A Bob Woolsey Tribute to: Food

Posted on August 22nd, 2008

Oh, delicious food, how I love thee. It sustains us, delights us, brings us together and can even be used as a weapon. It’s versatile wonder has brought joy to all at some point in their life and continues to bring joy to this blogger.

Let me begin by giving you my food credentials:

I eat about two and half to three meals a day. I’m primarily an eater of western foods, but I have ventured into other cultures on many occasions. I also cook whenever I can and enjoy it very much. I think meat is a valued part of any dish, although I have tried (and liked very much) many vegetarian and vegan dishes. I have a large extended family and as a result food has factored largely into our get-togethers. Every Christmas, Thanksgiving, Birthday, Camping trip, etc, there was never a shortage of food. And so I bring to you, my tribute to: FOOD.

I think it makes sense to break down this blog in terms of meals, so here are my favourite foods for all times of day:

Breakfast

As a somewhat stereotypical white person, I love breakfast. It is my favourite meal of the day. There’s nothing so good as getting up late on a Sunday, cooking a big breakfast and stuffing your face full of delicious eggs, toast and bacon whilst strumming your guitar on the veranda or enjoying the weekend newspaper with a hot cup of coffee.

One of the best ways to treat yourself with a breakfast meal is to switch it around and have breakfast for dinner. Crazy, I know! But oh so delicious.

I’d like to take time out now to have a moment of remembrance for one of the tastiest breakfast meals ever created that sadly no longer exists. I’m talking about the Meat Lover’s Skillet from Denny’s Restaurants. Let me say that I am in no way a huge supporter of Denny’s. In fact I find most of their food rather disgusting, but they sure hit gold with the Meat Lover’s Skillet. To this day I remain baffled as to why they took this genius creation off their menu. I was able to order it for about a year and half after they took it off, but those glory days are no more. RIP Meat Lover’s Skillet.

Lunch

Everybody knows that the sandwich is the ultimate lunch creation. You can’t do any better than a scrumptious stack of bread, meat, veggies and cheese. That is of course unless you choose to grill this stack of glorious goodness! I am of the mind that meals should be hot. There are exceptions, of course, but by and large I consider cool meals to be nothing more than snacks. That is why I am in love with the invention of the grilled panini.

Bread Garden is a good place to go for a good panini. They are a bit on the expensive side, but their panini’s are delicious. If you are a Vancouver resident and like chicken sandwiches as much as I do, Yaggers Downtown Restaurant and Sports Bar is the place to go. Their free run chicken breast panini is perhaps the best in all the land.

Other spectacular lunch choices: The Hamburger. Sushi (if you’re into that sort of thing). Leftovers are always a great lunch treat, kind of like a little dinner in the middle of the day.

Dinner

Pizza is good any old time. A nice slice can be a satisfying breakfast, lunch or dinner treat. However, traditionally the pizza is a dinner menu item. And boy is it ever good! My personal preference is the meat lover’s once again. But pizza also gets the award for being one of the most versatile of foods. You can put pretty much anything on one of those greasy wheels and it would taste pretty good to me.

My idea of a great dinner goes hand in hand with a nice alcoholic drink to wash it down. In the above case of pizza, beer has got to be your drink of choice. On other occasions nothing compliments a dinner meal better than a nice glass of red wine. Dinner, more than any other meal should be a communal experience. Getting drunk with a group of good friends whilst eating a delicious meal is about as close to heaven as you can get for this young blogger.

Being of British decent, I tend to like the heavier dinner meals; meat and potatoes kind of things. There is a Scottish dish that I grew up with called Mince and Totties. Basically it’s some kind of ground beef stew served over a mound of mashed potatoes with mashed carrots and turnip on the side. Truly a wonderfully warming meal! Best served in the winter.

Other dinner favourites of mine: Steak. Pasta. Fish.

Dessert

And now to one of my favourite parts of any meal: the dessert. Let me begin by saying that the combination of chocolate and peanut butter is the most perfect and delectable taste known to humankind. As a result, most all of my top desserts are based on some kind of peanut butter - chocolate combo. However there are other great desserts to choose from as well.

Strawberry shortcake is a nice light choice.

Cheesecake is a classic. Again, if you’re ever in Vancouver and you want good cheesecake go to Trees Organic Coffee & Roasting House. They have the best cheesecake I’ve ever tasted.

When the season is right, Pumpkin Pie cannot be beat. It even overtakes peanut butter and chocolate for the last few months of every year. Trees Coffee has a seasonal Pumpkin cheesecake that I simply cannot get enough of.

Honourable Mentions

Mexican food is straight up fantastic. Respect.

My favourite Mexican food spot: Delicados

Other ethnicities whose food I love:

Greek.

Italian.

Indian.

Chinese. This is a recent one. My new boss is a fan of Chinese food and took the office out for Dim Sum. It was a wonderful dining experience. I definitely plan on repeating.

When all is said and done, food is a neccessary part of our lives. We would die without it. But it’s so much more than just a means of keeping our bodies functioning. It’s a ritualized cultural statement no matter where you are in the world. Food is what gives a person their power. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.

Tags: bacon, bob woolsey, breakfast, Chinese, delicious, dessert, dinner, eggs, food, Greek, Indian, Italian, lunch, meal, meat lover's skillet, obi-wan kenobi, tribute
Filed under All Blogs, Bob's Blog |

2 Responses to “A Bob Woolsey Tribute to: Food”

1. Meghan Says:
   August 22nd, 2008 at 7:16 pm

   I too enjoy a good food. What a crazy coincidence!! You’ve got me thinking.. I need to eat!

2. Scott Says:
   August 22nd, 2008 at 11:26 pm

   Pizza can go straight to hell.

Leave a Reply