Tofu memories

I tend to think about random things in the shower, and today what should pop into my head but the first time I ate tofu! I was 13, a fairly new vegetarian, and lived off of salad with ranch dressing, cheese pizza, and jo-joes. To make a long story short, my home was not a happy place, and I usually used babysitting money to buy my own food or ate meals at friend's houses. One of my newer friends, Alicia, had been raised vegetarian and I always got a good meal at her house!
One evening I was over and they decided to go out to dinner and invited me along. I was surprised to learn that we were going to a Chinese Restaurant because I thought that all Chinese food had meat in it. Luckily, Alicia's mom ordered the food because I didn't know what any of it was, and when it came there were all these plates of weird vegetables and a few plates with these big chunks of whitish stuff that I didn't recognize. I remember being a little embarrassed and wanting to just eat plain rice, but they told me it was just made out of beans and tasted like the sauce so I tried it.
And just like that, I was converted into a tofu lover! I didn't eat it often until I was in college and had my own kitchen to cook in (there weren't veg restaurants around Portland when I was in high school), and it's been a staple in my diet ever since. I really need one of those shirts that says "I &hearts tofu!"



P.S. Alicia's still one of my best friends. Awww!
That's us in May at the Sasquatch Festival :)