Food Survey in 2020

What’s the last thing you ate?
Peanut butter M&Ms

What’s your favourite cheese?
Brie, especially with really good bread

What’s your favourite fish?
I’m not a big fan of fish. I do love sushi, and I can handle salmon on occasion. I didn’t eat fish growing up (I had pretty bad food allergies, including fish, though I outgrew them all eventually) so that may have something to do with it.

What’s your favourite fruit?
Cherries. Though I love good seasonal strawberries too, but cherries always do it for me.

When, if ever, did you start liking olives?
I love olives. All the olives! Growing up, we only ever ate green olives, but I developed a taste for black olives too as an adult.

When, if ever, did you start liking beer?
In college. I was all about inexpensive intoxication back in the day, but now I prefer dark beers. I have a chocolate peanut butter stout in the frig right now this is amazing.

When, if ever, did you start liking shellfish?
I love shellfish! My fish allergy was just to “swimming” fish, so I ate a ton of shrimp growing up. I love all of it - scallops, crab, lobster, you name it. I hate raw oysters though, can’t get past the texture.

What was the best thing your mum/dad/guardian used to make?
My mom was not an especially good cook, but we made a ton of Xmas cookies every year and those were amazing. So, cookies I guess? My dad liked to cook, he made a feast for us every New Year’s Day. I still have his recipe for collard greens, though no one in my family but me will eat them.

What’s the native specialty of your hometown?
I consider Miami my hometown, even though we didn’t move there til I was ten. Rice & black beans I guess? Cafe con leche and tostada? Picadillo? Fuck, now I’m hungry for Cuban food.

What’s your comfort food?
Soup. I love chicken corn chowder, but I also love my mother-in-law’s asopao de pollo (Puerto Rican chicken soup - it’s tomato based and amazing).

What’s your favourite type of chocolate?
Dark chocolate.

How do you like your steak?
Medium rare.

How do you like your burger?
Cheeseburgers with mayo, lettuce, and pickles. Sometimes I add onion but not too much.

How do you like your eggs?
My husband makes Gordon Ramsay’s scrambled eggs and they’re AMAZING. I also like Eggs Benedict, but I don’t like my eggs runny so I always poach mine longer than everyone else’s.

How do you like your potatoes?
Scalloped potatoes are the best thing in the world. But really, I love most kinds of potatoes.

How do you take your coffee?
At home, unsweet but with heavy cream. At my sister’s house, black but with lots of sugar. I don’t love Starbucks so I don’t do that much.

How do you take your tea?
At work, I make a mug of tea at the start of every work day. I love mint tea. For some reason I prefer artificial sweetener in my tea, so I usually put a few packets of Splenda in the cup.

What’s your favourite mug?
I have an oversize Harry Potter mug that I drink coffee out of every day. It has the Marauder’s Map on it, and I bought it in Universal Studios Florida.

What’s your biscuit or cookie of choice?
Chocolate chip or snickerdoodle, preferably warm out of the oven.

What’s your ideal breakfast?
It depends on the day. When I’m not working, I usually just have coffee. On work days, I have to eat something because I don’t take lunch until nearly 2pm and I’d be a raging hangry bitch by then if I didn’t eat. I prefer salty to sweet, so eggs and toast or an omelette are my preference, but I may grab a bowl of cereal if I’m running late.

What’s your ideal sandwich?
OMG, there’s a restaurant near us that makes a grilled cheese sandwich that is to die for - three kinds of cheese, candied bacon, and really great bread.

What’s your ideal pizza?
Mellow Mushroom’s Holy Shiitake pizza is my absolute favorite. If that’s not an option, give me sausage and extra cheese.

What’s your ideal pie (sweet or savoury)?
Savoury: chicken pot pie (keeping Calicake’s answer!)
Sweet: I love a good Key Lime Pie.

What’s your ideal salad?
Iceberg lettuce, shredded carrots, cucumbers, onions (but not too many), and either a really good ranch dressing or ginger dressing like they serve at sushi restaurants.

What food do you always like to have in the fridge?
Whole milk (my son drinks an absurd amount), cream for coffee, eggs, a few kinds of cheese, a variety of veg & fruit. Also, Liberte yogurt - that stuff is THE BEST.

What food do you always like to have in the freezer?
Usually meats, individual pizzas (the kids like these for lunch), some veg, and maybe ice cream.

What food do you always like to have in the cupboard?
Cereal and pop tarts (for kids), rice, taco shells, angel hair pasta, a couple of oils and marinades.

What spices can you not live without?
Salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and adobo are the staples, but I have a pretty well stocked spice rack, because I like to cook with different flavors.

What sauces can you not live without?
Sriracha mayo - love that stuff.

Where do you buy most of your food?
Publix and Costco.

How often do you go food shopping?
Usually once a week.

What’s the most expensive piece of kitchen equipment you own?
Probably my blender? I really want a kickass mixer but I can’t bring myself to spend the money not knowing how much I’d really use it.

