I've lost you, haven't I? You thought you were checking in to read some little ditty about my kids being cute/maddening/funny or about me prepping for their birthday party (tomorrow!) or some other mundane something. Well, I'm sorry to say that this post is all about eating bugs. I'm multidimensional like that. Or weird. Take your pick.

Anyway, the first time I had crickets was in 2000(ish) at a restaurant called Typhoon in Santa Monica, CA. Dude and I went there just because they have an insect section on their menu and we were curious. We ordered some chicken satay and other regular snacks, but we also ordered the fried crickets and the sea worms. The crickets were tasty! They were little guys about the size of a peanut, deep fried with big hunks of garlic, spicy red pepper and shoestring fries. Yum! They were salty and crunchy and good. The sea worms... no. I don't even want to revisit that little experience here. Imagine the taste of licking the bottom of the ocean and there you go. 

The second time I had crickets was in 2006 at a roadside stand in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Let me tell you that the huge basket of cooked crickets was NOTHING compared to the huge basket next to it of cooked giant cockroaches. Eating a couple crickets seemed like just the right tourist thing to do because there was no way I was making the commitment to eat a roach (it would've been at least three bites). They didn't taste like much and one or two were plenty. 

Tonight I had a new bug - grasshoppers! We went to a little place around the corner called Sushi Mazi for happy hour/dinner with the girls. They had grasshoppers on the sushi menu, so we ordered up a couple. The waitress delivered them to the table and then pulled out a camera."Are you ready for me to take your picture for the wall of fame?" Um, what? Okay fine. So we now have a family portrait on their wall. Sassy!

Side note: The waitress said, "Let me back up a little and I think I can get everyone in the shot." The Bug grabbed my hand and immediately started to freak, "Shot? SHOT?! MOMMY! SHOT?!" It was instant terror in her eyes as she looked at the waitress. That poor kid. It's obvious that it's not going to go well when we go back to the doctor in about five weeks for their 24-month check-up and they each have to get a few shots.

Anyway, the grasshoppers were fried and perched atop sushi rice and avocado with some of that delicious, delicious sauce that usually comes on unagi. They were the salty/crunchy component that rounded out that certain Asian goal for dishes: sweet, sour, salty, spicy, soft, crunchy. They were perfect. In fact, I ate three and Dude only got one.

For your viewing pleasure or pukefest (your choice), here's a picture:

Don't worry, my next post will probably be all about the girls' birthday party - cupcakes and costumes and cutie kids. You know - safe stuff. No pictures of delectable bugs...