Food that is fun

I like eating . . . pretty much all the time. That's no surprise to anyone who has spent more than five minutes in my company. But some foods are just extraordinarily fun.

Mangoes. So messy, you just have to embrace it. There is no elegant way to eat a mango. Scraping the last delicious bits of golden-orange pulp off that obnoxiously large seed, with juice running down your chin and probably your elbows: now that's living.

Cupcakes. My favorite way to eat a cupcake is to split it horizontally and make it into a sandwich, with the icing in the middle. It just always makes me giggle to see the icing squishing out the sides.

Chicken legs. Like mangoes, there is not an elegant way to do this. Ever. Even more fun when the chicken drips with a sticky honey-ginger sauce . . . the recipe for which I'll have to post soon.

Ice cream cones. First you have a mountain of melting, creamy goodness. And then you have a crackly cone that ends up cracking or leaking. And at the very bottom it's a mess all over your fingers. Oh, it's fabulous.

Chocolate covered raisins. I don't know why I get a kick out of these. I think it's the "something hidden inside" factor. Same goes for chocolate covered almonds, yogurt covered craisins, and Ferrero Rocher.

Waffles. All the little compartments! So perfect for butter, blueberries, syrup, or what have you. I always try to eat it so as NOT to disturb the cell walls and spill topping all over the place.

Grilled cheese. Especially with mozzarella, gouda, or some equally meltalicious cheese. Please tell me that you, too, have had contests to see how long your cheese strings would stretch.

Mashed potatoes. Make a heap of potatoes. Create a lake in the middle with your fork. Pour in gravy. Proceed to play with your food . . .

Fettuccini. Twirl. Slurp. Enough said.