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I certainly didn't see any pork. Our guide, who was Han, reported that that can be a big point of contention between the two populations - the Han want their pork, dammit, and the Muslims aren't thrilled about it. You can definitely find Han Chinese food in Xinjiang, since the Han population is pretty considerable - I believe there are lots of government incentives/encouragements for Han to move out there. It's a very sensitive subject, because many Uighur believe that it's a similar situation to Tibet: the more Han in Xinjiang, the less control the Uighur people will have over land they believe they should be governining. You'd have to do some research to get a real grasp on the situation beyond my minimal knowledge, though... As for a Han/Xinjiang fusion cuisine, I'd say that some of that does occur. Our guide said that Han families in Xinjiang tend to be pretty comfortable cooking both cuisines on a regular basis. Same thing with people who immigrate to anywhere, I imagine. Perhaps given time, the cuisines will fuse more. I imagine making that lamian dish would be pretty darn easy, though of course making the noodles yourself would be a real pain in the butt. It's pretty much just stir-fried mutton, pepper, chili, and a few spices far as I can tell.

This is tangentially related, but has anyone seen the recent news articles reporting that, on average, it takes roughly the same time to warm up pre-packaged food as it does to cook? (Of course, I'm wondering what, exactly, these people were cooking...) I've been known to eat a microwaveable meal or two. It's not the optimal situation, but if you're working, don't have any palatable left-overs in the house, and would like something more then a sandwich, they're an okay option. Heateatreview.com can generally point out the microwaveable delights actually worth purchasing. Kraft Mac and Cheese is something I'd never eat in the privacy of my own home, but it's pretty awesome backpacking food. After logging a very long day on the trail, something about a big, gloppy pot of the Kraft stuff with lumps of government cheese, nutmeg, and onion powder is transformative.

Those frozen "Uncrustables" PB and J...things. How hard is it to put together a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? And shouldn't kids learn to reconcile themselves with the harsh reality of bread crust *sometime*? Handy pre-made guacamole. Again, producing a decent guacamole is one of the simplest tasks on Earth. Extruding neon green guacamole from a tube does not a decent Mexican meal make. Pre-packaged grocery store jello salads, especially prevalent in New England. Personally, they look like alien brains. Any kind of hyper-processed neon fruit snack. Do people actually believe these contain nutrients? Don't kid yourself: buy some damn gummi bears. At least they taste good.

Sabra is indeed really excellent. I especially like the roasted red pepper flavor...I ate it for lunch with cheese and crackers almost every day this winter. Still, nothing can quite come up to the pure smooth fattiness of a real fresh made hummus. Malouuf's Taste of Lebanon here in Sacramento does a version I occasionally dream about. They even have a dish there that consists of Lebanese sausage fried with onions and pine nuts served over a bed of that yummy hummus....fantastic.

From March 3rd to April 16th (or so,) I'm going to be interning at a music magazine in Bangalore. I've heard pretty good things about the dining scene in Bangalore, and I'm highly anticipating getting to know a thing or two about Southern Indian cuisine, which is pretty much a total mystery to me. So: where should I plan on eating in Bangalore? I'll eat anything, but I'm particularly partial to: intensely spicy food, seafood, street food, and mutton or lamb. If I see it and it looks good, I will try it (and take lots of photographs for this website while I'm at it.) Also: if you've been to India, anything I should know about what it's like to live and get around there?

They crop up occasionally in my own limited experience. You could get pretty tasty tomato noodles at some locations in Beijing. They're also much more common up in Xinjiang, though that's overall a very different cuisine...

