exceptinsects

hmmm, what I like is taikoyaki (also called imagawayaki, I think, or ooyaki) which are basically like taiyaki but round instead of fish-shaped and usually come in a lot more flavors--sometimes savory like tuna or pizza. My favorite were the choco-banana ones at a stall in Machida where I used to live. ...natsukashii...

Live ants in the Ecuadorian rainforest--they're sort of lemony. Ratllesnake that we killed with a shovel and pan-fried on a camp stove. It really does taste kind of like chicken, but bonier. I wouldn't recommend it unless you're especially hungry. I've also had the live shrimp in Japan--I was staying with a friend who received a box of them as a new year's gift. She offered me one and I said oh, I wouldn't want to deprive you of a delicacy....and she said here, I'll tear the head off for you and handed it to me wriggling. It was pretty good, actually.

Has anyone ever actually had a baked potato explode in the oven? I have baked many potatoes without pricking them, and never had any that detonated.

I pretty rarely use actual recipes unless I'm baking, in which case Joy of Cooking is it. For regular cooking, I often consult How To Cook Everything (AKA The Gospel According To Mark) but I usually end up making something that only somewhat resembles the actual recipe. I have a bunch of those big glossy ones, and a bunch of the ladies' church volunteer supper ones, but I hardly ever cook from them, if at all.

Definitely How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. I hate those highbrow cookbooks with fancy pictures where I have to figure out where to find cardoons in my tiny hometown in the mountains. Bittman's recipes always seem to include stuff that I already have, and lend themselves easily to improvisation.