Archive for August, 2008
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The Omnivore’s Hundred
Because everyone’s doing it. Here’s where the list started.
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese (ugh)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (my stomach would get revenge, prefer to avoid it)
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (in a sourdough bowl? Really??? That’s now how we serve it where *I* come from)
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal (I don’t think I’ve had it at least…mostly when I went to my local spot in Toronto I just pointed at what I wanted)
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi (at least I *think* that’s what that was…)
53. Abalone
54. Paneer (mmmm paneer)
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV (La Fin Du Monde)
59. Poutine (like most things, it’s even better with bacon)
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain (now I WANT some)
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie (I don’t think we have these in Canada and it’s not something I’d see out when over the border)
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict (which I do not like but I was at a B&B and didn’t have much of a choice)
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab (I’ll *probably* never eat it…not a fan of crab)
93. Rose harissa (I *think* I have but I’m not certain so I won’t highlight it)
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox (mmmmm)
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. SnakeI think there should be a “how many did you have to look up in wikipedia/google” option as well. I did 55. Well I guess 54.5 since I’ve had the clam chowder but not in a sourdough bowl. And I have to say that I prefer my mother’s chowder over clam chowder – who wouldn’t when it has scallops and lobster in it?
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What’s Cooking? Green Salsa
I’ve been trying new recipes on a fairly regular basis but I haven’t been blogging about them because I suck like that sometimes. So today I’m bringing you some Green Salsa with Tomatillos, Cilantro and Lime.
How did I find the recipe? I have three words for you that will solve many a “what should I cook?” woe – Food Blog Search. I put “tomatillo” in the search box and it gave me lots of choices.
Why tomatillos? I bought tomatillos as the Farmer’s Market. Coincidentally I think I freak out the guy that I buy tomatoes from (we always seem to get the same worker). We’ve bought $14 worth of tomatoes (4 baskets) from them each of the last two times we went there and I think he’s trying to figure outwhat we do with them (we slow roast them ala Alanna and there are actually three pans in the oven right now). So on Sunday FM Guy was filling up my Flip and Go Bag (something else I must blog about) with my pile of tomatoes when I spotted something that looked suspiciously like tomatillos. After he got over my surprise that I knew what they were (I don’t think he’s used to people knowing that) he put those in the bag for me too.
Why did I make this recipe? It looked easy. It looked fast. It looked yummy.
Did I like it? I had to put the just made salsa in the fridge so that I wouldn’t eat it all. And then I stood at the blender with a bag of tortilla chips and a spatula and cleaned the blender out.
Will I make it again? As soon as we can get our hands on more tomatillos! We’re going to try to score some more tomatillos at the Farmer’s Market tomorrow. We never go on Thursdays and we’re going just to try to get more tomatillos so we can make this (and maybe freeze some although I am doing a very good job of filling up the freezer with tomatoes). We’re hoping to score lots of them because we want to try this recipe too – Chile Verde.
Would I change anything in the recipe? I might hold back on the lime zest in the next batch. I loved how strong the lime flavour was but I want to try to tone it down a notch just to see what it would taste like. Add maybe add some of the jalapeno seeds for some heat.
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A week in photos
Go ahead, compliment me on the size of my sweet tater.
She has a very hard life.
I like sheep.
Look ma! No hands!
Did you know that llamas are kinda slobbery? Well they are.Or at least the ones that look like dudes.
And this is what happens when you take 1 Piper, 1 box and a pinch of catnip.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0xeJq1lzrU]
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Can’t put nothing past her
From one of our last telephone conversations.
Mom: I noticed that when I gave you the scrubbie* you passed it right over to Lee. Does he really do all the dishes?
Me: Yep.
Mom: All by hand? Or do you have a dishwasher?
Me: There was a dishwasher here when we looked at the place but it was portable and Lee wouldn’t use it anyway. Since it would only take up space we asked the landlord to get rid of it and then put a pantry where it was.
Mom: I see. So who does the cooking?
Me: Mostly me but not always.
Mom: The laundry?
Me: Lee. He cleans the bathroom too.
Mom: So what do you do?
Me: Not much. I write.
Mom: That’s what I thought.
*Only the latest in many things which my mother and her friends have discovered that makes their lives easier. It’s some sort of crocheted potscrubber made from particularly scratchy wool.
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I don’t want to be Dooce
I’ve been thinking about this a lot since BlogHer 08. Yes, I do write for BlogHer but no, I did not attend (I’ve never attended). I followed the Twitter updates and read the blog posts during and after. I read a lot about jealousies, being ignored and not being invited to private parties. And then I read Rita’s post, “Jealousy Isn’t Always An Ugly Emotion” at BlogHer and all the comments. I simply don’t get it. I don’t get being jealous of another blogger – not for their traffic, not for their content, not for their income, not for the opportunities their blogs generate. I really don’t understand why anyone else is either. And I really don’t understand the hatred directed at other bloggers because they have any or all of those things.
Are there bloggers I like? You betcha! Some of them I know either online or in real life but for most I fall into the Fangirl spot. Not everyone is going to be my friend and that’s fine. I don’t want to be friends with someone just because they are cool or write well. I really don’t want to be friends with someone just because they are popular.
I can clearly remember the day that I decided that.
