food(s) that makes you go "mmmm!"

[kylerexpop]

remember when you were a kid, and you ate something (for me, it was fig newtons) where you were like "i love this so much this is all i'm going to eat ever for THE REST OF MY LIFE."

i'm curious what sort of treasured foods you still hold onto, you know, so we can try them, too!

i actually got over my love for fig newtons. i do like figs, though. this guy at the redlands market night sells little bags of soft fruit bars which are similar to fig newtons but a million trillion times better, and i was eating a couple and thinking "these are what i want to live on FOREVER!" when i thought of starting a thread. (i'm just curious! like a curious squid, really)

i think my current list would be:

tangerine juice
garbage burrito at el burrito (redlands, ca)
baja blast (blue) mountain dew (exclusively at taco bell)
lemon chicken (thai/chinese cuisine)
french fries (probably universal, but bears mentioning)
nachos
spicy italian sandwiches at subway
the banana "ice cream" at cold stone creamery

i'll try to remember others for me. what are some of yours?

[Head Mutant]

My current snack love is split between lime tic tacs and David's Sunflower Seeds. Both are lo-calorie stuff, and those sunflower seeds take me a good week to get through just one bag (plus, they have awesome flavors like nacho cheese, pickles, jalopeno and ranch).

I went through a bit of a tea drinking revival, but that's settled down. Coffee4Life.

[StarOpal]

My still treasured childhood foods:

peanut butter & (grape) jelly
mint chocolate chip icecream (the green kind!)
octopus salad
Maryland style blue crabs (Makes me think of family get-togethers and summer days.)

Current love:

chicken flauntas
tortilla soup

[sarahbot]

Now I want some Fig Newtons, Kyle. I haven't had them in a while. Mmmm, figs.

- Mango juice, or dried mangoes (Phillipine brand is the best)
- For some reason anything that combines toffee & almonds, like Hersheys Toffee & Almond bars or Starbucks Toffee & Almond lattes. I don't really like them by themselves though.
- If I had to pick a "real" food (i.e. not junk) it would be curried chicken. There's an Indian place by my house that we had never tried before, and they make the best curried chicken and naan ever. Insanely delicious, and a 15-minute walk at the most.
- I used to be a peppermint tea freak but right now I'm in love with ginger peach tea.
- Oh, and poutine (fries, gravy, cheese curds). it's -39 C today, how could I not say poutine?

Wait, octopus salad? With actual octopi?

[StarOpal]

Well, yeah.

Technically, it's called "insalata del polipo" but since that's Italian for "octopus salad"... It's made with octopus, lemons, garlic, olive oil, and salt (I like to use kosher salt). Easy to make and very tasty.

[PoolMan]

The whole octopus thing just serves to remind me that I'm a slave to the sushi. Mm hm.

I'm also a total nacho hound. Which is bad. But so good.

Starbuck's Island Oat Bar.
Skors Bites.
Mom's thai food. (Don't tell my wife)
My wife's lasagna. (Don't tell my mom)

[aargmematey]

Mmm, reading this is making me hungry...

Tacos! But generally only the kind my mom makes. I don't know what it is, but they are delicioso!
Sonny's Garlic Bread. Agghh...such a delight.
Steak and Shakes caramel apple milkshake. Oh my, this thing is just...it's like heaven in a glass w/ whipcream.
And finally...my mom's peanut butter pie.

[varana]

Feel free to post some of your mum's recipies

My thing is mango smoothies

[sarahbot]

You guys put me in a baking mood.

Today I'm making cinnamon-raisin bread. I've been on a making-my-own-breads kick lately, and this is my first step outside regular white. Hopefully it's good because there's nothing better than fresh hot bread.
Tune in tomorrow, when I make applesauce.

[pfrsue]

Philadelphia Cheesesteak. *siiiiiiiiiigh*

[Spiderdancer]

Homemade fudge. Mine, Dad's, or Sibling 2's no-bake oatmeal cookies (which are basically fudge with oatmeal). I have no basis of comparison for saying it's better than sex, but I have strong suspicions.