Sorry for the slow response..been pretty busy! But yes, here they are. Our trip to Xinjiang began with the flight from Xi'an to Urumqi. The sand-blasted landscape outside the window was fascinating to me, though I will always remember that moment where my dad said, "Wait, where are we going again?" He's entirely too trusting.... This is the view from the window of our rather luxe hotel. Urumqi reminds me of Salt Lake City in an alternate universe, to be honest. I loved it. Our guide directed us to a Uighur restaurant right next door to the Hoi Tak Urumqi hotel where we were staying for our dinner. We were seated, and then had to go through the long and arduous process of ordering - difficult, since our Mandarin was very rusty, and the waiters, of course, didn't speak much English. My dad confused them further by attempting to order a "nice" red wine. Still, after pointing to a variety of items and miming eating, we recieved these yummy dishes: This is a spicy mutton and carrot dish, with a delicious, oily sauce. The meat was falling off the bone and took on an almost osso-bucco like character. Totally irrestible. You can see a huge pot of crysthanemum tea on the table - it had a very subtle, floral flavor. Continuing the mutton theme (go figure, being in Xinjiang) we have a dish of stir-fried celery root and mutton, with a substantial kick of chili. This was very tasty - sort of like a highly evolved and fresh version of a more usual Chinese stir-fry. Communicating that we wanted lamian was surprisingly hard - they were under the impression we just wanted plain noodles, due to our horrific Chinese. Still, they finally bought out the plate, and we pronounced it yummy - though I would have better versions as the trip went on. We also ended up with some sort of stir-fried green, which I of course neglected to photograph. The wine? Surprisingly drinkable. That evening, we went to Urumqi's main square and watched the massive street gathering that takes place after 11, as the heat of the day dies down. People were eating just about every Xinjiang street food under the sun, from home-made vanilla ice cream to thousand year eggs to rounds of nang...but we were stuffed. The next day, we drove up to Tian Shan, or the Heavenly Lake - an interesting drive, as we passed through a burning desert filled with Bactrian camels and graveyards, up into a refreshing mountain enviroment, full of Kazakh herders and gaping Chinese tourists. On the walk up, I spotted a variety of food stands catering to the healthy summer tourist population. Here's a nang stand. Our guide bought a couple just baked rounds for us to snack on as we walked up the hill. They were amazingly good - thin, crisp, and chewy, with a slight dusting of salt and sesame seeds. This is another food stand. Note the hanging lamb (or mutton?) carcass on the left. This is a very common and delicious sight. Another impressive carcass. This is where all those delicious cumin drenched kebabs come from. Thanks, sheep! These gentlemen are whipping up an impressive wok full of pilau, the Uighur version of pilaf (I guess.) Here, it's usually flavored with cumin, carrot, and lots and lots of lamb. It is incredibly good and available almost everywhere. Our guide said people tend to make a lot of the "simpler" kind of pilau at home, although they prefer to go out for the "harder" version. I think this "harder" version also involves saffron. These rounds were the most common nang shape I found, but I also encountered delicious and yeasty stars, twists, and even bagel-variants throughout my travels. And this is the Heavenly Lake itself. It's very pretty. Especially when viewed while eating nang and kebabs. We drove down the hill back to Urumqi for lunch, where our guide promised to take us to her favorite pilau joint. We were not disappointed. After driving through a few back neighborhoods, past hordes of men manning kebab stalls and pulling huge rounds of nang out of street side brick ovens, we found this store front. The restaurant was clean and rather opulent inside, at least by Urumqi standards. But how about that food? We were started off with a wide variety of side dishes, which were constantly refilled - along with the pilau. Nice. The carrot salad was yummy, with a sharp, vinegar kick. The yogurt was plain, unflavored, and a bit runny - just perfect when used as a pilau condiment. I wish we could get stuff like this easily in the USA. The watermelon, served with just about everything during an Xinjiang summer, was tasty as well. And the main attraction! (Sorry for the photo...the restaurant's other patrons were looking at me like I was utterly insane for photographing my food, so I had to move quick.) The rice was sauteed with pine nuts, saffron, and some other flavorings I couldn't identify - but it was smoky, soulful, and rich, one of the most delicious things I ate during my time in China. The mutton chunks were a bit gamy, but I happen to love intensely flavored meats. Heaven. Our driver ate three servings. Okay, that's all for now. I have a few more photos from Turfan and Urumqi I'll share sometime in the next few days. It was an amazing trip, and I'd definitely recommend taking the plunge and going if you ever get the chance. I don't think there's anywhere else quite like Xinjiang.

Anthing cutesy, adorable, or diet-oriented tends to make the blood rush to my head. I submit Hungrygirl.com as a primo example. Adorable rhymes accompany reports of the LATEST NO CALORIE WAFER SNACK, accompanied by the (gasp) LATEST FOOD HORROR THAT WILL KILL YOU SLEEP. Wrap it all in a wash of pink, dress in Mom Jeans...you have the ultimate repellant food website. Well, for me. I would agree with lamington: the whole notion of "wicked" or "sinful" foods certain people promote (like, say, Hungry Girl) makes me ill. I've said it once but I'll say it again: the food is not the source of all human evil and weakness. You are. Put the cupcake down, for it is innocent and you are not. I am growing increasingly annoyed with the adorable little names given to sushi rolls - this is real epidemic in Northern California, where I live. Deciphering what a BANZAI 49ERS XPLOSIONAL ORGASM roll actually contains usually involves reading tiny print, calling over a clueless waiter, then, finally, making an educated guess. And what you get still ends up coming out deep fried and covered in mayonaisse. I also loathe "scrummy", "nummers", "delich," and "luscious", which while technically perfectly respectable, reminds me of an ex-boyfriend of mine who would say it in a creepy way. These don't have to be logical.

