Favorite Foods: Croque madame

Happy Thanksgiving, lovely people!

‪#‎favoritefoods‬ Thursday:

Croque madame. Bread, cheese, and ham. Layered together in melty goodness, plus an egg on top, yolk all runny and perfect. When I did go to restaurants while in Paris last summer (which wasn't terribly often), I was tempted to order this every time because it's so good! Also with the commonly elaborate descriptions of menu items at French restaurants, croque madame was often the first or only item where I understood what it was. Haha. But seriously, try it sometime!

So, what are you all's favorite foods (NON-Thanksgiving dishes included)? ‪#‎fatnessfirst‬

Ain't no privacy.

Me: Ma, why do you always have to go telling people my business?

Ma: What are you talking about?

Me: Why'd you tell Uncle Rod about (secret thing)?

Ma: Uh, because he's my brother and we talk about things. I can't talk to my brother?

Me: You can't talk to your brother about your own stuff?

Ma: Uh, you are my own stuff!

My mom is such a mom sometimes, it's  sickening hahaha. Happy Thanksgiving!

All the Thanks.

In Loo-uh-vuhl. At Grandpa's  house.

My uncle, aunt, and two cousins arrive. I can hear everyone moving around and conversing upstairs as I read downstairs. The older of the boys comes down first, a teenager who's too cool for school, but still manages to mumble hello in his voice that has acquired new depth. Then uncle comes down, kind and mellow, innocently inquiring about something I'd never discussed with him (Ma aways tellin' folks my business, dang!). Aunt with her broken toe sitting upstairs talking loudly, always the life of the party, yelling "Where's  Danielle?". And then the younger boy, almost a teenager, comes downstairs to hug me, commenting on how quiet it is with just me sitting here, reading. "You'd rather read than watch TV?! That's crazy!"

Thanksgiving has begun. :) Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.

TALK TO YOUR KIDS!

Why are some parents so afraid to talk to their children? 

While I was helping at the registers today, a woman came up to return a book she'd bought an hour prior. "It's for my daughter. She's in 6th grade. The first story has someone getting drunk in it. And the next story has someone getting high. And that's just too much. I have to be careful."

You know what that book was? The Best American Short Stories 2015, edited by T.C. Boyle. This is quality literature here! You mean to tell me that you'd rather deprive your daughter of experiencing the written treasures collected in this year's volume of one of the oldest and most venerable literary anthologies (100 years and counting)... because you don't want her to know about people getting drunk or high?

Granted, ideally she knows her child and what the girl could handle, and doesn't  overestimate what's too much for her. But this lady talked like any mention of any drug or alcohol was an automatic disqualifier; as if these substances are top secrets-that-shall-not-be-named except amongst the adult-iest of adults. Why shelter your child from life, when you could just as well say, "Look Suzie. I'm  going to let you read this book, but understand something first. It has some themes in it that are a little mature, so if you have any questions, I want you to talk to me about them. Also, there are certain actions going on in it that I don't want you to emulate. These are real things that people do, but I don't condone them, and here's why.... Just don't go thinking that something is acceptable or cool just because you read about it in this book. Okay? Understood? Okay. Happy reading. And again, talk to me if there's  anything you don't understand."

This is a conversation that may be difficult, but is by no means impossible. Ma had this conversation with me many a time, and they worked. Like this customer's  daughter, I was also a bookworm of a young'n who read beyond her grade level, but my mom didn't hinder me just because she was scared or wanted to avoid discomfort. She read/flipped through it, she explained her conditions to me, I agreed to follow them, and then she let me read!

People, talk to your kids about difficult and confusing stuff! Your children are not made of glass; I can bet you they're not that fragile. Please talk to your kids instead of coddling them forever.

Favorite Foods: Takoyaki

#‎favoritefoods‬ Wednesday:

Takoyaki! My absolute favorite Japanese food so far. Fried dough balls, stuffed with chopped octopus tentacle, often topped with a special sauce, mayonnaise, and bonito flakes. I tried it for the first time at the Novi Japan Festival senior year of high school, not knowing that it had octopus in it (they advertised it in English as "fried pancake balls" or something like that). But it was love at first bite! Since then I've had the real thing in its birthplace of Osaka, as well as some great renditions of it stateside. The outside's crisp, the inside's chewy, and the whole thing just melts in your mouth!

So, what are you all's favorite foods (NON-Thanksgiving dishes included)? ‪#‎fatnessfirst‬

Favorite Foods: Oranges

#‎favoritefoods‬ Tuesday:

Oranges. Been eating an orange almost everyday/every other day since about junior year of high school. I remember two years ago my friend Irene and I were at this cafe in Hikone likening certain foods to hypothetical boyfriends/ex-boyfriends (don't ask). And I said something like oranges would be that dude who's in it for the long haul that I never get tired of. Like even when we're not together, we're together.

So, what are you all's favorite foods (NON-Thanksgiving dishes included)? ‪#‎fatnessfirst‬

Favorite Foods: Cornbread

Lovely people! What are you all's favorite foods?

Celebrating one of the fattest weeks of the year by reflecting on some of my favorite foods (in general, NOT just Thanksgiving dishes). In the wisdom of the illustrious Daisha Hunter, #‎fatnessfirst‬!

For Monday:

Cornbread is key for me. A person or "soul food" restaurant could be doing my people's food all kinds of disservice, but if the cornbread is on point, then all is forgiven! ‪#‎favoritefoods‬