In general interest television interviews or chat shows, you will often hear people declaring that they "like their food". Huh? Isn't that amazing? People who like their food. Apart perhaps from folk with eating disorders, I would say that nearly everybody on the planet "likes their food". That has been my experience anyway.
Food can be a comfort, a happy distraction from mental strains, a pleasant and familiar ritual and a focus for family or celebratory events. At weddings there is food and funerals finish with food and American Thanksgiving Days - for example - would be nothing without the feast upon the dining table. Food glorious food!
Putting aside the politics of food and healthy eating guilt trips, I just want to share with you a list of my naughty pleasures when it comes to food:-
1. A chip sandwich or "chip buttie". By this I mean homemade fried potatoes. Two slices of fresh bread slathered liberally with salted butter. Put the hot chips inside and enjoy as the butter melts. Beautiful.
2. Salted peanuts. Most times I visit the supermarket, I have to force myself not to pile the trolley up with salted peanuts. Realising how fattening they are, I have to ration myself to an occasional packet. Savoury, crunchy and salty you cannot beat a handful of salted peanuts or even a full packet. They are so "moreish".
3. Custard cream biscuits. We never have them at home because I would devour a packet in a couple of days. Their small sandwich appearance and surface design has not changed since I was a child. There are usually a few custard creams in the biscuit tin at my Oxfam shop but when I arrive half of them mysteriously disappear.
4. A ripe banana. Not over-ripe and not green and hard. Just in the middle. How wonderful that Mother Nature has pre-packaged them for us. Hardly a day goes by without me eating at least one banana and I usually take bananas on my country walks. When hunger rumbles, a banana will usually send that beast back into its cave.
5. A sausage and tomato sandwich. Again you need fresh bread or a fresh roll. Good quality grilled pork sausages sliced down the middle. Then a large spoonful of tinned chopped tomatoes layered on top. When I pass through Sheffield's Moor Market, I often pause at one of the food stalls to order this culinary delight with a mug of tea.
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Well I could go on and on with this list - apples, bacon sandwiches, sausage rolls, pork pies, peanut butter and strawberry jam on toast, Welsh rarebit... As you can see, I have kept away from proper meals like Sunday roasts, spaghetti, curries, stir fries, salads, meat pies with mashed potato and peas, fish and chips etcetera... or indeed vegan meal recipes from "Bosh!" books.
Sticking with food, what are your guilty pleasures?
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| A chip buttie |
Crunchy peanut butter (not the healthy kind) on hot toast and topped with a spoonful of Nutella!
ReplyDeleteI was with you all the way Margie - until you mentioned Nutella!
DeleteCuban sandwiches. GOOD Cuban sandwiches.
ReplyDeleteI will have to research that Madame Lune as I have no idea what a Cuban sandwich is.
DeleteI wonder if there's a Cuban sandwich to be had within many miles of you. And really, I need to amend my first comment- even a not-so-good Cuban sandwich makes me happy.
DeleteYorkshire pudding and roast beef is my one weakness........
ReplyDeleteI thought you'd be partial to Yorkshire Pudding Christina - but then again most heterosexual women are!
DeleteA ripe banana is a rare thing! Usually they're WAY too green.
ReplyDeleteI suppose my guiltiest pleasure is wine!
To you wine may be food Steve but to most of us it is drink.
DeleteI prefer a slightly greenish banana to one that's fully ripe! The texture of ripe ones bothers me.
DeleteWell, where do I start. I love all food and always have. I have never smoked and alcohol doesn't interest me at all but eating has always been my downfall.
ReplyDeleteAs for anybody on the planet liking food, my Granddaughter is terrible with food, she just has no interest in it at all. My son sends her to school with a lunch box and she brings it back as it went with just a couple of bites taken.
She is full of energy and I wonder how she has so much when she eats so little.
Briony
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That is rather worrying Briony and such habits can snowball. I have had an eating disorder all my life - I just can't get enough nosh!
DeleteI'm rather fond of black pudding. I don't feel guilty about it though.
ReplyDeleteIs that a euphemism Philip?
DeleteBottle of Newcastle Brown with Cadburys flake (was better before they changed the chocolate to resemble solidified grease). One bite of flake. Keep flake in mouth and add one swig of Newcastle Brown straight from neck of bottle. Crunch up flake with Newcastle Brown still in mouth. Swallow. Repeat. May need two flakes.
ReplyDeleteYou have very sophisticated tastes TD!
DeleteI can't say no to baked goods. Homemade bread, cinnamon rolls, cakes or pies! Definitely my guilty pleasures.
ReplyDeleteYour secret is safe with me Bonnie!
DeleteWonderful coffee with a generous glug(or two) of Bailey's Irish cream, Wilcoxin's Praline Pecan Caramel ice cream, Root beer float, nachos, homemade tamales, corn bread with honey butter, a bowl of red (chili con carne), thick chocolate milk shake, penuche, pumpkin pie with Cool Whip. I am the Snack Queen.
ReplyDeleteCough-cough...Quite a few calories there Lady Penelope!
DeleteI like my food, too. But, I never have chips on a sandwich...never have, never will. I love chips, though.
ReplyDeleteI love crunchy peanut paste/butter...not smooth. I love fruit, vegetables, beef, chicken, pork, fresh wholegrain bread, fresh white bread...butter, olive oil...I love what I love. Oh! I love liquorice. I'm sick of the "experts" telling me what I can and can not eat. It changes from week to week.
I love my food...as I grow older, however, my appetite is less, and my desire to spend hours cooking has disappeared, too. I did make a large ginger-marmalade cake yesterday, though. I'm about to take it to the local Aged Care home in a few minutes for the residents to enjoy. I make them a cake every so often...just for the enjoyment of it...my enjoyment. :)
What a lovely thing to do Lee! And it has the added bonus of enabling you to maintain your baking skills.
Deletewhat you have listed is comfort food, white and full of carbs and I would follow that diet ! I would. It is in my DNA! English/Norwegian carbohydrate rush!
ReplyDeleteSo what are your own guilty food pleasures Linda-Sue?
DeleteI find the older I GET THE FUSSIER i AM WITH FOOD AND EAT LESS. iN THE PAST MY DOWNFALL WAS DONUTS.
ReplyDeleteA bit like Homer Simpson then!
DeleteMy guilty pleasures are things like: bacon cheeseburgers, sausage biscuits (American biscuits, of course, not what you English call biscuits!), fried shrimp and oysters, and for sweets....well, let's just say it's better for me not to be around Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
ReplyDeleteAre you addicted to Krispy Kreme doughnuts? Perhaps they are like heroin to you Jennifer. "Give me a fix Gregg!"
DeleteThere are so many things I can no longer eat after developing IBS, and my guilty pleasures nowadays are very plain compared to what they used to be. One thing I can still eat and enjoy immensely is potato chips (crisps in your language, ha) as long as they have just potatoes and oil and salt as ingredients.
ReplyDeleteSorry to learn about your IBS Jenny. I hope that IBS is never the theme for Poetry Monday. Meantime, keep on munching the crisps!
DeleteI love sweets, my favorite is cookies and I especially love Texas Cowboy Cookies. I don't make them often because I can't stop myself. I'm going to make a Bakewell tart this weekend because writing about it led to looking up recipes for it and it doesn't look hard.
ReplyDeleteWell - I am delighted to have inspired you Lily. Why not have a look around Bakewell via Google Streetview?
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