food & memories

Tonight was relaxing - movies and take-out Indian food. It was grand. We watched The Fighter, which I thought was great, although there were a lot of f-bombs. And for a movie about a boxer, the movie didn't have a ton of actual fighting, but a good amount. We also watched The Tourist, an impulse rental.  Note to self: do not impulse rent.  Reviews and plots are important.  The best part of the movie is that Johnny Depp is in it, but unfortunately I thought that's about all it had going for it. 

The Indian food was great and I got my favorite dish, chicken makhani, Keith got the beef josh, and we got some naan (flat bread) to split.

The sauce on the left (greenish) is the beef josh; the one on the right (orangish) is the chicken makhani.

Sometimes food will trigger memories - at least it does for me. I was telling Keith that the first time I had Indian food, I was in Atlanta for a work trip and my cousin/godmother Becky took me out to an Indian place for dinner.  That first experience was fun - I even remember having Indian beer - but mostly remember that it was SOOOO spicy hot. It was really good, but so very hot. Since then, I've had it a bunch of times and from a bunch of places.  I just ask for a more moderate level of spicy.

That led me to think further about this and I realized (and I'm not sure she knows this) but she is the reason I've had a couple of other food firsts.

When I was there for her daughter (my goddaughter), Sierra's baptism, Becky and Corey took me and Mary (Corey's sister and Sierra's other godmother) out to a sushi restaurant for dinner.  That was also a fun and interesting first time experience for me.  I remember someone (I think it was Becky) telling me that sushi is one of those things you don't want every day, but once you've had it, you'll someday down the road find yourself craving it.  She was right, because it was a while before I went out for sushi, again, but then the craving hit and now I love it.  It's still not something I want to eat every day, but every couple/few months I find myself wanting it now. Here's a pic of some sushi rolls I had last fall in Baltimore.

at Ra Sushi in Baltimore

Another time I was there for work, we went to a tapas restaurant.  Be careful when you tell someone you went to a tapas place for dinner, because it often comes across sounding like you went to a topless place for dinner.  There's a pretty big difference.  Anyway, we went there with Sierra (she was so little back then!!) and for some reason I remember that was the first time I had bacon-wrapped dates that were stuffed with some kind of cheese (feta, gorgonzola, or goat, maybe??) and they were delicious, even though I am typically not a fan of foods wrapped in bacon. The only other one I can think of that I like is the 'lil smokies with bacon.

But I digress... the point isn't really the food. It's the memories that they can trigger.  I had a lot of great times with Becky over some really great (and sometimes new) food and hope to have many more.  And I can credit her with broadening my horizons to try new things in my life - so, thanks Becky! 

What foods trigger memories for you?

Has someone in your life helped broaden your horizons (food or otherwise)?