First of all, welcome!  I hope my somewhat extensive knowledge of food and how to prepare it will help you, entertain you, encourage you to make your own delicious meals, and more!

I’ve been thinking a lot today about texture.  I’ve realized that the number one (may be exaggerating) excuse people give for not liking a certain food is the texture.  I, for example, used to hate pears for their grainy and somewhat mealy texture.  I’ve since gotten past that and learned to love them for what they are! (I will post an awesome salad with pears and gorgonzola eventually).  My very picky brother, when asked why he doesn’t like a certain food, usually can’t give an answer besides, “maybe it’s just the texture.”

I understand texture is an important thing–almost as important as flavor!  For example, you can be eating a great salad, but without some toasted pine-nuts or almonds, or if you’re a bread person some crunchy croutons, the salad is missing a key component.  How many people have you seen (or maybe you do this yourself!) stick potato chips inside their sandwich because they like that crunch?  Making food is all about balance.  Sweet and salty, crunchy and soft, sweet and sour, sweet and spicy, etc.  Next time you make a meal, make sure the textures are right.  Too mushy?  Throw in some nuts, or even olives if they work in the dish.  Toast your ciabatta you use for your lunch sandwich, mix some onion in your egg.

And for those of you who can’t get past certain textures of food like avocado, go spread it on some toasted french bread, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with flaked sea salt or lemon pepper. The texture won’t bother you a bit!