Wednesday Hodgepodge- Cheese edition!

 Linking up with Joyce for this week´s hodgepodge questions

1. It's National Cheese Day (June 4)...does anyone not like cheese? What's your favorite? Last thing you ate or made with cheese? 

I like cheese A LOT! I have a cheese drawer in my refrigerator because I keep many kinds of it on hand.  I would feel twitchy knowing I only had home access to say, one block of medium cheddar. No, I need an abundance in the refrigerator to feel even keeled. 

My mom did not like cheese so she never ate it.  I suspect she had a dairy allergy, sensitivity or intolerance though she claimed she just did not like the taste of cheese.  And when I say she didn’t eat cheese, I mean that she did not eat cheese. She made wonderful homemade pizza and she would make a portion of it for her with no cheese on it. I also did not know about the existence of many dishes like casseroles that typically call for cheese because my mom didn’t make anything with cheese in it. I will never forget when I first had manicotti- make that the first time I had heard the word manicotti- that was when I was in college and it was served in the dorm cafeteria. (Growing up, we hardly ever ate out so I was really only familiar with dish names if my mom made them at home. And mama  most certainly did not make a cheese centric dish like manicotti!!)

Favorite? 

That is like picking a favorite child!!  

A non favorite is blue cheese. I like the taste of it but when I found out the blue spots in it are mold (edible but still), eating it became a hard no. 

Last thing I made with cheese- For lunch on Tuesday, I cooked an egg on the stove top, added a bunch of pepper jack cheese while the egg cooked to make an egg and cheese glob/patty and then added that (my cheegg- just made that up- cheese + egg) to a toasted bagel. That is my default lunch; I eat it usually three to four days a week. 

2. Last time you were instructed to “say cheese!”? How do you feel about having your picture taken? 

I was probably a child the last time that I was instructed to say cheese. I have done my share of instructing others to say cheese.

I don’t mind having  my picture taken... from a distance... with ideally not a great camera!! 

Over the weekend...

3. What's your travel packing strategy? Are you typically a light packer or do you throw in everything but the kitchen sink? When flying do you check a bag or aim for carry on only? 

If I am driving to my destination, I am not a light packer at all. Give me options is my mantra. If I am flying, I try to pack as lightly as possible to avoid having to take extra luggage. I usually check a bag.

4. What is it about people's cell phone habits that you find most annoying? 

I would say (almost) everyone’s (including mine) habit of checking our phones seemingly constantly when engaging in passive activities. 

5. What will be your summer mantra/slogan? 

Just a few days after summer officially begins, I will *hopefully* be given the red light to ditch the boot. So my mantra is going to be the summer of unrestricted walking.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Thinking about some of the meals that I never had growing up because they contained cheese and my mom couldn’t stand cheese made me think about a few meals or food items that are common to have but that my kids never did as kids because I didn’t like them or make them.

French toast- soggy bread is a hard no for me and so I never made this for my kids.

Asparagus, brussel sprouts, lima beans- I did not (and do not) prepare these veggies because I don’t like them (and Donnie never professed a liking of them so I wasn’t depriving him of something he liked)

Spare ribs- seems like a lot of effort for not a lot of meat so I never prepared them. I don’t mind eating spare ribs and in fact think they taste good. I have encouraged the kids to order these at restaurants to try them since I never make them at home. 

Anything where mushrooms are a major component like beef strognaoff. This is mainly because Donnie doesn’t like mushrooms at all.