Cravings

I enjoy eating. I think I've made that rather obvious by now. One of my favorite things about eating is having a craving, particularly a craving that you know will be satisfied. The easiest example is Thanksgiving. You almost always know what food is coming, and you usually look forward to at least one of the dishes.

When I visit my homeland of Texas, I always begin craving Mexican food. I get excited a few weeks before, waiting for some delicious Tacos Norteños. The anticipation is almost as great as the experience itself. Sometimes, during the week, I crave bacon. I really really like bacon. Sure enough, I have to satisfy that craving on the weekend with some toast and eggs. Mmmmmm.

The most difficult cravings are those that occur during the day. As I mentioned before, we're Americans, so we have no patience, especially with food. During the day, I can rarely satisfy those cravings, so I have to wait. Other times, there's no chance of satisfying those cravings. Do you know how many places in Denver serve escargot? (The answer is not many). There is nothing worse than craving something that seems far away. A meal you had long ago in a small town in France. Or the meal you used to always eat at your favorite restaurant, but they've since shut down. Or my craving for Mexican food that cannot be quenched within Colorado.

I guess the question is, is it better to crave and not satisfy than to never crave at all?

What are your cravings?

Food & Music

I have a confession: I don't know a lot about music. If I hear something I really like on the radio, I'll try to find the artist and obtain the song. However, if you start talking about random artists, I'm probably not familiar with them. Sure, I have heard of the mainstream singers, people whose names are on the top 10 lists of many publications. Any names that aren't on that list are probably unfamiliar to me. I'm not going to wow you by telling you about some singer who you have to hear. I'm more apt to say, "did you hear that new Coldplay song, Trouble?" Imagine my surprise when you tell me that song is at least 8 or 9 years old (I had to look that up).
The truth is I tend to listen to the same music. Even if an artist I like releases a new song, I'm a little skeptical, but I won't venture out of my comfort zone. Someone might recommend some new singer, but it will be a real stretch for me to start liking someone new. When it comes down to it, I need someone who knows music to push me into other artists, to pull me out of the comfort zone, and assure me it's going to be all right.
Have you figured out where I'm going with this? Food isn't all that different. We are all used to the familiar foods we grew up with. There are certain restaurants we frequent, and we're never sure what to think of the new place that opens up in our area. When someone asks if we tried French food, we might turn up our noses and say, "I would never eat French." It's no different than the people who listen to all types of music, EXCEPT country. They're accustomed to think that country music is not "cool." The same applies for those who won't eat French food. The French are snobby, they hate Americans, their food is too pretentious. These are all excuses, but none really excuse you from trying it. I use French food as an example, but this applies to all types of food. How do you really know you wont' like French food? Maybe Escargot is the best thing you'll ever eat. We need a friend to make us try something new and to stretch us.
There is nothing more comfortable than that which is familiar, but there is nothing more exciting than that which is unknown. Expand your zone of comfort.

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Now playing: Coldplay - Trouble
via FoxyTunes