boy or girl?

Boy.

stare puzzeled at either his crotch or some part of his face not his eyes.

I've tried to give the local variations of Irish food a chance, going on the theory that the culinary nightmares perpetuated by my ancestors weren't representative. But it's turned my stomach at every attempt.

. . .except bacon, which is of the Devil.

Exactly. That's why it's so tasty.

stare puzzeled at either his crotch or some part of his face not his eyes.

Well, the pretend it's not happening approach is sorely lacking. And now he's made me so late I can't get a tea latte before the meeting. DAMN HIM.

damn him straight to hell.

Are San Francisco Burritos a separate sub category? I know they do tacos a lot more in LA than SF.

The place around the corner from me, which has the best burritos in town (bigger than your head), advertises their burritos as "San Francisco style." I have no idea what that means, but they sure are good. The black and tan burrito is like unto heaven. (Heh. I love that this review of the place starts with a description of how to order a burrito there.)

Also, my family is part Irish, and the grey-food stereotype is simply untrue.

I mention this because I'm doing research and I have James Trager's book The Food Chronology open on my lap

Does it cover the "all peppers, potatos, and tomatoes are new world foods and didn't exist in Europe before the 1600s" thing? That always trips me out. I already knew that Italy didn't have tomatos until the 1650s and Ireland didnt' have potatoes until into the 1700s, but the thought of the Indian, Thai, Middle Eastern, Korean, etc. food not being HOT until they got chilis in the 1600s blows my mind. Spicy, but not hot. For a thousand years kimchi wasn't hot -- I still can't get over it.

There's a place near here (in Columbia where I work) called "Frisco Burritos". I've never been and never will go because:

1.) "Frisco" is just wrong.

2.) I really can't get a burrito anywhere but in San Francisco. I know they make good ones elsewhere but SF, and really my particular favorite taqueria, has made my idea of how a burrito should be very specific.

What trips me out is that the potato was actually a South American food, the Spaniards brought them back to Europe, and then the Europeans who proceeded to settle North America introduced it there. I always thought that it had come up from South America on its own. Also, the reason why the Irish Potato Famine was so harsh was that by 1845, the poorer Irish tenant farmers were relying on one variety of the potato to feed their families (average amount eaten per person was three pounds a day) that was developed from only two potatoes brought back by the Spaniards, and was therefore so inbred as to be almost guaranteed susceptible to a fungus.