about dinner in the morning, pretty much spend the day thinking or talking about food or researching recipes or reading cookbooks. This is my passion, my husband shares it. Even the most simple dish, well prepared from fine ingredients, is a masterpiece. Creating that masterpiece is a joy, it is pride in a job well done. This is not freaky!

My advice - find a boyfriend who loves food as much as you.

i'm not sure about the freak part but i hope i never end up in a league with your bf. that is unconscionable behavior and would result in instant dismissal from any league i've been in (ok, maybe i'm a bit of a freak when it comes to sports/fantasy sports too).

@everyone - DTMFA is an acronym for (as @Steen said) for "Dump the motherf---er already." It comes from a sex/relationship advice column called "Savage Love". In this context, it was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, but, in retrospect, I realize it didn't quite come off that way - so my sincere apologies, @PumpkinBear.

i see cooking as another way to show my love to the people in my life, ok thinking about that I guess it does make me a freak too yippy skippy for the freaks! ;-)

My husband was not into food OR sports when we met. Now we are both very into both. After I was exposed to Food Network and went to culinary school, I got a dietetics degree to incorporate healthcare and food. My husband might as well have the same degrees that I do. He makes homemade breads and all-day meals on weekends, and lectures me on trans-fat in some of my favorite boxed comfort foods. All this from someone who literally lived on rice-a-roni when we met.

On the other hand, I came in 2nd in our fantasy-football league 2 yrs ago. The people in MY league may not share our love of food, but they definitely appreciate it, and know who to come to for most of the food for their holiday party. :)

After baking 300 cookies, making 2 batches of fudge, one batch of chocolate covered toffee, as well as a lovely Thai red curry (tofu, zucchini, red peppers and coconut milk) - all in the last 24 hrs ( I also work full time..) I'm happy to let my freak flag fly!

My secretary laughs quietly every day when she finds recipes in the office printer...

I love you all.

My friends and I were playing this game called ASAP the other night and every time we got to a food- or kitchen-related category, everyone looks at me and gives me the big, very third-grader, "Ooooooooooooooh!" and look at me with eyes that say SHE'S UNSTOPPABLE. And it's true (no one can beat me in these categories!).

When it comes to knowing things about the kitchen, cooking, and especially baking cookies, I am my friends' go-to girl. I wouldn't have it any other way.

honestly if you asked what i had for dinner in a context that was like that, i wouldnt have answered either. unless you are a friend, i will only share one aspect of my life with you in a very focused group.

i wouldnt post my football picks here.

not only am i on SE too much, I'm on fantasy basketball the other half of the time.

it's not weird at all yo.

They say that people who are passionate about food make better lovers. Just sayin' . . .

He doesn't think you're a freak. He probably thinks it's pretty cool, and more elevated than what his hobbies are, and might even feel a little insecure about it, so he played it off like that. It's what guys do.

Hahah.

As probably the biggest fantasy sports freak around these parts (Honestly, I write for two fantasy sports websites, write for one fantasy football magazine, and co-hosted a fantasy football podcast), I don't think being a foodie is any more strange than any other area.

There's a general lack of intellectual curiosity in our culture, I think. Most people will obsess about whatever tickles their fancy, but refuse to put any effort into caring about something outside of that bubble.

But I'm not sure that's a recent phenomenon...

The people that know and love me (and yes, there are those that do) don't consider me a freak or oddity because of my love for food. No, they are quite happy about it because it usually means I'll eventually make them something good to eat. And even if they aren't obsessed with food, they still like it.