Highlights From The Weekend

Friday: My best friend Nancy came over for dinner and some catch-up time. Catch up, not ketchup. Although now that I think of it, ketchup time sounds like a great idea. I made us spaghetti & meatballs and, of course, managed to make a mess. While reaching in the cabinet for the spaghetti, a couple other pastas went flying.

And then as I was walking back to my computer, I dropped the one I was going to use. Like what? I need to work on my motor skills.

Saturday: Now here’s one of the many reasons I love twitter. That morning, I tweeted: A few minutes later: A few hours later:Be careful what you tweet; you just might get it.

This is a bold statement, but Hall’s Chopshouse might have my 2 most favorite salads ever. I strongly urge you to try their Blackened Salmon Salad or their Beet Salad. That night, I went for the beets:

Joe came out for a bit too, just long enough for me to take this rather romantical photo with him.

And then Danielle and I went to like 75 different bars. Or just three. Surprisingly, the bar we stayed at the longest was O'Malley’s. Random as ever – college students live here -- but the people watching was impressive. I saw this girl who danced just like Snooki. In other words, I saw her underwear about 5 different times.

Sunday: Another one of my best friends, Nikki, had her baby on Friday! I went to go visit them in the hospital. She had the most beautiful baby boy! Meet baby Liam who was born weighing 8 pounds, 15 ounces!

He looks like our love child. But seriously, how cute is he?! I’m so excited and proud of Nikki & William.

While at the hospital, I realized that I am definitely not the only freakshow who carries around random food items in her purse. Nikki’s mom carries around a PEPPER GRINDER. When I asked her why, she said she puts it in her ketchup. No joke, the woman grinded (ground?) up some pepper right into her ketchup. She says she can’t eat ketchup without it. I tried and it is really good.

What weird food items do you need to carry around with you? I almost always have a snack, but used to carry around a bottle of cinnamon. I know my beautiful friend Katie carries around salad dressing.  

Ketchup: love it or hate it? Weirdest thing you put it on? You guys know I love the Chick-fil-A ketchup.

A Lesson on Hummus and Foodie Terms That Make Me Cringe

I've always know that hummus is made from mashed chickpeas + seasonings. I had been going crazy seeing recipes like "edamame hummus," "white bean hummus," and "black bean hummus," that had no actual chickpeas in the recipes. My friends, that is a dip. The word hummus is both Arabic and Hebrew for chickpeas, so why on earth would something with a base of another legume, be called hummus? It's just not right. Last night when I made my Sweet Potato Hummuses, I thought it was safe to call them hummus being that the base was chickpeas with the addition of sweet potato + other seasonings. This really isn't correct either, and I'm not afraid to admit that. Maybe I'm being too pedantic about the subject, but I'd much rather own up to my mistake and use food terminology correctly. 

Then I got to thinking about other annoying foodie terms. This kept me up last night too, so that makes 2 nights in a row that I have not slept well because my brain is in overdrive thinking about food. Some might call me an insomniac, others might call me manic depressive, but I'd like to think I just really love food. And I have really bad a.d.d. Someone medicate me, please?


Baby Talk

• Yummers, yummo, or any other variation of yum. Unless you are under the age of 10, you need to stop it.
  
• Sammy and sammich. The word sandwich has an n in it, not an m. So why would you put two in there? Take out your pacifier.
  
• Foodbaby. The actual thought of giving birth to food is actually something we do on the toilet. Do not talk about human babies like that! That's disgusting.
  
• Cuppycake. People actually say this.

Unnecessary Abbreviations

• Brekkie, for breakfast. Are you that tired you can't say the whole word before you eat it?
  
• Resto, for restaurant. Sounds more like a rest stop to me, and I sure as heck don't want to eat there.
  
• EVOO. It's olive oil. "E-V-O-O" has the same amount of syllables as "ol-ive-oi-l" so stop being lazy, Rachel Ray.
  
• Ressy/Rezzie, for restaurant. Admittedly, Amanda and I have used this in a conversation.

Onomatopoeia

• Om, nom, nom. Where did this come from, Sesame Street?
  
• Meh.

Sexy time

• Foodgasm. Not possible to my knowledge. If so, call me.
  
• "This food is orgasmic." Again, if you can produce orgasm-inducing foods, call me.

The Redundant

• Cheese quesadilla.
  
• Chai tea.
  
• Au jus sauce.
  
• Shrimp scampi.
  
• Pizza pie.

The Self-Congratulatory Menu Items

• "Housemade"
  
• "Artisan"
  
• "Gourmet"

The #1 Worst

• EXPRESSO instead of ESPRESSO
  
• OH
  
• MY
  
• GOD
  
• STOP

Question: What food-related words/phrases do you find most aggravating? Or noises? How about gum smacking or loud chewing? ;)


Favor: The Charleston City Paper is taking votes for their annual “Best of Charleston” list featuring people, restaurants, and all things related to Charleston. I have received several emails and tweets from friends who have voted Hungry Meets Healthy for “Best Local Interest Blog.” If you have a spare few minutes, I would GREATLY appreciate your vote here: Best of Charleston.


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