Guest Blog: Food for Thought

Happy Memorial Day!!! I'm on vacation, so Julie from Mommie Cooks is taking over my blog today. You first met her on Friday, and she tantalized your tastebuds. Now she's back to talk about life and food. Enjoy!!

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Food. What does it mean to you? Do you eat to live or live to eat? Being the self proclaimed foodie that I am, I definitely live to eat.  I love trying different tastes and textures.  I enjoy the thrill of mixing new and different ingredients together to create unique and yummy dishes.  I love to challenge myself in the kitchen.  While I do draw the line on a few edible bites, the sky is practically the limit as to what I'll try if it's put in front of me.  Part of the reason I feel the way I do is because of the importance I place on food in my life.  It's so much more to me than just a simple nourishment for my body. 

Do you have any dishes that stir memories of a particular event from your past?  Leg of lamb is one of those foods for me.  A good friend of mine invited us over for dinner the other night and she served it up from a sheep they had organically raised on their family farm.  As I ate it, I was vividly reminded of the holidays at my grandmother's house where, every year, she would make the most amazing leg of lamb I'd ever eaten.  I remember how excited my brother and I would get waiting in anticipation for Christmas Eve night; for the presents of course, but also for the special meal that had become such a cherished tradition in our home.

If you love to travel like I do, then you know that there is nothing more exciting than the adventure of exploring a place you've never been before.  New sights, new smells, and most exciting to me; new foods. Whether you're visiting a different country or just crossing the state line, there is always something new and different to try.  And chances are, when you try a new food from a different region or country, there's a history and a story behind that food that's almost as interesting as the dish itself.  Did you know that in Louisiana, the Créoles learned from slaves how to use okra to  thicken soups and that is how it became an essential ingredient in Créole Gumbo?  How about the fact that prickly pear pads have been used by native American Indians as a food and medicine for hundreds of years?  And yes, I have had prickly pear in jelly form and it's delicious!

Food is such an integral part of our world and it's so much more than  just a means to survive.  It's what ties us all together as a society.  We celebrate  with food and we comfort ourselves with food.  It's a way to make  memories and a way to meet new people.  We use it to connect with old  friends and to learn about new cultures.  I can't imagine a world where food didn't play an integral part in our day to day lives.  Can you?

Thank you Drama Mama for letting me be a guest blogger on your site.  I really enjoyed the opportunity to write for The Scoop on Poop and I look forward to reading more from your upcoming guest bloggers.

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