Maybe I'm just an inherently filthy person, but I don't really have an issue with a sick person working on my food. As long as they're not contagious, dripping tons of fluid, or ridden with Ebola, I figure I'm probably safe. And I think it's totally understandable that people gotta drag their asses to work one way or another, even if they're not feeling 100% (or 10%.) I wonder: has anyone done a study or something on whether sickness is often/ever transmitted through ill restaurant staff? Of course there's all the dramatic WOMAN CONTRACTS FLESH EATING VIRUS FROM BOB'S PIG JOINT, but what's behind the surface?

Man, this account is friggin' magnificent. I have got to go to Korea as soon as humanly possible. That duck looks obscenely delicious. Is there a big difference between baiju and soju? Or are the variants on the same rocket fuel type alcohol?

I agree: that's incredibly obnoxious behavior. Growing up, my parents had no interest in tolerating it from me, which makes it doubly irritating when grown adults who should know better pull that kind of silliness. I know that there are such things as dangerous, deadly food allergies, but I have a sneaking suspicion that many people who claim allergies just don't *like* the substance in question. I also like the idea of accomodating allergic people but *not* depriving everyone else. I wish that could be done in the schools. It's a real shame to hear about those hordes of elementary school children denied home-made cupcakes or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches due to someone else's allergy. But that's just me. And indeed, if I was cooking and a *grown adult* said, "Sounds great! But leave out the onions because they're slimy," I would direct them to the nearest Pizza Hut. If you're a guest at someone's home, shaddup and eat it if it's not going to kill you.

I know exactly diddly squat about Xinjiang and its cuisine, but I did travel there this summer and eat many, many delicious things. I did prefer the food I encountered when I was actually there to be better then the Uighur food I had in Beijing. I would also agree (with my super limited experience) that Xi'an style food and Uighur food are very different indeed, though they do share a reliance upon lamb. I absolutely miss Uighur food, especially since we don't have anything approaching a Uighur restaurant here in Sacramento...at least that I know about. We had many amazing meals in Xinjiang, but my absolute favorite is still the dapanji, or big plate chicken. Our guide took us to a totally local place in Turfan, and we ordered up chicken, vegetables, and the seemingly obligatory lamb dish. The chicken came out on a huge garlic and chili laden plate, chopped up into an incredible number of pieces, and all of us ate it with blissful gusto, spitting out bones onto the table. About halfway through the dish, we ordered some lamian to throw in to sop up the sauce...delicious. It was so damn good that my dad looked in vain for the spices required in a superstore in Urumqi with limited success. I'm still hunting a good recipe. Other favorite foods: - Eating freshly cooked nang out of a plastic bag on the walk up to Tian Shan. I don't know why, but that nang was by far the tastiest I had - soft yet crispy, with a slight dusting of salt and sesame seeds. -The incredible variety of raisins available in Turfan, and those tiny, tart, and incredibly flavor grapes that droop from every arbor. I hated grapes before I visited Turfan; now I eat them constantly. I still think that it's a travesty that it's hard to find more raisin varieties then "dark" and "golden" in this country...they had at least 20 different varieties on offer in burlap sacks on every street there. Throughout my time in Xinjiang, I was totally content to simply shred some nang and eat grapes for breakfast - nothing simpler, nothing better. -Pilau, eaten in a small restaurant in a back alley in Urumqi. No ordering: you ate what they brought you. The pilau was aromatic with spices and shredded, delicate lamb meat - we accompanied it with shredded carrot salad and tart, liquid yogurt. Wash it all down with a highly carbonated honey beer and you're good to go. -Lamian, everywhere, everyway, and always fantastic. We ate a big plate of these tomatoey noodles at a street restaurant in Turfan - another dish I want to replicate or find again somewhere in the United States. - The huge food street market that got going around 11:00 near Turfan's rather opulent main square. We stopped by stuffed and didn't eat anything, but the dizzying array of options on hand was amazing - men carving off huge chunks of meat from hanging sheep carcasses, every variety of nang you can imagine, tiny quail impaled on sticks, "burritos" with a choice of every condiment, pickle, and sauce you can imagine....I'll return to Turfan just to plow through that someday. In any case, Xinjiang was definitely an unexpected food destination for me. (And if anyone knows how to make a good dapanji, I am forever indebted to you.) (EDIT: I have some photos if anyone would like to see them. )

