That food thing
1. Are you a vegetarian? Vegan?
No. I like all the meats, too much, and can't get overwrought about the cruelty/conditions issue. Or rather, I'm too good at looking the other way. If pressed, I would prefer (and could manage) slaughtering my own.

2. What's your favorite food?
IM-possible question. Anything with a rich melange of textures, flavors and color. Sweet and savory together. Anything fresh.

3. White bread or whole wheat?
Whole wheat. Although fresh home-made white is hard to beat. Sourdough: no thanks.

4. What's for breakfast?
Coffee, juice, toast, honey, banana. Cereal. Sometimes oatmeal. Weekends I like to pull out all the stops -- eggs (any style), pancakes, bacon, fruit bowl. Specialties for breakfast: champagne mimosas; gjetost.

5. You're making a Dagwood sandwich. What's in it?
Ham, salami, cheese (any kind), leaf lettuce, tomato, sweet pickle, mayo, mustard (preferably whole grain), maybe basil pesto, mmm... how about marinated artichoke hearts?

6. What's on your pizza?
Sausage, mushroom. Or sometimes one of those highfalutin feta-chicken-and-broccoli things that some people don't consider pizza. There was a lovely restaurant near me in Boston that would load up its pizzas with whole roasted garlic... yeah.

7. Coffee, tea, milk, or soda?
Yeah, but tea is last. Water is best but I find it hard to be that virtuous all the time. I do try to watch the aspartame and HFCS.

8. Dark, milk, or white chocolate?
Dark, sometimes white. I don't favor most "candy", so a little dark chocolate is a super treat to me.

9. Teetotal, beer, wine, or hard liquor?
Touchy subject? I favor wine -- can't really keep nice beers and especially liquor in the house. It goes too fast, and the next thing I know "Matty's Package Goods" is a line item on the household budget and personal hygiene has slipped. But... tequila. Blue agave.

10. Does cilantro taste like citrus, or like soap?
Neither. It is cilantro, and a godly ingredient of much Mexican cooking. However, nobody in my immediate family can tolerate it, so it stays in the cabinet.

11. Is chorizo the greatest thing ever or is it totally disgusting?
Yes. Oh, sorry -- greatest thing ever. I'm slowly discovering Portuguese cooking. Great.

12. Do you use garlic like a vegetable or like a spice?
Both. It's practically a vegetable in chili (6-8 cloves to a pot); and roast elephant garlic as a spread is ambrosia.

13. Onions: raw, cooked, or not at all?
Again, both, but I lean toward caramelized. Raw minced Vidalias are a fun addition to some salads or as a soup or taco topping.

14. Does broccoli taste sweet or bitter?
"Uh, neither. Broccoli is delicious when cooked properly, but err to either side and it becomes the cliche." - basophil

15. How do you feel about fish?
Give me some. Cooked hot and fast. Any fish, must be fresh. I came late to shellfish, and only discovered the sublime joy of raw oysters a few years ago.

16. How about sushi?
Fabulous. I think I started enjoying sushi as an "adventure," and it quickly became a staple. I don't love EVERY type, but will try anything. Tried making it at home once too -- wow, do I respect the sushi chef skill.

17. Fave ethnic cuisine?
Another impossible question. A year isn't complete without at least once, each: Mexican, Italian, French, Indian, Thai, Chinese (including Dim Sum), Shwarma, American Diner, Spanish (preferably a seafood paella, maybe with chorizo thrown in). We have Honduran and Salvadorian near us which I intend to sample soon.

18. What's your favorite fruit?
Peach, cherry, orange, grape, banana. Prickly pear. Hmm, been a while since I made bananas flambe.

19. Cheese - thumbs up or thumbs down?
UP. Sheesh. I can hang around the cheese section of Whole Foods till the cows come home.

20. Finally, favorite dessert?
Something extravagantly fattening, preferably with chocolate. Something like this.