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He, he, he...
Yes, Chinglish can be immensely entertaining. But, if you happen to be in China learning Chinese, you discover it has a double edge. The edge being that it is a constant reminder that to Chinese people your Chinese can sound just like their English.

My mom has always been petite (about 110 pounds on a 5 foot frame) but she never seems to diet or go hungry, which I didn't understand because our family eats rather fat-laden ethnic food, and my father, while a healthy weight, has always had a belly. I never noticed my mom's unique eating habits until I myself became conscious of eating healthy, in my later teens. I suddenly noticed her eating habits and I can't say I was surprised anymore about her healthy build. My mom always ate at regular mealtimes, never ate between meals, consumed her food very slowly and deliberately, flavored her food strongly, never skimped on fat and grease, ate smaller or fewer portions than the rest of us, and always had a small, rich dessert before bed.

I will never be a slow eater, and I skip way too many meals to adhere to regular mealtimes, but I've learned a couple useful things from watching her (she always encouraged us to eat frequently and didn't teach us her eating style, so I learned most of it from watching). I've learned from her not to eat between meals, so I get good and hungry before mealtimes. I then try to make large, full-fat, complex meals that satisfy me at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.The rule of thumb I learned from her was, If you're hungry between meals, you didn't eat enough to satisfy yourself at mealtimes, so don't skimp during meals because it'll backfire.

I don't think her advice fits everyone, though. It is truly suited to a particularly Asian style of cooking and eating: long, multi-course family meals with several helpings of rice to fill you up and a variety of heavily flavored, non-low-fat toppings, sauces, curries, and stews to satisfy all your taste buds, heavy on vegetables with meat or seafood served once a week.

I think there's an important connection missed here that relates more to generation gap than portion size. Our parents - those raised in the earlier part of the century - who struggled to attain even middle class status, would always comfort themselves that they had enough food on the table for their family. Although the quality was great - like my own Jewish mother's home cooking - if you didn't leave the table "full" you weren't fed enough. And at family gatherings, that same Jewish mother would be scooping out and dropping another large dollop of mashed potatoes with onions on yur plate even as she asked "would you like more?"
To take less was an insult to the cook and the house!
Food to them was not "art" - it was life, wealth, happiness.
And here comes Passover!

@Dave try concentrating on mingling with friends at parties and always have a glass of mineral water in your hand, this way if you want to pick at the food you have to conciously put down the glass. ;)

Ed, I don't know how old you are or what generation your parents grew up in - but I was the child of Depression children...and if it went on your plate you were expected to clean the plate of every morsel so nothing went to waste...poor children in India were starving because you weren't eating your food. Very bad child-rearing. Definitely setting up kids to overeat. I on the other hand was so picky that they had to force me to eat. I swore I would never do that to my kids...and I didn't. But then they wouldn't eat what I cooked - and I wasn't a bad cook. Now that they are grown they claim I never fed them and their palates are all very expensive/extensive.
So I guess the moral of this story is that you'll blame your parents no matter what they do. Great job on your diet. Lose a few pounds for me!

OMG, PIERMONT! Best. Comment. Ever. ("Papa John 3:12"? ... Priceless!)

Thank you for a much-needed laugh today!

Most important question of the pizza debate: "What do each of the 4 candidates think about pizza?"

Clinton: "Everyone needs pizza and it is getting too expensive for the average American to afford. My administration, on day 1, would ensure everyone has equal access to quality pizza. I would carefully examine all of this imported buffalo mozzeralla and san marzano tomatoes and find a way for them to be made right her in America!"

Obama: " Hillary and I have a a big difference here. While I agree everyone should have access to quality pizza, I would not mandate everyone to eat pizza like she will. What if people are lactose intolerant or have Coeliac disease. I have been eating pizza everyday since I was a community organizer in Chicago, so I know good pizza!"

Huckabee: "As it is written in Papa John 3:12 - god commands us to eat thin crust and deep dish. Because of my conservative values, I will cut taxes on everyone so you can decide how much pizza you should eat. Not only that, but every unborn child has a right to pizza as well according to the Domino's 3 for 9.99 passage."

McCain: "What we need to do is to close the borders to ensure no pizza gets out of this country. If we want our troops to conquer al Qaeda in Iraq, we are going to need more pizza for them. Without pizza to feed the troops, Iraq will be turned into an Islamic hot bed of hummos and other middle eastern delights which they will try to export to us. After the surge, pizza is the next best weapon against Islamic fundamentalism and the best way to keep our borders safe and our country strong!"

I saw one of McCain's sons once at Pizzeria Bianco. I am sure he partakes, his main Phoenix office is like a 5 minute walk from Pane Bianco and only 10 minutes by car from the Pizzeria.

Very funny response, Adam. :)

Wonder if Kucinich visited the Post Punk Kitchen for the vegan pizza extravaganza. You might want to see it: Post Punk Kitchen blog.

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