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The Ten Most Recent Comments By mrock

From Talk

Did your parents weird out your friends?

growing up in rural western pennsylvania as the only japanese girl in her elementary school was an extremely traumatic time, especially concerning food. i remember first day of class in 1st grade, my mom packing me an amazing double decker bento box with rice, nori, veggies, and lots of other weird stuff that kids in my school had never seen. they absolutely ripped on me for it, telling me that the food was disgusting and kept asking me to eat it as a dare. ever since then, i told my mom never to pack me a lunch ever again.

fast forward to college, i brought home my first serious boyfriend back from college. my father, the gourmand of the family, decided that he needed to test my new boyfriend on how much "weird" food he could take. the meal consisted of liver, cucumber with jyako, which are little dried fish with eyes still on them, rice and miso soup. luckily my boyfriend was jewish so he passed the liver part with flying colors, but didn't do so well with the jyako. i had no idea that my father was going to do that to him so i was extremely embarrassed, although he was a very good sport about the whole experience.

the lack of variety in the food that my friends' families ate for dinner always surprised me. at my home, it was always at least 3 courses with plenty of green vegetables and all kinds of seafood and meats. my friend is still getting over being served hot dogs and spaghetti every night. she's just beginning to discover that there's a whole world of amazing food out there!

mrock at 7:50PM on 03/03/08

From Required Eating

Cook the Book: 'Techniques of Healthy Cooking'

udon noodle soup with watercress, seaweed and tofu

mrock at 2:47PM on 01/14/08

From Serious Eats: New York

A Williamsburg Food Adventure with my Brother

you have to add barcade to your list of beer bars in williamsburg! a rotating list of amazing domestic drafts and 25 cent 80s arcade games to boot.

mrock at 5:13PM on 12/30/07

From Required Eating

Seriously Delicious Holiday Giveaway: D'Artagnan Heritage Smoked Ham

i just had ham and butter sandwich at this polish deli in greenpoint and i never knew how good that simple of a sandwich could be.

mrock at 4:20PM on 12/05/07

From Required Eating

Seriously Delicious Holiday Giveaway: Southside Market Sausage

so i've never been to a bbq joint outside of nyc, but within nyc, my fave is fette sau hands down.

mrock at 2:33PM on 12/04/07

From Required Eating

Cook the Book: 'Think Like a Chef'

I'm a big braiser too but I do like making soups and stewing a lot too.

mrock at 4:56PM on 12/03/07

From Required Eating

Seriously Delicious Giveaway: Zingerman's Gift Certificate

manchego or roquefort!

mrock at 4:16PM on 12/03/07

From Required Eating

Seriously Delicious Holiday Giveaway: Bacon of the Month Club

I love it when it's a little chewy. I love putting it in collard greens, stir frys, mmmmm BACON!!

mrock at 8:56PM on 12/02/07

Responses to Comments by mrock

From Talk

Did your parents weird out your friends?

well, i'm korean so the answer is a resounding yes! kimchi, soybean paste, squid, anchovies... just to name a few. it's funny because many of my childhood friends eat asian and korean food now, but when you're a 5th grader living in nebraska, it wasn't the best of times. :P

marieinla at 1:58PM on 03/04/08

From Talk

Did your parents weird out your friends?

My parents became vegetarians for ethical reasons when I was about two and a a half, and then proceeded down the health-food road. When we went back to the US for several years, and did not end up back in NYC as originally planned (and where it would have gone relatively unnoticed), but in a small town in one of the more conservative counties of western New York, they'd really hit their stride in this endeavour.

The whole-grain bread sandwiches in my lunch box really stand out in my mind as getting plenty of negative attention at school (the separating oil in the home-made peanut butter was rapidly absorbed by the bread, causing my sandwiches to stiffen as if with rigor mortis, so they weren't much fun to eat, either).
My mother served a lot of vegetables and pasta, while prepared and fast foods were strictly proscribed, which was also perceived as 'weird'. And, my brother was the last word in picky and demanding eaters, so for dinner every evening my mother would make my brother a stack of soy-flour crepes, each of which he would spread with orange marmalade, and roll up. I avoided inviting anyone over around meal times, it was just too much work to explain and defend things (e.g. 'no, we didn't not eat eat meat because we were on welfare...') :D

mongoose at 3:19AM on 03/04/08

From Required Eating

Cook the Book: 'Techniques of Healthy Cooking'

Thanks for entering and congratulations to our winners:

jesskel
KPruitt39
azured00
stacy7911
fiatluxsemper

roboppy at 5:37PM on 01/21/08

From Required Eating

Cook the Book: 'Techniques of Healthy Cooking'

A fresh garden salad topped with grilled chicken

dianerph at 4:55PM on 01/21/08

From Required Eating

Cook the Book: 'Techniques of Healthy Cooking'

A bowl of mixed fruit & cottage cheese

morty63 at 4:54PM on 01/21/08

From Required Eating

Cook the Book: 'Techniques of Healthy Cooking'

Spinach salad with Balsamic dressing

Stephen1969 at 3:53PM on 01/21/08

From Required Eating

Cook the Book: 'Techniques of Healthy Cooking'

A small serving of grilled chicken or fish, either steamed veggies or salad with vinaigrette, brown rice or grilled sweet potato and a small glass of red wine.

royncharis at 3:51PM on 01/21/08

From Required Eating

Cook the Book: 'Techniques of Healthy Cooking'

...everything fresh , in it's natural form....before sugar, alt and fat.

pjlein at 2:17PM on 01/21/08

From Required Eating

Cook the Book: 'Techniques of Healthy Cooking'

Rice and veggies. So quick to make and you can change up the sauce to match your mood!

wmovss at 12:07PM on 01/21/08

From Required Eating

Cook the Book: 'Techniques of Healthy Cooking'

Asian-style stir-fry, with chicken and Oriental vegetables, plus broccoli.
Canola oil, five-spice powder(available in most larger groceries), boneless/skinless chicken breasts. Serve atop brown rice.

JeffEats at 11:34AM on 01/21/08