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Food Glorious Food

As you may or may not know, ALS tends to rob sufferers of their ability to chew, swallow, and generally savor food as we once did.  Excess salivation is only the tip of the "iceberg".  With the loss of muscle mass (even in the facial region), the act of eating becomes a tiring exercise in futility.    To extend our lives, some of us resort to allowing a peg tube to be surgically installed into our stomachs else we would succumb to death by starvation, slow and insidious.  I remain undecided on this measure but will likely opt-in.

I love food!  I consider myself a "foodie" as well as a compulsive eater but I must stipulate that I LOVE good quality food.  Don't give me a Hershey bar, I prefer Lindt or better yet, Boehm's Gianduja as my husband will attest.  Why go to Applebee's when one can score better taste and quality having the $15 "3 Course Lunch" at Palisade?

My appetite has changed since the onset of ALS.  As with most of my activities these days, I want it to count.  I want a worthwhile experience and a lot of flavor bang for my buck.  It also so happens that I was a cook and if my husband is to be trusted, I was a pretty good one.  And I have accumulated my favorite recipes and adjusted them to our particular tastes.

These days, my caregiver and I collaborate on meal preparation and she noted that I have increased her repertoire immensely in the short time we've been together.  In the past three weeks she has learned to make (and eat) Elk Chili; bake a whole chicken; peeled, cored, and quartered a fresh pineapple; and most recently, made a strawberry rhubarb pie.  I have also introduced her to Ben and Jerry's Frozen Greek Yogurt.  Her fave flavor is Raspberry Chocolate Chunk while I favor Pineapple Passionfruit.
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