Mixing of tastes

Eating is a pleasurable necessity. In times of financial hardship, food is viewed as a mandatory expense even if it is very primitive. Due to the enormous wealth most American's enjoy, food is no longer about sustenance but pleasure. Food is expected at celebrations of all sorts. To be truly admired, the selection must abound with different tastes and textures.

While all people enjoy some level of variety, how this variety is experienced in a single meal has two variations. We have the separatists and the mixers.

Separatists - People who prefer to eat all of one item on their plate then proceed to the next item. My brother and my fiancee are both separatists . Maybe they'll start with their meat, then the vegetable, then eat their bread and so on. The next item will not be started until the first one is completed. Separatists usually do a very good job of cleaning their plate. Some will only take each item from the serving dish as they are ready to consume it, reducing the likelihood they will dish up more than they can eat.

Mixers-Those who like to combine tastes and textures throughout the meal. I'm definitely a mixer. I'll take a bite of a hamburger then some baked beans followed by a bit of salad. The problem is my eyes are often bigger than my stomach and I take too much. Since consuming all my food does nothing to help the starving children in Uganda, I choose to waste some food before I'm willing to add it to waistline. I love the switching from sweet to salty then back again. I chase pretzels down with a can of Diet Pepsi. Usually having a bit of the pretzel still in my mouth when I fill it with that sweet flavor.

Now separatists can eat casseroles and other pre-combined foods, the foods are then just considered a single item. Mixers, like myself, may like casseroles less because it removes some of the personal creativity behind the combining of foods. I mean frozen pizza dipped in applesauce, who would have thought it could be so good.

However you experience the pleasure of food the only caution is to remember- there can be too much of a good thing!