What’s the last piece of equipment you bought for your kitchen?
Coffee maker, I guess - we bought a pretty nice one last year.

What piece of kitchen equipment could you not live without?
Microwave LOL

How many times a week/month do you cook from raw ingredients?
Typically 4-6 times a week.

What’s the last thing you cooked from raw ingredients?
I made chicken parm today.

What meats have you eaten besides cow, pig and poultry?
Rabbit, caribou, wildebeest. I traveled a lot as a teen/young adult, and was a pretty adventurous eater.

What’s the last time you ate something that had fallen on the floor?
We have dogs. Food does not last on the floor.

What’s the last time you ate something you’d picked in the wild?
No idea. I’m not savvy and I don’t eat random forest plants for fear of being poisoned.

Arrange the following in order of preference: Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Sushi
Thai, Sushi, Indian, Mexican, Italian, Chinese - though really I love them all.

Arrange the following in order of preference: Vodka, Whiskey, Brandy, Rum
Rum, Vodka, Brandy, Whiskey. Thank gawd tequila wasn’t on this list.

Arrange the following in order of preference: Garlic, Basil, Lime, Mint, Ginger, Aniseed
Garlic, Ginger, Lime, Mint, Basil, Aniseed.

Arrange the following in order of preference: Pineapple, Orange, Apple, Strawberry, Cherry, Watermelon, Banana.
Cherry, Strawberry, Watermelon, Orange, Pineapple, Apple, Banana.

Bread and spread
Really good sourdough, toasted and spread with salted butter.

What’s your fast food restaurant of choice, and what do you usually order?
Wendy’s, spicy chicken sandwich with no tomato. I hear Popeye’s is better but I haven’t managed to try one yet.

Pick a city. What are the best dining experiences you’ve had in that city?
Paris - my sister lived there for years, and she took me to a restaurant that served cheese for every course. It was unbelievably good.

What’s your choice of tipple at the end of a long day?
Depends what’s in the house. A glass of red wine, a dark beer, a bottle of hard cider, or maybe a mixed drink if it’s been a rough day.

What’s the next thing you’ll eat?
Coffee in the morning is all I have on the agenda, though I’m still thinking about cuban food so might have to seek that out for lunch tomorrow.

Are you hungry now?
Yes, damn it!

Do you eat your breakfast everyday?
Is coffee breakfast?

At what time do you have breakfast?
Usually before 7:30am.

At what time do you have lunch?
If I’m not working, around noon; on workdays, around 2pm.

What do you have for lunch?
Leftovers or something frozen.

At what time do you have dinner?
7-8pm.

What do you have for dinner?
I plan our dinner menu out weekly, so I usually know what the plan is unless it’s been a stupid long day in which case we grab takeout.

Do you light candles during dinner?
Haha no.

How many chairs are there in your dining room and who sits in the main chair?
We have eight total chairs, four at the table and four against the wall. There is no “main” chair but we all typically sit in the same spots.

Do you eat and drink using your right hand or the left one?
I’m absurdly right-handed.

Mention the veggies that you like most:
Green peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, onion, broccoli, brussell sprouts. I like most veggies.

What fruit and vegetable do you like the least?
Veggies: raw tomatoes
Fruit: I don’t love kiwi, but I can eat it to be polite.

You like your fruit salad to have more:
Berries.

You prefer your vegetable salad to contain more:
Variety.

What’s your favourite sandwich spread?
Sriracha mayo.

What’s your favourite chocolate bar?
Kit kat will always do in a pinch. Mounds is good too.

What’s your favourite dessert?
Creme brulee.

What’s your favourite drink?
I have a weakness for Arnold Palmers (that’s iced tea and lemonade, in case you’re not from the south).

What’s your favourite snack?
Cheez-its. There’s a reason I don’t keep them in the house.

What’s your favourite bubble gum flavour?
Grape

What’s your favourite ice cream flavour?
Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia.

What’s your favourite potato chip flavour?
Salt & vinegar, or jalapeno.

What’s your favourite soup?
French onion soup is the best. I really should learn how to make it.

What’s your favourite type of dish?
Honestly, I like food too much to pick just one. Maybe Thai curry?

What food do you hate?
Raw tomatoes.

What’s your favourite restaurant?
It depends what I’m in the mood for. Probably the best restaurant I’ve ever been to is Bern’s Steakhouse in Tampa, but I haven’t been there in years.

Do you eat homemade food, or food delivered from outside?
Mostly homemade.

Who cooks at home?
Mostly me. Rob has a few dishes, and the kids try things on occasion, but I do the bulk of the cooking.

What kind of diet (e.g. low-fat, high-fiber, high-carbohydrate, balanced diet etc.) do you have?
None of the above. Rob tries to eat keto, but I can’t give up carbs.

How do you keep yourself fit?
I’m not fit, but I do try to walk on the regular.