and i thought i was spoiled at school...

friends at other schools always marvel when they hear how well i eat at school. nobody else is having cookie ice cream sandwiches made with cookies made from scratch, or spaghetti and meatballs from scratch. i really thought i couldn't be eating any better, until, of course, i came home for christmas.

either my parents are fattening me up hansel-and-gretel style, or they're happy to see me. i prefer to believe it's the latter. since i've been home, i've been treated to all kinds of wonderful things, including roasted butternut squash, orange zested pork and chicken, peppercorn-encrusted steaks, and this wonderful concoction that involves a soft, chewy cookie-dough base and a citrus-y cream cheese topping. and who would have thought udon noodles, fried until they're partially browned, with soy sauce and ketchup, could be so good? it boggles the mind. what's most surprising, though, is that this is all just dinner. lunch always involves other kinds of delights: dumplings (because as hard as i might try, i can never replicate my mother's dumplings), sandwiches, wraps that look simple but are unmentionably good. you wouldn't think that toasting the tortillas in a skillet before assembling the wrap would make such a difference, but it does. especially on a cold, wintry day when it's sunny and snowy, but cold as hell. a toasted tortilla stuffed with melty cheese, cool lettuce and tomato, ham and pepperoncinis is as good as it gets. you wouldn't think that deep-fried chicken dumplings could be so good, or that fried chunks of salmon could be so crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, either. but it all really is too good to believe, except that i believe it, and i will surely be sad to go back to school.