Feed Me!

Day Twenty Three- Something you crave a lot

First and foremost, I am craving WARM weather! Now, are you sure you want to get me started on food?

What I am craving goes in phases, like right now I am craving poached eggs with toast. I have been eating it twice a day all week and now that I am thinking about it I would like some more. Along with my current craving here are some things that almost always sound good.

Peanut Butter

Bagels with Cream Cheese

Mexican Food- I could eat Mexican food every single day and never tire of it. My average 10 day menu has Mexican on it at least 3 times. Tacos, burritos, enchiladas. I love it all. I love spicy food. In fact, I put cayenne pepper or cut up serrano peppers (cause they are hotter than jalapenos) in things they don't even belong in. I miss Mexican food. Wisconsin does not have many Mexican restaurants, neither does Chicago. The ones I have tried are usually awful. If the only beef selection a Mexican food place has is ground beef, then I do not trust them and will not eat there. If you are making tacos at home ground beef is fine (sometimes) but not when you are out. You better have shredded beef or at least carne asada. We have been to so many bad Mexican places out here and we don't have ANY good fast food Mexican places. I would even settle for a Del Taco. Sure, it's no El Taco or Pepe's or Alberto's but better than nothing. In our time here we have only found one good Mexican food restaurant, so listen up locals and I will let you in on the secret. La Cabana out on Highway 50 in Paddock Lake. Very yummy and inexpensive too. I want to go there right now, now that I am thinking about it.

Sandwiches- The only sandwiches I eat at home are PB&J. I am not crazy about a homemade lunch meat sandwich, but I am crazy for subs. That is one thing I miss about upstate NY. NY is to sub sandwiches what LA is to Mexican food. I wish I hadn't been a broke missionary while I was there because I would have loved to have subs three times a day. We also don't have too many good sandwich shops here, but there are a few. Tenuta's is pretty good, Mac's Deli is pretty good, I love Panera, and my favorite out here is Potbelly's. I crave Potbelly about every 45 minutes. One thing they do right in the Midwest sandwich world is to add giardaniera peppers. Spicy!

Chocolate- especially dark chocolate

Baked Goods- This is my number one craving. I love cakes, pies, donuts, and most especially....

Chocolate Chip Cookies- I could eat 2 dozen chocolate chip cookies a day. I have on many occasions. To me, a chocolate chip cookie is the perfect food. I will never turn down a chocolate chip cookie, but I do have some preferences. I do not like flat cookies. I do not like crispy cookies. I do not like cakey cookies. And as much as I like chocolate, I do not like when cookies have too many chocolate chips (like Mrs. Fields...too many chips but otherwise a good cookie). I want to taste the cookie part too. I don't like small cookies, I fill a 1/4 cup measuring cup with dough for each cookie. I don't like warm cookies. I know that is almost against the law, but when they are warm all you taste is melted chocolate. I want to taste the whole cookie. The best cookies are a little bit thick, but NOT puffy, a little bit dense and definitely chewy. I don't like the Nestle recipe at all (allthough I am loyal to Nestle chips), and I have made so many variations of the chocolate chip cookie over the years in search of the perfect one. While I prefer homemade cookies, I also have some favorites from other places. And since I'm sure you care, here are a few: Potbelly, good sandwiches and good cookies. What more could you want? Claim Jumper-giant cc cookie with toffee pieces sprinkled in. The taste texture and chocolate to cookie ratio are perfect. Grand lux Cafe- If you order cookies they bring you a dozen little chocolate chip cookies with pecans, still warm. Breaks ALL my rules since I prefer big cookies, completely cooled, and no nuts but for some reason, they work. Downey Unified School District- The cookies in my schools growing up were SO good. Every day I spent my entire lunch dollar on 4 cookies, 2 at snack time and 2 at lunch. My brother did the same thing, and then we would both have to eat real food when we got home. We were so mad when they raised the price from 25 cents to 30 cents and we could only get 3 a day with our dollar. And just one more for now and this may sound weird....Flying J Rest Stop- Their chocolate chip cookies are so buttery (maybe just butter flavor because the smell and taste is too strong to be authentic) and big and chewy. We don't have Flying J, but you better believe we stop at every one we see when we road trip in the West. Alright, no one cared about that but I am passionate about chocolate chip cookies.

Those are my most frequent cravings, although in the summer I do long for lime Slush Puppies. Not Slurpies or Icees, those are foamy, I like slush puppies where the ice is gritty enough to bite. Oh, and I like ice, especially the little pellets that are so hard to find around here. I don't like liquids, but I like to eat ice, if I can find good ice. And there are a lot of restaurants that I crave but we won't go there right now since you are already starting to see how this could go on all day.

And now I'm hungry! Good thing it's lunch date day! I am thinking Potbelly's or Panera...what do you think Jen?