Rice

Typically when I'm buying rice I look for a bag with Chinese characters on it, or (depending on my mood) maybe "Basmati", or possibly something involving the word "Thai".

A couple of months ago, though, I foolishly bought a 20 lb bag of rice, a bag devoid of any writing or names suggestive of Asia. I guess I was out to save some money, and I did indeed save some money, but the tradeoff was meal after meal chomping on countless vaguely rice-shaped pieces of moist cardboard.

Well, we finally made our way through that tiny piece of hell, and as of yesterday our rice is Japanese. Well, California-grown Japanese-style rice, but whatever. I ate a handful of the first batch, with nothing on it, and almost cried.