I do admit I like the Southwestern Salad (and the Asian one too.) It's nice to have some reassurance that I can get a salad with actual greens on one of fifty billion locations across the planet. However, I did have one case where the woman working the counter spread fifty pounds of gooey "glaze" on my Asian chicken salad after I asked for dressing on the side...dammit! I haven't eaten one of the cheeseburgers in many, many years though. I have memories of eating them as a little kid and being totally repulsed by the finely diced (and thus irremovable) onions. And the bathrooms. The bathrooms at McDonalds tend to be scary.

Yeah, I think it'd be very difficult to single out any one cuisine as being more deadly then others. Regional cuisines are usually pretty well suited to their area of origin: they make sense for where they come from. If people have stayed happy and healthy eating this kind of food for generations, then it can't be that "unhealthy." The issue, then, comes when you take a cuisine out of context or change it...or if you keep on eating rich traditional food without the traditional (read: lots and lots of exercise) lifestyle. But again, I don't believe there's such a thing as an "unhealthy" cuisine. Some of the food I ate in China was pretty damn greasy (and tasty) and some wasn't...same holds true for Chinese places in the USA. I know it's detrimental to my arteries, but used correctly, a good hit of honest grease and MSG can make me a happy puppy.

Is the food in Beijing primarily influenced by Northern or Manchu cooking? I certainly did notice a lot more noodles, mutton, breads and (AWESOME) pickles up there then in the other parts of the country I visited. (With the exception of Xinjiang of course where mutton and noodles are..pretty much your option.)

Definitely! Especially if I'm there for a while. Or even if I just get a little bit bored with the local cuisine. When I visited Italy with my parents, we did eat at a Chinese restaurant one night just for a change of pace..and also because we mostly eat Asian food at home (despite not being Asian.) How was the food? Not half bad, although we were amused to note that they brought out the fried rice as a second course, Italian style. The flavors were definitely executed with a more subtle hand then I'm used to in the states. It was a fun experience, and I imagine I'll find myself inexorably drawn to Chinese restaurants next time I'm in Europe. My parents still rave about the incredible Vietnamese food they had in Paris. I spent six weeks in China over the summer, and I fully admit that about four weeks in, I was pretty happy to find an excellent American restaurant...where I messily devoured a BBQ chicken sandwich for lunch. That night I ate (and enjoyed immensely) squid on a stick and ultra spicy rice noodles right off the street, but you can't over-value the occasional taste of home. Getting really and truly down and dirty with local cuisine is probably the primary reason why I travel, but it's still hard to do almost 24-7. Anyway, I figure I'm doing better then some of the people at my language school who point-blank loathed the local food, including the French guy who subsisted primarily on KFC.... By the way, "Chinese Restaurants" on the International Channel is a really interesting look at how one cuisine has traveled the world. It features a different family-run Chinese restaurant in a different country in each episode, and tells the story on how the family got there and how the restaurant came to be. It's fascinating stuff.

I think fish heads are delish, once you get over the "I just ate something's eyeball" squeamishness. Those tuna heads sounds amazing! Fish heads are a big presence on the menus in Beijing. I always wanted to order a big plate of Appetite-Whetting-Fish-Heads but oddly enough, the dining companions I was with never wanted to join me. Their loss! The only downside to my fish head love is that it's kind of a social faux-pax when you're the one chopsticking fervently at fish cheeks, and everyone else is staring and going kinda green. But that's how it is in my family when we eat whole fish - squaring off for the cheeks or whatever across the table. They are the best part. Does anyone else really, really love shrimp heads? I always steal shrimp heads off people's plates when they leave them behind. They have this musky, buttery, crunchy flavor that I can't entirely explain but adore.

