I’d really like to encourage my fellow foodies to try new foods and share their experience. I love cooking, I love eating, but half the fun of food is finding something spectacular you didn’t even know existed. We try to sample at least one new food a week around here to be healthy, open minded, experience other culinary cultures etc. This weeks new foods are below.

Mango (fresh): B-
Much nicer than the canned stuff but a pain to prep!

Dates: C
Smell like vanilla, chewy and gooey but not a ton of flavor)

Chaat Masala: C
An Indian spice blend heavy on the chili but too sulfurous due to the black salt.

Baba Ganoush D/B
An eggplant dip, too squishy and tart for me but Sean likes it a lot,

Matcha Powder: B
Green tea powder, expensive but makes a nice smoothie and good for you.

Goat Cheese: B+
Tastes like a dryer tarter version of cream cheese, has a similar taste to Greek yogurt.

Have a food adventure, try something new every week and tell us about it.

Inspired by my last entry and in honor of Earth Day:

P.S. I <3 Sarah

Sometimes, well no, often, bloggers like myself get distracted by something (a new scifi movie, a shiny object, a life…) and cease to blog for days or even months without any notice. This can be frustrating to the readers of said blog who feel let down and left out. It’s understandable, after all you feel connected to these folks. So, I apologize to my imaginary readers who’ve been waiting for a new post but I have a really good reason. I ALMOST DIED.

Whenever I write that it will be in caps because when you ALMOST DIE you get to do things in caps. It’s a rule.

So I had that cancer thing. Yeah I know, I kind of never got around to finishing that story huh? I guess maybe it’s because of how personal it is. I mean, those of you who really know me know that despite my borderline neurotic need for privacy and crushing shyness that I take every opportunity I can to talk about my lady parts right? That’s Southern for vagina. It’s ever so much fun to discuss the state of your delicate bits with the entire interwebs. I can’t believe I just said vagina. My grandma is reading the word vagina up there right now and getting the vapors. Ok, it was worth it.

Long story short, we tried surgery and medication for a year and it was all going peachy. We were going for our last biopsy and had started picking out baby names and nursery room decor when we got the news that the cells were no longer responding to the meds and the cancer was coming back. I’d be having a total hysterectomy in about a week and needed to get my things in order. So I called Sean at work wailing like a wounded sea lion. How he understood me is a mystery but he did and came right home to hold me while I cried and snotted in that sexy way I do. You really don’t know how much someone loves you until they wipe your nose with the shirt they are still wearing.

The next day I went into planner mode because that’s what keeps me sane. I did an enormous amount of research to make sure it would go well. I packed my overnight bag with great care and more than a little crazy for good measure. It went something like this:

Me: This website says I’ll need a nightgown. Sean, I don’t own a nightgown! I don’t do nightgowns! Cancel the surgery!!!

At which point Sean reminded me that stores exist and I could just buy one. Crisis averted. What else would I need? Books? Gin? A time machine to go back to 1984 to get my mommy? Sean tried to patiently explain that I’d likely be unconscious so books would be useless, that I don’t drink and the hospital would likely frown on my being drunk and that time travel was impossible. To which I calmly explained that SHUT IT! I’m getting my organs ripped out by a robot, I get to be irrational! Eventually he calmed me down and we got it all together but frankly I still blame him for the lack of time travel. What kind of scientist is he anyway?!

Next Time – ‘I Had Surgery In The Hospital From Silent Hill’