January 16, 2012: Weird Snacks and Addictions

Breakfast:

• 1 toasted plain bagel cut in half
• This bagel was perfectly toasted! I was so happy. It was golden brown and crunchy on the outside, darker around the edges, while still soft and fluffy on the inside
• Chive cream cheese
• You could tell the store made this cream cheese themselves. The chive was fresh cut and in larger pieces that were just enough for good flavor, but not overpowering. Excellent bagel!

Snack:

• Parmesan Reggiano small hunk of cheese and 1/2 a lemon
• I know what you're thinking. Parmesan and lemons for a snack? What the heck? Who is this girl? Calm down, I know it's kind of weird but I'm kind of weird. I also eat sheets of Nori (dried seaweed)every once in a while for snack, but that's another story. Anyways, let me tell you the story. 
• While reading on a bumpy bus ride from Boston to Amherst I got bored and kind of hungry. I always do my best work on buses because the white noise of the wheels underneath me helps me focus better. Because of this same effect, I was really able to zone in on the flavors of the food without any distractions. I had used some of this amazing parmesan cheese on the Rosemary Focaccia bread that was sitting in the bag beneath me and I was interested in trying it just by itself. So I sat and nibbled on this small hunk of fantastic parmesan while reading my book. The parmesan was pungent and extra flavorful. There were some crunchy parts that were extra salty and I was out of water. The only liquid I had in my bag was a 1/2 of a lemon. I decided to use the lemon juice to quench my thirst from the salty cheese. Halfway through this endeavor it became more of a challenge to not make the instinctual squirmy "sour" face-- that scrunched and puckered expression. This prevention allowed me to really and truly experience the flavor of lemon and how it fills your mouth with a single drop. I ate this lemon and felt the sting of the acidity collecting in the back of my throat. It felt like the lemon dried out my taste-buds but moistened my mouth. 
• Tall dirty chai from Starbucks
• I drank this slowly while waiting for the bus. "Ring of Fire" was playing overhead as I sat reading quietly and sipping away. The spices were sweet and smokey with a slight bittersweet aftertaste that stunk of coffee and lingered in the creases of the inside of my mouth. I don't particularly like coffee, but for some reason I love dirty chai lattes. 
• Addictions are funny. For example, I used to not have a sweet tooth at all. I just wasn't interested in sugar. What I noticed was the more I ate it the more I craved it. On a more intense scale, I used to despise the smell of cigarettes. I would hold my breath when someone smoking would pass me on the street until I got far enough away that I wouldn't smell their trail of smoke. When I came to Hampshire, almost everyone I knew smoked and I was forced to get used to the smell. I still have never smoked a cigarette and I promised myself I never will because I noticed that the more I am around cigarette smoke, the more I enjoy the smell. Coffee is the same as cigarettes and sugar. It's an addictive substance that people get hooked on. I try to stick with tea instead, but I do enjoy a good dirty chai latte every once in a while. 

Dinner:

• Lentil soup 
• Kalamata Olive Spread on pieces of Rosemary Focaccia
• 1/2 a bowl of my friend and housemate Jenn's 1st crockpot adventure!
• carrots
• onions
• parsnip
• garlic
• rutebega
• turnips
• cabbage
• cayenne pepper
• rosemary
• salt
• pepper
• water
• A hearty winter soup with a little kick in the back of the throat from the cayenne pepper

Jenn's first crockpot adventure!

Max loving up his soup

Dessert:

• 1 mango mochi