Have you ever eaten alone? Why or why not?
What a weird question (obviously I got this list of questions on line somewhere, but I can't remember where). Of course I have. I lived alone for many years. I eat breakfast alone most mornings because my husband and I have different morning schedules. I generally eat my lunch alone in my office. If I treat myself to going out to lunch on a workday, I generally eat alone. Is this a trick question?
What’s your earliest memory of homecooked meals?
My parents fighting over what to make for dinner and it would always end up being scrambled eggs and toast. Surely this is universal?
How has your diet changed/not changed over time and why?
When I was young, there was a lot of food insecurity and I never knew if we were going to have food or not. When I got to to college on a scholarship that paid for room and board, I've never had so much bounty. I just ate everything. And I do sometimes call myself a garbage disposal because I will basically eat anything if you put it on my plate.
And then I met my husband. Because of his dietary restrictions, I now eat a lot less junk and am much more thoughtful about my food choices. The whole way I eat has changed and that's definitely for the better.
What do your food choices say about your values?
I think we are limited in the United States about having ethical food choices. I have gnashed my teeth about this a lot. Sure, I eat mostly pescatarian, but I still buy food that has been shipped across seas and countries. Sure, I try to do a lot of shopping at Costco where I think employees are treated well, but who knows about the suppliers to Costco? Maya once said that she resents having to make these decisions herself and that government should regulate more of this and I agree.
Anyway, I'd love to make more ethical choices about food, but I'm really focused on making sure my husband gets enough food to eat to survive and sometimes that means I don't really do the research on companies I'm buying from.
If you were to die tomorrow, what would your last meal be?
I guess it would be Indian butter chickpeas because that's what we're having for dinner tonight.
Are table manners outdated or essential still?
Good manners are never outdated!
What food would encourage conversations?
All food encourages conversations, right? I took a qualitative methods class in grad school and we had to do an interview with our classmates. I always asked about food because it would get people talking about food traditions in their families, favorite foods, and what a traditional get together looks like (is it potluck? formal sit-down dinner?). Food is universal.
In your culture, what do you eat when you’re sick?
Saltine crackers and 7Up. Sometimes chicken noodle soup or broth.
How does your culture celebrate birthdays?
Cake and ice cream!
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What food do you eat when you're sick? Do you do cake and ice cream for birthdays?
That IS a weird question. Unless they mean "have you eaten alone in a restaurant" which is slightly less weird but still, who hasn't?
ReplyDeleteI love cake but I don't eat it with ice cream - just tons and tons of frosting.
I'm sorry about your food insecurity. No child should go through that.
For for ailing person: saltines and ginger ale. I prefer eating alone which doesn't happen in my house- I do not like eating in public. In my part of the Midwest, cake and ice cream are the thing for birthdays, but I grew up with cake alone.
ReplyDeleteI do eat more vegetables than I did as a child, but I still have the palate of a 5 yr old.
Earliest food memory? Coco- puffs for breakfast? Maybe an ice cream cone for good grades? It was a long time ago.
Dealing with food insecurity sounds really hard, Engie. I'm sorry you went through that. What a good reminder not to take access to food for granted.
ReplyDeleteI love that you talk about food to get a conversation going! That is such a good idea! I often ask people which foods they refuse to eat, not because of allergy or even ethical choices, but the foods that they just hate! I find it so fascinating!
I agree that good table manners are necessary! Sometimes I wonder if the list of what is considered good manners and what isn't could be a little clearer. I feel like I had a very clear expectations for manners when I was a kid, and trying to teach those same rules to my own kid brings up a lot of "why Do we do it this way?" questions to which I do not know the answer.
I don't really have a specific food that I eat when I'm sick, but when I was a kid it was always Lipton noodle soup, a full sugar Coca-Cola, and possibly a grilled cheese sandwich. I don't actually like chicken noodle soup, but my mom still recommends it when I'm under the weather.
Er yes I have had to eat alone just a few times in my 51 years on the planet. I agree with Nicole that they must mean eating alone in a restaurant. I used to hate doing that until I started traveling alone, and for some reason now I love it.
ReplyDeleteNote to self: I need to make butter chickpeas ASAP.
I'm with Nicole on cake: the more frosting the better, ice cream optional. When the boys were younger I always used to make ice cream cakes for their birthdays.
I love this! In fact, I might steal it for my own blog. Is that okay?
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm sick, all I want is toast. I recently became able to drink carbonated things again after getting off a medication, so I had some ginger ale when I felt stomach ache-y. It was miraculous (and tasted SO GOOD). Ginger Ale is back, baby!
Personally, I do not care for ice cream WITH things, like cake or pie. It feels unnecessary to me. I love all three of those things by themselves.
I eat alone all the dang time and have no issues with it! Like you, I lived alone - in my case it was for many years, 12 I think? I do not mind it one bit.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part, I do not mind being GF, but one thing I really really miss is saltines. That was what I preferred to eat when I was feeling sick. My mom always had us take small sips of coke when we were sick to our stomachs. She was a nurse and said there was something about the acidity of coke. So that is what I tend to drink when I am nauseated.
I have never been a big fan of cake and ice cream. I don't like how the cake got sort of soggy next to the ice cream. I am actually not a huge cake person in general. So our family birthday dessert is a big pizza-shaped cookie. But I only make it for the kids' bday. We usually celebrate Phil's at my parents and my mom usually gets an ice cream cake for him. I will usually try to treat myself to something from the GF bakery in Minneapolis, or I'll get a few macarons.
It's not really a thing from childhood or Taiwanese culture, but when I'm sick, I crave grapefruit juice and strawberry/raspberry ice cream.
ReplyDeleteI don't have your childhood of food insecurity - I'm so sorry that you had to grow up with that - but my parents were really frugal about food and I think I absorbed that growing up so food waste really upsets me. I hate it when my kids take a bite of something then throw it out. "Check with me before you throw food out!" I always tell them. I do think it might be a bit extreme - my mother won't eat sunny side up eggs because she thinks it is a waste of food if not every drop of runny yolk is consumed.
It's ironic that we seem to have unlimited food choice in the US compared to other countries and yet our ethical food choices seem so limited. I wonder if we had fewer choices, we would be able to have more ethical choices?