Well, in my defense, I was 16 at the time and was very sheltered growing up. Her family was very accepting of me and broadened my horizons as to foods and alcohol. As a result of knowing them, I tried all sorts of things including Arabic food, authentic Greek food, Thai food, Indian food and some traditional Russian dishes. Her grandmother (Baba) made some killer pierogies that I could just sit and eat all day. most anything they made with lamb was awesome, too. Cow tongue and some kind of chicken fat gelatin (don't remember what it was called) were some of my least favorite. But yes, every time you walked in any one of their homes, you were treated like family and you didn't leave hungry, even if they had to make something fresh just for you.
Na Zdorovie (На здоровье)!