Vegetables

In the future, I probably will address specific vegetables, but for now, it just needs to be said: vegetables are amazing. Yes, we're all supposed to cringe at the veggies on our plates, but they really are tasty and, as an added bonus, they're actually good for you. Also, they tend to be on the cheap side.

They can liven up pretty much any meal. My roommate had the brilliant idea of putting vegetables from the dining hall into ramen. So I did. The most amazing side effect is that it makes the noodles look like actual food. It made it taste better, and smells amazing. Since this is not a ramen I tend to eat regularly (it came in a care package from well meaning parents), that's kind of amazing. I can't wait to try it with a Nong Shim Noodle Bowl, which is the ramen I eat relatively regularly.

Vegetables are necessary to a lot of other meals. Mashed potatoes, string beans, the variety goes on and on.

Dumplings

I just got back from Wegmans, where, in addition to my normal grocery shopping, I impulsively bought myself some Asian food for lunch. I've had better vermicelli noodles, but the dumplings really are good. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that I absolutely love dumplings in general. Whenever I go to Chinese buffets, my plate immediately gets filled up with their sushi and dumplings and various dim sum. Otherwise, I don't get to eat them, since we don't have many good Chinese places near where I live.

Anyway, I have no idea what makes them so delicious. I know there are many varieties, but so far I've only met a handful I didn't like, and quite honestly, that only tends to be because they're watered down versions of the real thing, if that makes sense. I guess the combination of what-have-you in a bize-shell shell.

I also think it's a little strange that a lot of things I don't generally like, like pork or soy sauce, can still taste really good when put in dumpling form.

Cherries

(Long time no post: blame a home that fails to inspire, and how busy school can make me once it starts)

I have a massive sweet tooth, which, among other things, means I love fruits. It's always better to eat a handful of strawberries than to eat a bar of chocolate, anyway. So, I try to keep at least some fruit in my fridge at all times.

Yesterday, I was grocery shopping and saw that they were selling cherries for $3.99/lb. Expensive, but I've seen worse. I couldn't resist buying some. At the moment, the bag is more than half gone, but since I read somewhere that they only hold for a few days, and because my fridge has a bad habit of freezing things at random, I suppose it's a good thing. I don't even mind the pit, quite honestly.

I just love the way they taste, you know? Sweet yet mildly sour, yet never too overpowering. It also brings me back to my childhood. For a few years, I lived with my Babcia in Poland, and she had a garden behind her house. I remember, with a good deal of certainty (I was maybe 4, so memories can get a little shaky at times), that there was a cherry tree there. She also grew cucumbers for pickles, and had strawberries and peas and flowers. It was a really lovely place. I think one day I want to have a garden like that: fruits and flowers, and a cherry tree.

Bubble Tea

Asia is the home of many amazing things. Bubble tea is one of my favorites- it's happiness in a cup. Whenever I happen to be in Chinatown or in a store that sells it, I usually give into temptation and buy myself a cup. Today, my best friend and I had lunch at a Chinese buffet, and then ended up in an Asian grocery store. Their bubble tea was particularly good, and wasn't badly priced at all, which was a plus.

Part of it no doubt has to do with my love of tea in general, but no doubt the available flavors and tapioca no doubt play a huge part in my love of this stuff. I am mildly addicted to lychee (which will get its own entry later on, no doubt), and so having a lychee flavored drink makes me happy. I'm also particularly fond of mango. The non-fruit varieties are also delicious. I've had just plain tea with tapioca before, and loved it. I have also been really tempted by flavors such as almond in the past since I love nutty flavors. I've never gotten it before, but maybe one day I will.

The tapioca is what makes this drink really fun. It's not that it's really all that tasty- it doesn't have much going for it in that department. But it kind of reminds me of licorice, and it's fun to chew while drinking the tea.

At the grocery store I visited today, I realized that I could make the tea on my own. They have packets of "Boba tea", which, according to Wikipedia, is another name for Bubble Tea, and they sell tapioca as well. One day, I'm going to try to make it.

Honey

I've neglected this blog a bit. I'm going to blame a lack of inspiration, and general vacation laziness.

That said- honey is delicious. Not by itself, but it goes really well with a number of things. One of my favorite lazy breakfasts is a piece of bread with a little bit of butter (I'm not the biggest fan of butter) and honey. So good. I also remember one meeting of Latin club in high school where the moderator brought us dried dates and honey, which was beyond yummy. Also, it's a wonderful sweetener. I don't use it in my chai, because I don't like the way the flavors come together, but it's perfect for green tea (I like my drinks sweet). It also tastes wonderful in warm milk. I drink it if I really can't sleep, but I hate the way it tastes by itself. Add a little honey, and it's delicious.

Eventually, I want to try to bake with honey. As I don't really have my own kitchen right now, it's hard, but one day I am going to experiment. Before that, I need to learn about the different types of honey, as there are apparently a lot.

I also happen to have an unshakable belief in the health benefits of honey, mostly in relation to sore throats and coughs. I'm not sure why I have such faith in some things, but at least it's never unfounded. When I woke up this morning with a sore throat, I took a spoonful of honey, and it immediately went away, and wasn't nearly as bad until evening.

Dried Mango

Or dried fruit in general? I couldn't tell you, as this is about the only dried fruit I really eat. Well, I used to eat it. Then I stopped. Then my roommate randomly shared some with me, and made me remember how absolutely delicious it is. So today when I was in the local Asian supermarket, I bought myself a pack, and it's gone already. I should have gone with the bigger pack.

For the time being, I'm only labeling dried mango as delicious. I had a fresh mango. Yes, it was yummy, but not nearly as good as the dried variety.

That said- my favorite variety is this Filipino one (made by Golden Kay). I've tried other kinds, and they tend to be too sweet or otherwise off. The Filipino one that I eat has just the right balance.

Mozzarella

Mozzarella. It's without doubt my favorite cheese, although cheese in general is delicious.

Fresh mozzarella is particularly delicious, especially with tomatoes. My school changed some of the sandwich stations last year, so that they offered some fancy options like eggplant and roast peppers... and fresh mozzarella. Although a bit on the expensive side, it's become of one of my favorite things there (it's not like I use my meal plan all that often anyway). I think my dad may have made chicken parm (also delicious) with it once, and that was beyond fantastic.

Also in this category- string cheese. Most of the string cheese I've bought in the past has been mozzarella, and really- it's just a lot of fun to eat. My parents only bought it once in a while when I was a kid, but now I get to do my own grocery shopping, so I can have it whenever I want (or whenever I feel like paying for it- in terms of snacks, it can be on the expensive side).