I was in ninth grade and I hovered on the edges of the popular crowd. I was really too bookish and well, to be honest, too poor to be cool and popular. I didn’t wear the right clothes, I didn’t watch the right movies, I didn’t listen to the right music, I didn’t have cable, and I liked books far too much. If I were to classify my position in that group I was a pawn – I moved only in a few directions when commanded. I was the weakest link and easily expendable. One morning before homeroom I was sitting with my back against the lockers surrounded by the cool crowd when I looked around and realized that I had a decision. I could stay there and be the pawn that lives on the edge, frequently ignored except when needed for one of their games while waiting for the day they permanently cast me aside. It would be a life of insecurity. Or I could be the pawn that increased their power and to do that I had to leave. I could be in command of my own movements. I stood up, I walked away and I never looked back. I never regretted it.
It’s probably one of the few truly smart things I’ve done in my life. That and when I stopped getting my hair permed (especially the bangs, OMG the bang perm! *shudder*).
No, I don’t want to be popular/famous/whatever like Dooce/whoever’s name you want to put in this spot. Sure the income would be nice but the hate mail wouldn’t. The hate blogs wouldn’t. The threats wouldn’t. The scrutiny wouldn’t. The having people wanting to be your friend just because you are famous wouldn’t. The people thinking that they are destined to be your BFF because they see a tiny portion of your life wouldn’t. No, I’m not jealous of the popular bloggers one bit. I don’t hate them. I have a great deal of respect for them but I don’t want to be them. I won’t put them on a pedestal nor will I treat them with contempt.
Yes, I do make money online. No, it’s not enough to live on. And, no it’s not directly through this site. And yes, you bet your ass I consider myself fortunate for the money I do make. But I work for it too. I have deadlines to meet and if I don’t do the work I don’t get paid. It’s work that same as my day job is. Or rather what my day job will be when I’m back to working. In case you’ve never been here before, I’m not working right now and it’s not because I’m rolling in online dough. My personal circumstances changed and I quit my job and relocated to a new city (so yeah, being out of work right now my student loan lenders really like my online money). I can make a damn good living in my industry and when I’m working and my online income pales in comparison.
I occasionally get books for free from publishers/marketing/PR folks but I don’t do them in exchange for money nor do I promise them a good review. I’ve only once been offered something other than books to review and I declined (it was poorly pitched).
No one is handing me money just for being here. No one is paying me money to write this. I don’t run ads (I have considered it – I might someday after I switch servers). I blog in three places. I write here for many reasons but mostly I write for myself. I write here for many reasons but mostly for myself. I write here and partcipate in this community for many reasons but mostly for myself.
Yes I have writing envy sometimes. There are bloggers who are able to communicate and write in ways that I can only dream of and work towards. They push me to be a better writer and better blogger but not because I want to be them or be like them. I don’t want to imitate them. They push me to be a better version of myself – a more open, articulate, and sincere form of myself. The most that I hope for is that someone responds to my writing and my voice.
I think that when we get jealous of people we focus on what or who we’re not instead of what or who we are. In a blog people respond to what you write, how you write and mostly who you are. Jealousy only diminishes that. Somedays I wish someone would explain to me why anyone would want to be anyone but who they are but even if they did I don’t think I’d ever understand it.
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Murphy’s Law
Not five minutes after posting about my book debacle I get a message saying they were shipped. SHEESH!
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Where In The World Are Sassymonkey’s Books?
So in June I preordered 4 books from Amazon.ca. Between the 4 there were two different release dates. But they were going to all come at the same time. I’d end up waiting for about 10-14 days for the book that was released first. No ideal but no biggie. Except that on Saturday I was told by Amazon that it now wouldn’t be coming until mid- to end September. That’s a biggie. So I emailed them back to say WTF? It got moved up to two weeks from now. Not pleased but I probably would have been ok had I not been frustrated with the email I received (service people here’s a hint for you – do not tell me that something must be selected by me and then tell me it’s the default option in the same sentence m’kay?). And then it didn’t help matters when as I was writing the second response to them (it included that little hint) the delivery dates on the other three books went from this week to a two week window in mid-September.
I was annoyed. I was pissed. So I cancelled the first book. I then attempted to cancel the other three books but was told that I could not because they had entered the shipment process and would be shipped “soon”. But it was telling me the shipping date was Sept 10-24. Um..that’s so not soon.
So we went back and forth again and in the end I was told that it was a techinical error and if I didn’t receive a shipment by August 4 to contact them. So today I checked my email, nada. Checked my account – still says shipping soon but shows date in September. So I emailed them, again.
It can basically be summed up as this… “Well gee Ma’am…it seems we have a mighty curious situation. It says that it’s started shipped but it appears they’ve stopped without shipping it. I’ve forwarded your email to the dudes that do the shipping and hopefully they’ll figure out what the heck they were smoking when they did this. In the mean time y’all sit tight and I’ll check in on ya in a couple of days.”
Basically, my entire order is all messed up. On average I order from Amazon.ca close to once a month and this has never happened. On Saturday I was frustrated enough to seriously wonder if I ever wanted to order from them again. That’s passed. I will confess that I’m very wary about pre-orders now. And I’m not overly pleased that I still don’t have an answer regarding this shipment even though I first contacted them about it on Saturday and was told it was a technical glitch and not to worry.
But mostly I just want to know where my darned books are and if/when I’ll get them.
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