Food, Interrupted

For me, part of my passion for cooking and things food-related has to do with naturally wanting to deconstruct and reconstruct my food. It's sort of a Frankenstein approach to things, at times...you take this and that and well, now you have another thing.

For example, recently my sweet and wonderful SO and I have been into Double-Stuff Peanut Butter Oreos (DBSPBO's).

OK, yes, this cookie can stand on its own -- you can munch on them with great satisfaction just as they are right out of the bag.








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But, then one day while on vacation a few weeks ago, I was rumaging around in the car for a snack while on a drive and found the DBSPBO's AND a partially eaten bag of Reese's Pieces. And, because I like to reconstruct my food, I pried off the top of the DBSPBO carefully so as not to disrupt the delicate filling and embedded some Reese's Pieces into the filling. Finally, I replaced the top cookie and had a nicely enhanced cookie experience. FYI -- my SO likes to enhance his DBSPBO's with a dollop of peanut butter. A similar experience, but my version does have the candy-coated crunch aspect.

I like to do this with restaurant foods too. Among my fond food-memories is one of the little dinners that I used to concoct for myself at my first job. I worked retail three nights a week in high school and all through college. I used to come in at 5:00 PM and finish up around 9:00 PM. During my short dinner break, I used to go across the street to a little Chinese take out place called Yang's and get wonton soup, an order of rice, and three packets of soy sauce. I think this cost about $2.50 (which took me an hour to earn back then!). I would dump the rice and soy sauce into the soup for a filling and inexpensive meal.

Of course, recipes abound for dishes where you use prepared things for convenience. One of my favorites is a dessert called Cherry Crunch which involves cake mix, pie filling and a stick of butter (you can click here for a recipe).

But, deconstructing/reconstructing food is not about convenience, it's about looking at things from another perspective and coming up with something that is greater than the sum of its parts.

So, for fun today, look in your fridge, freezer, and/or pantry. Ask, "What would happen if...?" or "How could I make this better?" Who knows what surprises await!

Food & Kisses, GiGi