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Winner Winner, Tex-Mex Dinner?

A Chapter to the Tales of the Charismatic Hispanic

By Briana GranstaffPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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Though I grew up with Mexican grandparents for my early childhood, it was never heavily emphasized that I eat anything too exotic or too bland. So the usual peanut butter and jelly was delicious but only acceptable if slapped into a tasty burrito. Also chicken soup was quite the hot treat but involved mostly tomato sauce and whole chicken drumsticks. As I grew up and I moved out of my grandparents house, I was thrown into a different environment of education, therefore, I had to make new friends.

Through those friends, I learned that eating fast food was such a fun thing to do and if you were lucky, (according to them, lucky meant that their mom hated to cook) you could eat fast food all the time. Back then my metabolism was pure and now, let's be honest, I am serving my sentence for the crime against my gorgeous brown body. As a kid, getting fast food was a delicacy and you had to be extremely grateful if Mom asked who wanted a kids meal because you knew she probably didn't want it. Soon, eating any Mexican dish was the delicacy that could only be at parties or cookouts at Easter.

I am now in college where fast food can sometimes be an only option. Previously said, I am social and now, it's iffy where I am still as positive because most of my friends I made through insulting or teasing them which gave off the impression that I was somewhat cool. I made friends with people of different cultural backgrounds; whites, Asians, Indians. you name it, I had a rainbow of new ethnic friends who introduced me to foods I had never heard of. I can attest that curry is not half bad, pho is divine and po'boys are beyond amazing. Just thinking about all those foods gets my mouth watering and craving. However, I don't spend every day of the week at school and have certain days of the week designated as home days.

While I'm at home, I am able to do homework, work on some art pieces and take care of the house since everyone is either at work or school. Every night, I would have some dinner idea ready in mine, one I had prepped either Sunday or Monday night, depending on my week. Looking at my grocery list, it's obvious I had a taste for different foods and dishes that weren't exactly here nor there. I explored many articles and researched recipes that fit my criteria of tasty. You can check my search history, it was desperate and kinda depressing.

So far, I enjoy making my own twist on enchilada casserole which had only been created because I managed to screw up making it and had a nervous break down. I make beef tips drizzled over white rice that was yes, made through a rice cooker since it's not cheating, it's using my resources. I also enjoy making a variety of pasta dishes that are complimented with Italian spice and pure ground beef because I cannot stand the tasty of ground turkey. And every once in a while, when the season calls for it, I will make my best beef winter stew that combats the cold and saves me a lot of prep time.

I can't say that my taste buds belong to any one culture or that I believe one food trumps all because that would be the biggest fallacy I have ever told. Aside from this once incident with a friend's ex who attempted to be my friend but let's be honest, college is not the place to catch hands. I think my childhood background and my ethnicity, defined my perspective on fine cuisine. But you know what I also think, it gave me an advantage over others. I hope you enjoyed this little tidbit from the writing series I will be starting called the Tales of a Charismatic Hispanic.

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