Fig-jam pizza with prosciutto and asiago cheese!

I decided to start this blog last summer, when I had considerably more time on my hands and a whole lot on my mind. The next thing I knew 7 months had passed since my third and last post. I was inspired to give this another shot by two things that happened this week. First, a friend of mine debuted her own blog, writing about her TV addiction. Second, I had two almost simultaneous, similar experiences that just got me thinking.

I have a penchant for what I like to call “chic-lit.” For an hour or so a day, as I make the long commute to and from work, I can get lost in a book that has no literary merit or value and read it for the sole purpose of my entertainment. At times it can almost feel gluttonous. As I was reading my latest guilty pleasure I was submersed into the story of a woman who was planning to seduce her would-be lover with food.

“Fig-jam pizza…on crispy flatbread with prosciutto and asiago cheese…and some kind of meat, seared crisp on the outside, juicy and pink-tender in the center. Mashed potatoes with heavy cream. Asparagus, because it was supposed to be an aphrodisiac, and then something completely decadent for dessert. Maybe a cheese course with organic lavender honey. Bakalava! Chocolate truffles! Fresh raspberries with cream!” (1)
After reading this passage I actually dog-eared the page. First, so I can replicate the pizza, and second, because I found it to be so damn sexy. The chapter goes on to reveal the couple getting only partway through the main course and swapping dessert for some naughty tricks with mandarin oranges and olive oil, separately of course!

Now, if I hadn’t had my very own “food-has-turned-me-on-and-completely-distracted-me” moment only an hour before this, maybe I wouldn’t have been so keen to it. But, I did. And wow, did it get me going.

I work during the day nurturing the minds of middle school students in the big city. And once a week, for just about two and a half hours I have to suffer through grad school. This semester it is not so bad because lucky for me, the most beautiful man I have ever seen is in my class, and tonight HE SAT NEXT TO ME! I am suddenly reeling back through time and feel like the adolescents whose hormones I have to fight with all day. Not only is he sitting next to me, but he is actually making conversation from time to time, making it very hard for my already wandering mind to concentrate at all. And the last straw? Halfway through class, he reaches into his bag and pulls out the telltale Tupperware and proceeds to eat his cold lasagna mere inches from my seat. I am instantly distracted and overcome with, well, heat! The only thing I can think about, all while trying to be discreet, is his mouth. The fork going into his mouth. His lips licking the fork. His mouth now chewing the food. Swallowing. The way the muscles in his neck move as he swallows. Every sound and sensation that I can observe from that awkward ninety degree angle has now consumed me. It hit me like a ton of bricks: “I am getting totally hot and bothered watching this guy eat because food and eating is SEXY!”

These two experiences got me to thinking. I’ve been told more that once that it is an experience to dine with me. As I eat I outwardly savor the flavors, I try to determine hidden ingredients and cooking methods and I show great visible pleasure with every morsel that I taste. I was raised in a food loving family, surrounded by the most delicious Italian food. All of our get-togethers have, and still do, revolve around food. We eat and eat and eat until we feel like we can’t fit another bite….and then we eat some more. Now, this began to be problematic once I hit my mid-twenties and experienced some metabolism changes. For the first time in my life I could no longer eat whatever I desired and remain thin.  And subsequently, for the first time in my life I began to feel shame for so deeply enjoying food.

In our society, there has been so much emphasis on eating healthy and being thin and organic foods and no meat and clean eating and tofu and soy and I could go on and on and on….but I don’t want to! I love food! And more than loving food, I love the experience of eating….sharing a meal with family and friends….lingering for two, three, four hours over dinner…finding the new hidden treasure at a restaurant….experimenting with my own cooking to discover something amazing. But, we are made to feel like this is not acceptable. It is not acceptable for a woman who is not model-thin to visibly enjoy eating something indulgent. And that leads me to wonder why? My opinion is that someone who can truly enjoy and appreciate one of the simplest things in life, food, can then also enjoy and appreciate the not-so simple things in life. It’s like being referred to as vanilla. I can eat oatmeal for breakfast, and yogurt with fruit and a big salad for lunch, and then exactly three ounces of lean meat or fish with steamed veggies for dinner….OR…I can have eggs with toast and butter, a double-decker sandwich and just maybe for dinner, a fig-jam pizza with prosciutto and asiago cheese! The former…that is vanilla…the latter, well, that’s like the Box of Chocolates ice cream that I only got to taste once because it was a limited edition!

What is life without enjoyment and pleasure?  Food and eating food tickles all of our senses, and gives us a multitude of pleasures that we should not feel guilty about enjoying.  Think of all that one encounters while cooking or eating a meal.  The sound of bacon sizzling in the frying pan.  The infectuous scents often found in a kitchen: coffee, vanilla, garlic, butter, brownies, fresh herbs and spices...these are just a few of my favorites.  The joy that one takes in preparing an aesthetically appealing meal.  The feel and texture of a creamy cheese sliding into your mouth.  And lastly, the heavenly taste of some delicious dish.  It's no wonder that watching someone eat or sharing a meal can turn into a sensual experience.  If someone were to ask me "what can you do that pleases all of your senses at once?" my knee-jerk reaction would be to answer, "Sex, of course!"  And here it is, so subtle yet so in your face, the second obvious answer, "eat!"

You may be beginning to wonder what my point is here. So this is a good place for a quote that I came across tonight. "Never trust a woman who doesn't like to eat. She is probably lousy in bed." (2) This quote wraps it up quite nicely….in fact, I might have to adopt it as my new life motto! The next time I get the raised eyebrow for enjoying my food, or am made to feel ashamed for adding a chocolate milk and Hershey bar to my lunch (true story!) I think I will just recite that quote, and follow it up with…

“I like to eat! Wanna join me in bed?”


(1) Jennifer Weiner, Little Earthquakes. 2004
(2) Federico Fellini, Italy