Sunday, April 6, 2014

What do you say? Dunking

My previous post on peanut butter brought out some surprising reactions from you, the fellow readers.  It wasn't so much about the peanut butter, but the somewhat ordinary (well, to me, at least) mention that I dunk buttered toast in hot sweet tea that elicited some very interesting and varied responses.  And that got me thinking.  I am very curious fella after all.  What seems normal to me is quite bizarre to someone else.  So now I want to hear from you, fellow readers, what do you say about dunking?

I would like to know if you've ever dunked or not, and I am curious if you've seen it, and is it considered normal where you are?

For instance, I grew up out west on small farm in a remote rural area on the Pacific.  Dunking buttered bread (toast, buns, rolls, biscuits, crackers, etc.) is the norm.  When I lived on the East Coast and the South, I kept on dunking stuff, including croissants and donuts (hey, it's called Dunkin Donuts for a very good reason!) into my sweet hot beverages, such as sweet hot tea, hot chocolate, and coffee with lots of cream and sugar.  I now live in the southern coast of Texas and still continue my dunking ways.  Not once have I encountered anyone who raised an eyebrow at my dunking.  In fact, it's a pretty common habit in all the places I've lived in.  Or maybe I didn't notice the abhorred look on other people's faces because I was lost and immersed in the sweet, delicious goodness of buttered toast dunked in sweet hot tea.  Then again, I've seen people do what I do and dunking seems rather common.

I suppose I'm a serial dunker, as I dunk cookies in milk and sweet hot beverages, too.  But I also like to dunk bread (and buns and rolls and biscuits) into soups.  Heck, I like to take sweet cornbread and dip it in my chili, too!  I'm also the kind of person who enjoys dipping his slice of pizza into the garlic butter sauce if no one else wants that delicious sauce.

Now what about you?  Do you consider dunking buttered bread (toast, buns, etc) normal?  And is it normal where you grew up or live in now?  What else do you dunk that you consider normal in your part of the world?  I would love to know and compare and contrast the interesting and fascinating differences and similarities between people and cultures!

Bonus challenge:  If you find yourself with a piece of buttered toast, I dare you to give it a quick dunking in some hot chocolate or sweet hot tea and see what it tastes like.  Let us know if you like it or not!