May the road ahead of you be smooth...

...but paved with crunchy peanut butter (a line I heard recently, it seemed pretty fitting for this leg of our adventure.)

I'm not ashamed to admit that this blog is completely about food. You may have seen my previous blog about grocery shopping in Ukraine, so here's the flip side of that entry—the ease and luxury of comida buena (good food)! Ken and I have come to the realization that we in the US take food from all around the world and make it better. Really, I'm not trying to be boastful or arrogant; it's just better here. There's more quality of flavor—and of course more quantity! Seeing the excess of obesity has been one of the biggest “return to culture” shocks for me, I've forgotten about the “Super size” attitude of Americans. Food in Ukraine is heavy, fried in lots of oil, high calories—what you would expect to survive a cold winter. But, the difference is that Ukrainians WALK A LOT! It's not uncommon to walk 20 minutes to get to the local grocery store. This happens a couple times a week because there's not a car to load all the month's groceries, you pick up what you can carry and go back for more when you run low on supplies. People walk to whatever form of transportation they use (be it bus or subway), and in winter, this means trekking through deep sandlike snow (the roads and sidewalks don't get plowed.

With that said, I think I just might regain all the baby weight that I lost due to the abundance of simply amazing food. Now, I'm not talking junk food here—just good ol' goodness, here's my list of yummies (since we've been back) that many of you may take for granted:

Tacos, burritos, salsa, homemade guacamole—even Taco Bell,

Salmon, on the fillets on the BBQ, smoked, burgers,

Sandwiches and wraps (hearty, soft, wholegrain breads and tortillas) with meat and veggies or a tasty peanut butter and jelly classic,

MILK (that doesn't go bad after two days) and granola

The most amazing seafood dish I have ever eaten in my entire life was at the Waterfront Depot in little old downtown Florence, Oregon!Super tasty, all natural ice cream sandwiches,

Nancy's yogurt,

Berries (blues and raspberries, frozen in cereal, or in a cobbler—I love you and your antioxidants!)

Papa Murphy's—ahh convenience,

Awesome Thai food in Mount Vernon, Washington (the type of avocado-curry goodness where you want the taste to linger forever!)

Scurmdidilydumptious lemon and coconut bars (my favorite being in our current WiFi location, The Sweet Life Bakery in Chilliwack, BC!)--we've become quite the connoisseurs of such delicacies north of the border.

(and according to Ken--drinks of the barley flavor are much better in the PacNor than elsewhere in the world.)

MUCHISIMAS GRACIAS, THANK YOU, GRATZI, MERCI, DANKE, SPACIBA BOLSHOI to all of you who have helped satisfy our taste buds or will join us in our celebration of food in the next few weeks.

Here's what else we're looking forward to:

Tacos adobadas (thanks Ed Lee and Tacos Michoacan!)

White cheese sauce (McGrews and Jalepenos—good times and great memories)

Avalanche burgers (the Hallow will be one of our first stops in Boise)

and last but not least, Joyce, we're counting on you for some Pears Helena, s'il vous plai>t!