Food Facts

Friday, May 11^th is National Eat What You Want Day.

I don’t know who dreams up these ‘odd’ national whatever days, but I’m really looking forward to this one. I’m sitting here at my desk drinking a chocolate milk shake as I write this. I call that a good example of Eat What You Want Day, even though I’m a few days early. Who knows what gourmet treats I will have on Friday.

 Speaking of food, sometimes you find yourself in a quandary about the proper way to eat certain food when dining out. Here are a few tips from my blog post Etiquette Boo Boos:

If the salad leaves are too large, cutting lettuce is perfectly okay. Use your knife and then request a clean knife to use on the main course.

Fried chicken is considered a finger food, so go ahead and pick it up. Just don’t lick your fingers afterwards.
 Asparagus can be cut, or at a casual dinner, it can also be a finger food.          
 Artichokes are often served whole with an extra plate for the discarded
leafs and a small bowl for melted butter or sauce. Use your fingers to break off an outer leaf. Dip the leaf in the butter, then scrape the flesh from the leaf with your front teeth. Use your knife and fork to eat the bottom part called the heart. Chances are that you will probably never order a whole artichoke when out to dinner, but just in case, now you know how to eat it.
Eating pasta can sometimes be a nightmare. The proper way is to twirl the pasta on the edge of your plate with your fork. Or you may request a pasta spoon, which is larger than a teaspoon, and twirl the pasta on the spoon with your fork. If you can’t master this art of eating pasta,
just cut it up like I do.

Last week, my husband and I took a few days of R. & R. and drove up to Prescott, Arizona, which is less than a two hour drive.

The first evening we dined at a very fun Italian restaurant called Rosas. I had a slice of pizza and my husband had veal marsala with pasta. As we were eating, the chef came over to our table and put his hand on my husband’s shoulder. He leaned over and said, “You are the only person who has ever eaten here who knows the correct way to eat pasta.” You see, my husband is a master of the ‘twirling into a pasta spoon’ thing. I was so glad that I had not ordered pasta since I simply can’t master that art and I think I would have receive a lecture.