Food Fun.

Yum. My breakfast this morning. Absolutely gorgeous. An egg sandwich with a buttered onion, potato bun. A little bit of ketchup. Definitely worth the extra 15 or so that goes into making an actual meal, rather than toast or oatmeal (I love both of those, to be clear). I decided if I could spend 30+ minutes making my dog's meal for the day, I might as well spend some time on my own. Thank you God, that was a good decision.
There are two more notes on one of my favorite topics: First) I don't have to chop up the chicken for Mia anymore!!! Yes. Not only a time saver, but also slightly less disgusting for me to deal with first thing in the morning. I felt guilty about giving her the huge chunk yesterday, but I saw her handle it today and was well-pleased :) The lengthy bit was making the rice for her, but I think she really enjoyed having it, so again, time worth while.
Finally, I was watching Man vs. Food yesterday (one of my favorite shows on the Food Network) and he (his name escapes me at the moment...it's early!) was in Montana having a pasty at some Mom n Pop place.  I immediately was transported back to Wales, where I had my first pasty. They are sold everywhere, much like an egg sandwich would be here, except there they have much more hand-crafted appeal and then there is the surprise factor of, "Is there really going to be just cheese in this one? How do they know? What if the little name tags got all out of order?" And by that time your hunger has gotten the best of you and you've taken your first bite, to discover that indeed, the owner knew his items. That was what happened to me anyway, the story a bit more logical regarding the fact that I was still an adamant vegetarian at the time. I was hoping for potato and cheese in my pasty though and I was not disappointed. The only disappointing part was that the no meat factor hugely diminished the variety of pastys I could sample. No matter. I had one, I had a taste of the home-made dough, crisped perfectly on the outside while remaining soft and pliable towards the center. It was delicious, filling, and cheap!
Back to the show. You see, this American re-creator made no mention of a Welsh heritage. Instead it was the line of work that made the connection for me. He claimed that his typical American dish, pleasing not only our palate but our astonishing appetites (see, this pasty was made enormously with two kinds of meat- that part lost my attention- and then baked in a seemingly delicious crust, but it didn't stop there. It was then smothered in chili and what looked like American cheese. American, I told you). As they were about to eat, or a little before, the owner let it slip. "Here's to a real miner's meal." And what are the Welsh historically known for, professionally? Mining. A-ha. So, whether or not those in Montana are aware of their Welsh heritage, they are certainly more closely linked than they acknowledged on that 30-minute t.v. segment. Hey, I have to keep myself entertained somehow!