FOTY Conquered!

For the past 5 years (as I discussed in more detail in this post), I've selected a food of the year (FOTY) each January to spend the year "conquering". This year's food is my greatest challenge to date. I genuinely admit being somewhat terrified of taking the plunge this year. 


My chosen food for 2012 is oysters. Having always been an east coaster at heart (and having spent my childhood summers in Maryland cracking crabs), I have a profound love of seafood. It's this love that drove me to choose oysters. I don't like there being types of seafood that I don't eat. Going into the whole oyster experience, Alicia did a wonderful job of lowering my expectations. She told me everything that I would have to deal with by choosing to consume oysters and was fairly certain (because she knows me so well) that these slimy critters were not for my tastes. 


On Saturday night, the opportunity to do what I'd been putting off for a month presented itself. It was go time, I was going to try oysters. I joined my favorite couple, Alicia and Daniel (I call them my favorite because they aren't gross with the excessive PDA and coupleness that makes others uncomfortable; even though I'm in a couple, I have no tolerance for such behavior) at a new oyster bar (Senart's Oyster Bar and Chop House) in Eastern Market. As we arrived, Alicia remained skeptical, Daniel believed, and I was in search of a drink to calm my nerves.

Drink first, then food... the anticipation continued to mount and peaked upon the oysters' arrival 

[sorry for the dim pictures..I had to rely on iphone to capture this momentous occasion]

And then it was time to take the plunge....

BAM, FOTY conquered. Only a little over a month into 2012, my scariest FOTY to date also holds the record for quickest defeat. I was thrilled, and Alicia and Daniel enjoyed being part of the momentous occasion. Since the oyster take-down was much quicker than anticipated, I'm mulling taking on a sub-food of the year, possibly mussels, but no definitive plans yet. There is nothing I love more than expanding my food pallet!