Double chocolate chip cookies ditto. Sibling 2 again.

Almost any kind of chocolate that comes from See's. Rico. Suave.

And, departing from the recurring theme, lasagna. I loooove lasagna. And this is the kind with tomatoes and meat in it and layers of cheese, not that sissy white stuff.

[Lissa]

Okay, I'm hungry.

I love food. Dearly. I subscribe to Cooking Light and Bon Appetit and although there are plenty of nights I'm too tired, I love to cook. And I love to bake. This question is very difficult for me, especially since I also love McDonald's Quarter Pounders with cheese and fries dipped into sweet n sour sauce.

From childhood:

-Grilled cheese
-My Mom's chocolate mint brownies (about the only one of my mom's recipes you'll see on this list)
-Okay- I lied, my mom's shortbread cookies with buttercream frosting at Christmas
-Kraft mac n cheese

From eating out:

-The aforementioned McDonald's
-My favorite meal at our favorite restaurant: french onion soup with apple cider, osso bucco with sundried tomato mashed potatoes, and strawberry pots de creme with chocolate ganache (and a glass of Clos Pegas cabernet)
-Fried mozzerella
-Fajitas
-Anything that involves fresh mozzerella, really ripe tomatoes, and basil (and preferably a little garlic)

Things that I make:

-Andouille sausage and chicken jambalaya
-Triple chocolate pie
-Strawberry spinach salad (mmm... now I can't wait for summer)
-A lot of desserts, to be honest. Ooo- homemade caramels, too.
-Citrus glazed chicken thighs with Med. orzo
-Oooh- I made this pretzel crusted pork chop with orange mustard cream sauce. I really need to make it again. Believe it or not, crushed pretzels make an AWESOME coating for pork. Yeah. That one was good. And I don't even like mustard.

My red meat still needs work- I tend to cook it more than I'd like. I'm better with pork and poultry. I also have a nasty tendency to overcook my pastas, because they bulk up bigger and look like bigger portions. (Weight loss thing.) And I definitely need work on presentation. (And maybe not swearing as I put dinner together.)

Non-cooked things:

-fresh, ripe strawberries
-Burgandy apples
-Silver Queen corn
-fresh salsa (or mango salsa!)
-Godiva ice cream


Now I'm all hungry.

[PoolMan]

I'm beyond proud to say I haven't caved and gone for McD's in probably five years, except for breakfast foods (which I can say from having worked there is probably the ONLY thing you want to eat there).

Remember, the round eggs in the McMuffins that LOOK fake are REAL.

The scrambled eggs come from a carton.

[Razzberryfinn]

spiderdancer said:

I have no basis of comparison for saying it's better than sex, but I have strong suspicions.

Fantastic

starbucks frappuccinos are practically the only coffee I drink. which is too bad, because there's got to be like 3000 calories in each little 8 oz bottle

chocolate covered cherries are my Christmas binge. And the fudge that's made with the big jar of 'Marshmallow Fluff'. that stuff rocks

while I'm not very fond of many fruits, anything with blackberries or raspberries I'll try at least once. (hence my name)

and even though its a real food, I love spinach. cooked or raw.

tomatoes. especially in the summer when you grab them right out of the garden and they're still warm from the sun. mmmm. (now I'm really disappointed in the -4 degree weather outside)

[starwenn]

Ooh, my mom's baked ziti. She still makes it every time she has to feed a crowd in a hurry. Pure Italian heaven.
In addition to her ziti, my mom is a real southern belle (born in West Virginia), so I grew up eating all the basic southern food - baked fish, hush puppies, spoon bread, anything with corn, green beans and tomatoes, beans and rice.
The cheesesteaks the bar down the street makes. My uncle and dad have taken us there since we were little.
In the summer, real Garden State veggies - tomatoes, corn, spinach, zucchini, broccoli, potatoes - fresh from a produce stand. And peaches...and real apple cider in the fall.
Real popcorn you popped yourself, with real melted butter from a stove.
Mom' s chocolate chip cookies.