I've been a Sacramento resident for about five or six years now, so I've adopted the California State Fair as one of my very favorite local traditions. It's big, hot, smelly, and populated by California-style rednecks. It's also absolutely fabulous. As for the food...I admit, I'm not a huge fry-a-lator fan. However, this being California, there's a lot of options that don't involve deep fat frying. Not that we don't have fried Snickers bars or fried Pepsi or fried Krispy-Kreme and chicken sandwiches at Charlie Chicken.... Bloomin' Onion (2006) - Pretty good and definitely bigger then my head, at least when spread out on a plate. However, the inside of the onion was not completely fried through! Encountering grainy batter in the middle of your artery-busting onion is just a total buzz kill. Boo. Deep-Fried Snickers Bar (2005) - I was prepared to hate this. Too bad it's friggin' delicious. The bar melts to a silky consistency, and with the combination of the crunchy batter and the raspberry sauce, it's like deep fried crack. You have to try it at least once. The Scottish are on to something. Grilled Corn On the Cob - Simple, easy, ubiquitous. And tasty. Rolled in seasoning salt, it's the way summer oughta taste. Merlino's Fruit Freeze - Merlino's fruit freeze is a Sacramento institution, making fruit ices that aren't quite slushes and aren't quite solid and are all delicious, with intense flavors and a perfect consistency. I always order a big cup with one scoop of strawberry, one of lemon, then mush them together for the Best Frozen Strawberry Lemonade ever. However, Merlino's was NOT AT THE FAIR THIS YEAR! (2007) My heart is broken. Deep-Fried Artichoke Hearts: Blah. Soggy batter and insipid insides. How the hell did the California State Fair of all places and all locations screw this up? Frozen Yogurt with Fresh Strawberries: Tasty all right, but nothing particularly special or specific to the fair. I need more pizzaz. I need sprinkles. I need farm animal shaped gummies. I need electric blue coloring. Something. Smoked Turkey Leg - Yummy and tender, although the barbecue sauce is too damn sweet. (But my roots are in North Carolina.) However, 10 bucks a turkey leg? Are these organically raised rare-breed platinum plated turkeys or what? Margarita - I am underage and thus have no idea what this tastes like. (It was good.) I will always treasure my father going off on the margarita guy because the big phallus-like cups the drinks are served in are "stupid." Laotian Style Papaya Salad - Okay, this isn't really traditional fair food. However, it was excellent, made with lots of extra fish sauce (this is the Laotian bit) and incendiary amounts of chili pepper. This year (2007), the food we tried wasn't particularly special. Either the thrill is gone, the food is really going downhill, or we're just not ordering correctly. On the agenda for next year: fried catfish, chitterlings, finally try at least a bit of that amazing Krispy Kreme Fried Chicken sandwich. Because it is there.

Having just returned from six weeks of dining alone as a 19 year old female in China, I'm torn on the subject. There are perks. I love not having to debate with everyone else about what to eat. I don't have to worry that so-and-so already *had* Mexican this week and that whoever *can't stand* squid and the infinite other permutations you get into with groups. I can order whatever perverse, icky, spicy or expensive dish I want and no one gets to complain. I also don't have to deal with people wussing out on sharing the bill. ("Oops! How did I forget my wallet?") I don't have to suddenly discover that a close friend has ridicuolously appalling table manners and that everyone around me is staring. I don't have to deal with anyone horse-laughing, getting sloshed, or being mean to the waitstaff. In China especially, dining alone truly is a good way to meet people. Unlike in the states, the Chinese have no compunction whatsoever with seating a lone diner next to another group or another person. This can sometimes be awkward, especially when people shoot you hairy glances or are obviously dining with a signifigant other, but it more often led to my meeting people I wouldn't have otherwise met. One night, I was dining at my usual place and was seated alongside two middle aged businessmen. They immediately took a shine to me and began plying me with baijiu (super-strong Chinese liquor), mutton chunks, and fish. They critiqued my chopstick skills and I drew them pictures of dragons and terrified sheep. The older one kept on topping off my class until I admitted I had just turned 18, whereas he responsibly cut me off; "Xiao haizi!" (Little girl.) Of course, I was already pretty drunk by then. In any case, they ended up buying me dinner and I promptly forgot their Chinese names. But I will remember their kindness. And the headache. Another time, I popped into a deeply beloved Xi'an noodle place near the Lama Temple in Beijing. I was seated across from a beautiful Chinese woman wearing sunglasses, who I initally ignored, figuring she didn't speak any English. She immediately looked up and said, "Hi! I'm Cindy from Washington DC!" Turned out she was a banker who went to Georgetown, visiting her parents in Beijing. She was genuinely concerned with my welfare; "You're here all alone?" and insisted I take her phone number. She also managed to pay my bill without me noticing. Thankfully I never had some sort of horrible international emergency that necessitated me calling her, but I hope I can extend that same kindness to someone else next time I'm overseas.... But dining alone can really suck sometimes, especially when you're really alone, when everyone around you is celebrating a birthday or something and you're stuck with a tremendous portion of food you can't possibly finish, people glancing at you like you're some sort of desperate social outcast. Then yeah, your thoughts turn dark and you wish someone was there with you, even someone who splatters their food and hits on the waiter..... I wonder how it is in other cultures to dine alone - China and the USA don't seem to be a big problem, but what about other places?

