Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The Omnivore's Hundred

Found this meme here. Sounded like fun. You play by bolding the foods you have tried and crossing out the ones you will try if and when hell freezes over.

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
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
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
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini (what's wrong with vodka?)
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
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
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini (but not together)
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare (does rabbit count?)
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Hmmm. I don't even know what a lot of these are. The likelihood of my eating horse is remote, as is my consumption of shellfish since I am allergic, but I won't say never. There are many foods I thought I would never like and now are my favorites. I just hope horse is never one of them.

Friday, August 08, 2008

Four for Friday - the Home Edition

Q1. Paint: Did you paint the walls in your home or were they painted to your liking before you moved in?

The house was a celebration to that cutesy country style that was popular once upon a time, with lots of wallpaper and borders. I liked it initially, but it wore out its welcome really fast.

The first rooms to be redone were the kids rooms, since my kids had outgrown the alphabet-and-nursery-rhyme stage. My daughter opted for peach carpeting - not watermelon, not mango, not lemon, but peach. Finding matching curtains and bedspread was next to impossible. And the only type of carpet available was on the expensive side. She swore she would be careful, but now the carpet sports stains from a variety of sources, from makeup to poster paint. My son opted for neutral shades, but we did add an Indiana University border, so I spray painted the shelving red. too. The wallpaper in these two rooms came off relatively easily, as did the wallpaper in the main bath, which became a minty green.

Years passed. During this time, I purchased from Coldwater Creek a bedspread and matching curtains, to try to motivate myself to tackle my bedroom, which had wallpaper wainscoting topped with a border, the two in contrasting pink prints, with pink walls above. And pink curtains. And a dingy shag carpet. The master bath was more of the same. When I could stand it no longer, I got to work. Apparently, the walls in the master bedroom and bath had not been sized prior to the wallpaper being hung, so removing it involved much labor and cursing and rental of scary tools. I prevailed, though, and covered every available vertical surface with lavender paint. And hung the curtains. Which did not match the paint. And did not match each other. Then I laid what I thought was a gray carpet, but it sucked the blue out of the lavender. The room wasn't quite hideous, but it definitely was not pleasant, either. Meanwhile, I had replaced the flooring in the kitchen and lucked out - it looked great! Feeling overly confident, I replaced the flooring in the main bath as well - UGH!

My daughter came to my rescue and in rapid succession we repainted the main bath a lovely pinky-beige, my bedroom a pale blue, the master bath an icy blue. I donated the curtains and bedspread to Goodwill and purchased some navy curtains (to block the evening sun, now that we are on DST) and a navy comforter. Much better! Then we continued through the livingroom (two shades of coffee), diningroom (a shade too pink - someday we will try again), and the kitchen (another shade of pinky-beige). I crapped out then, with the laundry room the only unfinished area (the family room has paneling).

So. What was the question? One reason I picked my house is I didn't have to do any redecorating when I moved in, but eventually everything changed. Sort of like life.

Q2. Room: What is your favorite room in your house and why?

My new fantasy room, hopefully. I am having the Florida room removed because 1) it blocks the light from entering the family room, and 2) it is in need of major upkeep, and 3) with its particle board walls and ceiling, it is hopelessly ugly. The new room will be a real room, with lots of windows looking out onto my backyard habitat and bird feeding station. There will be a viewing area, shelves for my knitting books and yarns, enough room for meditation and yoga. Ommmmm.

Q3. Work: If your employer offered you the opportunity to work from home, would you take it?

YES, YES, YES!!! Once upon a time, I was self-employed and worked out of my home and I loved it.

Q4. Houseguests: When was the last time you hosted overnight visitors in your home, and how long did they stay? Optional follow-up question: Do you enjoy hosting/entertaining overnight visitors?

We won't count my SO. He stays over about once a week, although this summer we are on an alternative schedule of Sunday afternoons. And I shouldn't count my son, although when the son is here, sometimes a friend of his may show up at the breakfast table, which is fine because we don't want anyone drinking and driving. This also motivated me to dedicate one of the spare bedrooms as a guest room.

Otherwise, the last time I had real overnight guests was a Women's Weekend that somehow wound up at my house. One of the guests paid me the best compliment ever: She felt very comfortable here. Since then, the house has been redecorated and I have new furniture (mission style) and soon I should have a new room. Maybe we should have WW here again.

But, in general, I don't have people over much because then I would feel like I had to clean. I may be worth it, but they are not.