You Might Be a Chowhound If...

As part of one of the largest organized eating groups in Houston, aptly named the Houston Chowhounds (we lovingly call ourselves HouCHies), I have pondered many a wondrous thing that separates the proverbial boys from the men. In my eating circles, (yes, I have eating circles) my non-foodie friends just don’t get it. But in my little HouCH World, they do GET it. And I love that I know a multitude of people that come from all different spokes of the food universe.

We are full-on gastrogeeks, chefs, writers, critics, photogs & stylists, bloggers, and good ole adventurous people that take serious eating to a whole new level. We simply DIG (into) food - all fashions, all forms, all the time.

You might wonder, what defines who we are as a group, besides the fact that we are an endless search to chase the food dragon, whenever, wherever, with whomever?

Well, I’m so glad you asked. You might be a HouCHie if:

- You moan, groan, or close your eyes after the first bite of something delectable, usually embarrassing your non-Chowhound eating partner.

- You meet up with people you’ve NEVER met and first time off the bat, just dig into their plate without even asking… we do realize most *normal* people FREAK about this.

- You double dip and ain’t scared to do so…

- You know or know of every chef in town.

- You take photos of your food before eating it.

- You plan ALL events of your day around meals – read: plural, MEALS.

- You have handles on various social boards that include words like foodie, never full, hungry, bites, eats, bits, etc.

- You have friends and family who actually say you might need professional help after describing your last meal to them, blow by blow.

- You would take a day off of work to go on a food crawl. My boss thinks I'm nuts, most people take 3 day weekends to go away; I take a day off to go on an eating spree.

- You recite lines from Top Chef – “I can name what is in that soup in 5 flavors”

- You travel with specialty food items in your purse or car such as Truffle Salt or your favorite hot sauce

- You spend your free time reading food blogs and restaurant reviews

- You've secretly thought about starting your own food blog

- You plan vacations around restaurant reservations, most of which were booked way in advance of your plane ticket

Most recently we did a taco truck crawl, a 40+ person event, 3 stops, 6 hours, over 15 different types of foods consumed, and that isn’t including the beverages. If food is what you are about, you have to check us out. Seriously, we don’t bite. Okay, we don’t bite people…

For additional information on joining and upcoming events, check out http://www.houstonchowhounds.com/

-- Jody Flood Stevens

guest blogger and fellow Houston Chowhound, Jodycakes, a recent Houston transplant is one of six female bloggers at Where's My Damn Answer?, a hilarious blog collective with musings on life, friendship, food, and wine.