I have not seen the HK episode (boo for no TV in college) but I saw Bourdain's signature on the wall at Lin Heung when I was there this summer...is that where he went? I can verify it was excellent, authentic and down n' dirty. And watching the mob fight for the Sunday special chicken buns definitely added to the fun.

Old Dry Mother...how awesome. I bet I can find that. In the Beijing area, the spice paste hasn't varied too much, other then level of soupiness/dryness. I have my camera and have a few photos of the stuff I'll post when I return (in a couple days!)

I've been here in China for about six weeks now, and almost every restaurant in Beijing, Xi'an, and Xinjiang has a bowl or a jar full of this oily, crunchy spice paste here at table. It's a deep red color, and has a smoky, slightly gritty flavor. It seems to be especially popular in the Islamic lamian joints. In any case, I adore it, but I've never seen it anywhere at the often very hardcore Chinese restaurants I frequent back home in California. I suspect it's more of a Northern thing then a Southern thing, since I didn't see it anywhere in Hong Kong. In any case, what is this stuff and where can I buy it in the Bay Area? Thanks!

Do you tend to mostly cook foods or recipes that spring from your home culture, or do you tend to mostly cook things from other cultures? I'm not Asian, but the majority of what we eat in my home is some variant on Asian cuisine, especially Chinese and Thai. My mom did grow up in Hong Kong and Korea as an expat, but my dad and I just really really like Asian flavors. My family on both side hails from the Deep South - Kentucky, Louisiana and North Carolina - which comes through when we eat collards or when my dad smokes Lexington style barbecue (the only way we can get it here in California is if we make it ourselves.) I definitely think that my high resistance for weird animal parts in Asian cuisine stems from Southern cuisine's similar fondness for weird animal parts. Squeamishness isn't really something we tolerate in my family. Where are you from and what is it that attracts you to the things you choose to cook? I'm from the United States, but I've lived in Florida, Georgia, Utah, California and Massachusetts, so I don't think I qualify as being "from" anywhere at this point. My earliest food memories involve Asian food, especially Korean and Japanese, and that's definitely influenced what I prefer to eat and cook on my own time. I'm also attracted to Southern food, of course - it's my family heritage one way or another. I do know that I consider a New England boiled dinner a minor crime against humanity. And I refuse to go near General Tso's Chicken. How long have you been cooking, and has your cooking shifted from that of one culture to another over time? I'm 18 and have only just started to learn to cook. The existential fear of eating crap dorm food that comes on in college will do that to you. I pretty much know how to cook Asian and Mexican food right now, but I hope I can branch out to food from other cultures and cuisines. I came to the embarassing realization that over half of the things I make involve fish sauce as a primary ingredient. I'd love to learn how to make Spanish foods, since that's one thing we don't eat much in our household. How did you learn to cook - from a person, from books, from television, from (?) I'm mostly learning from my parents and from various cookbooks. I generally get decent instruction from them if I volunteer to help cook - laziness is a nice motivation. I'm certain they're waiting for the day I achieve total competency and I can handle all the cooking in the household myself when I'm home from school.

Engrish Snacks An old favorite of mine. I especially like Germ Bread and Homo Sausages. Check out the candy and chocolate sections for extra fun!

I am one of those people who slaps every single sandwich she makes in her panini maker. Maybe it's because I grew up eating Cubans, but a sandwich just doesn't feel quite right if it isn't melting all over the place. I usually leave them in long enough so that they're perfectly flat and turning kind of blackish...I like everything as crispy as possible. I even love eating hot, drippy mayo and mustard. I usually don't order panini when eating out, though...they always seem to feel a need to put too much junk on it. Although a toasted Subway sandwich with avocado, swiss, chicken, and teriyaki glaze is kinda delicious in a really perverse way. One thing I like to make is a hummus sandwich with feta cheese and a little bit of pomegranate vinigeratte, with some spring greens and cucumber added after pressing. Warm hummus can be pretty delicious.