Avocadoes, I Love You

I think that I shall never see a food as lovely as an avocado. Seriously, I could eat those puppies morning, noon, and night. (Though I think I would probably break out in hives because my mouth starts itching after two of them!)

Today's after school snack consists of smooshed (Yes, it's a word.) avocadoes with a little salt and lime juice. (Hmm...Maybe I like them because they come with the same trappings as tequila.) Of course, light and crunchy tortilla chips just add to the fun and flavor.

Avocadoes are one of those foods that people either love or hate. Some people are offended by the way they look in the bowl. (Jeff likens them to baby poop, but I've never really found this to be a deterrent.) Others take issue with the calorie count, but everything buttery and rich fits that category. Besides, one can point to the anti-oxidants and vitamins as mitigating factors. I can't imagine any negative comment about avocadoes that would keep me from eating them short of, "Mrs. Medlock, we at the Mayo Clinic believe you have developed a sudden and rare allergy to avocadoes which manifests itself in instantaneous death after only one bite." (Yes, those words would stop me in my tracks.)

My husband feels this way about chocolate. He has gone so far as to consider a vacation at the Hershey Spa in Hershey, PA., where people are given chocolate baths, chocolate facials, and chocolate massages among other options. I'm not sure I really want to bathe in my favorite food, though. Not only would it be squishy and messy, but the waste of so many edible lovelies might be more than my heart can take. Of course in Germany people seem to enjoy beer baths with entire spas centered on this activity, and my son says that Dr. Pepper is the elixir of life that ancient alchemists spent their entire careers trying to create. Still, I don't think he wants to bathe in the stuff - ew...sticky.

In the end, I guess we all have a weakness for some particular taste. Funny how some of us love sour, crunchy, salty foods and others are attracted to sweet, creamy, smooth sensations. Funny, too, how our tastes change over time. When I was a kid I never ate anything together. At dinner time food was placed carefully around the edge of my plate, and I would begin the meal with my least favorite item - turning the plate as I finished each thing - working my way to the best taste of dinner. Needless to say, casseroles were not my favorite foods. These days, I mix all kinds of things together on the plate - refried beans are intentionally plopped on top instead of beside the Spanish rice; baked beans are stirred together with potato salad or cole slaw; mayo, mustard and barbecue sauce adorn hamburger buns (among other fixings'), and I never hesitate to pour the odds and ends of several kinds of cereal in my bowl.

As I've grown I discovered that while some tastes are better in their purest form (avocadoes for one), most are improved when coupled with something else. (I'm a real fiend for sweet and salty together. The best example I've ever had of this is a milk chocolate dipped Pringle's chip.) Thus food echoes the wonderfulness of relationships in that the variation and infinite combinations keep it interesting.