Food~~ Gotta Love it!!

If anyone knows me, they know just what a love affair I have with food; well, I should ammend that~~ most food. The following list is the top 6 things I will not KNOWINGLY put in my mouth, due to the fact that it will be taking a more direct route to the outside of my body than what would be classed as ladylike:
1) all seafood with the exception of scallops
2) peanut butter
3) turnip
4) grapefruit
5) peas
6) liver.
These six foods represent my idea of what food 'hell' is. I, for the life of me cannot understand how anyone can possibly put those things in their mouth and not go immediately insane from the sheer nastyness of it all. (is nastyness a word?...I will have to check that out)
Anyways, everything else, as they say, is fair game. I have the habit of going shopping to places like Yarmouth and Halifax just to eat, and buying things just to prove I actually DID shop, not just work my way through a buffet line.
I have to say tho, that I was very disappointed in artichokes. I have seen them prepared on various food shows, and I literally had myself believing that I was going to go directly past liking them to absolutely loving them. I was positive. They just looked soooooooooooooooooo good when they were all prepared. People would put a piece of one in their mouth and I would sympathy-taste it with them, immagining something a hundred times better than anything I have ever eaten in my life. (sounds of car breaks inserted here) REALITY CHECK!! The damn things taste like thistles. Just like those little flowers that grow in fields that livestock munch on. YES I know what thistles taste like, NO I have never eaten one, I just KNOW!! I was devistated. I did get over it and move on, but I have to say it did leave an emotional scar.
enuf of that. On to the good stuff. I think my all time new favorite type of food to eat is anything HOT. I never realized I like this sort of thing until my friend Nicole (hope she doesn't mind me using her name...) and I went to the show and ate at Boston Pizza first. She was the one who introduced me to 'cactus-cut' potatoes. (potatoes, potatos...hmmmm...well, what ever)
These little gems are potatoes that have been cross-sliced into thin slices and marinated in jalapeno juice for a while and then deep fried. I never would order anything like this because all my life my parents, who were not extremely adventurous when it came to culinary endevours, would tell me I didn't like that sort of food; so I took their word for it.
Nicole offered the cactus cuts to me, and I have to say, out of politeness, I took one, wondering how I would get the little bugger down. ( I hate to refuse something someone offers me for fear of mortally offending them) I popped it in my mouth and after a few bites, sure enough, my mouth started to heat up~ but that was it. Where was this fabled burn I was supposed to encounter? well boys and girls, that came after the 6th or 7th piece. Sure enough, my mouth was on fire, my lips were on fire, every pore in my face was wide open and I was sweating, AND I was LOVING it!!
Where had this been all my life?? It was amazing how good this was. the pain was glorious!! Well, I have to say that sounded just a bit on the kinky side, but you know what I mean. It was just awesome. I absolutely fell in love with hot foods. Thai chilis are the best. They deliver a heat that is very deceiving. It starts out feeling like a warmth, but in the end it delivers a crippling heat that just melts your eyeballs. Gotta love that!! :) Habaneros ( I KNOW I just spelled that 8 ways to wrong) deliver the heat, but I am not a fan of the taste. They taste too much like a green pepper which really doesn't appeal to me.
Anyways, a good meal topped off with a slice of cheesecake and I am yours forever. (I am so easy it is pathetic)
Two more of my favorite places to snag food is 'The Bulk Barn' and 'Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory'. Miles and miles of candy~~ need I say more?? Oh yeah, and 'Freak Lunchbox'~~ retro candy up the wazoo.
What's that, you say? You never would have guessed I like food that much? Oh just stop~~ you make me blush.
Any hoo, I have rambled enough on this topic for mow, needless to say I will have more to say about it in the future, but for now, toodles.