I don't usually do memes, but a foodie meme I could not resist.

Here is how it works:

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 (And I think of the Chuck Pahlaniuk story from Haunted every time.)
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 (I made Brian try this and he nearly threw up.)
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 (I've even had them raw.)
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/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (I hope covered in chocolate counts)
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 (My aunt and uncle in Winston-Salem used to get us warm Krispy Kremes for breakfast)
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV (my favorites are the Great Lakes Nosferatu and Flying Dog Gonzo Porter)
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
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill (FYI, this wasn't like trashy roadkill...It was like hitting a pheasant with the car on accident and then taking it home to cook it. I just read a similar story in Saveur magazine so it is OK.)
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
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

So, apparently the only thing I won't try is the Big Mac Meal. I'm actually excited to visit Scotland for the sole purpose of trying Haggis.

Thank You Thom York and Radiohead! (And the person who videotaped this performance and put it on YouTube)



First of all, the concert was, well there just aren't words to describe it. I had high expectations and they were exceeded within the first five minutes of the show. I have a feeling that someday my kids will be jealous that I got to see Radiohead in concert. (Kind of like how I'm jealous that my dad saw Queen.)

But the most exciting part of the week is that even though I had had these tickets and been planning to be back in Ohio on this date for months and months and months, I somehow managed to get THREE job interviews in the one week that I was there. This is very important to someone who will potentially be unemployed in two weeks. (But hey, at least the Sarah Vowell and Michael Pollan lectures I will be going to are free.)

I just read this article about Nintendo giving Wiis to libraries. Pretty cool.

I know I'm probably not the first person to point this out, and I probably won't be the last...but I notice a lack of outrage from Americans and specifically the American Government concerning the situation in Burma. I mean, if we were willing to tear apart Iraq for the sake of bringing democracy to the Middle East, perhaps we should have that same enthusiasm for a country whose dissidents are risking their lives to protest their lack of democracy. Oh wait, why do we not care about Burma? That's right, there's no oil there. Oh, and in interferring with Burma we might piss off China. And we don't want to make the country that provides us with cheap, but poisonous goods angry. Especially since they own a large portion of our debt.
So the official American stance on Democracy is that we only fight for democracy when it benefits us.

A few weekends ago while exploring the Western suburbs of Cleveland I found a vintage 1963 McCall's cookbook in perfect condition at a thrift store. Within this cookbook is my new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. What makes it better than other recipes? I'm guessing that it is the lack of vegetable shortening and use of only butter. So, for those who might be craving a batch cookies circa 1963, here is the recipe.

1 cup plus 2T flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 C. sugar
1/4 C. light brown sugar (firmly packed)
1 egg
1t. vanilla extract
1/2c. butter (softened)
1/2 package chocolate chips (6 oz.)

1.Preheat oven to 375, and sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.

2.Add sugars, egg, vanila, and butter. With wooden spoon(or electric mixer) beat until smooth and well combined.

3.Drop by teaspoonfuls, 2 in. apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets.

4.bake 10-12 minutes, or until golden. Remove to wire rack; cool.

I accidentally DVRed the White House Press conference this morning, so I decided to watch it. This is an actual quote from President Bush concerning the trade deficit in China.

"One area I've been disappinted in is beef. They need
to be eatin' US beef.(pause) It's good for
them.(pause) They'll like it. "

Yes, the president of the United States is speaking about China as if it were a three year old who won't eat its vegetables. And yes, The man some consider to be the leader of the free world cannot speak in complex sentences. And yes, he considers part of the solution to the trade defecit with China to be US beef. (I'm pretty sure that sending beef all the way to fucking China is not in keeping with the benefits of local, sustainable agriculture.)

This was not the only thing that outraged me today. (Anybody who knows me, knows that it is never just ONE thing anymore.)

After listening to the President threaten a reporter who dared to question the President's Iraq policy,("The terrorist want to kill your children." Or something like that.) I found out that the Dems in congress caved on the Iraq war funding bill and essentially gave Bush another blank check. And then I found out that we are exercising naval might outside of Iran in what seems to be preparation for the next catastrophic policy decision by Bush.

America, Where the FUCK is your outrage. Every day I read the news and get angrier and angrier. I want to fight, I want to do something, I want the rest of the world to know that most of America doesn't like what's happening. That we don't agree with Bush's policy of Unilateralism. But I am greeted with silence. Yes, there are a few loud voices out there, but they are the same voices that we've been hearing since the war started. We need more voices. We need people to step away from American Idol and Lost and realize that their constitutional rights are being chipped away at as we speak. We need people to rally together, to tell the government that what is happening here at home (Health care crisis, Impossible costs of higher education, Gas prices, and Unemployment) are all more important than pursuing unnecessesary military operations at the cost of American taxpayers.

America, Get Angry!!!! And channel that anger into writing letters to your senators and representatives. Into organizing rallys and protests. Into doing something, anything to stop an administration that has clearly overstepped its boundaries.

In Praise of my Liberal Arts Degree

MARTHA GRAHAM
Originally uploaded by HoldThatTiger.

After a B.A. in English with a minor in Film and an M.L.I.S. (Master of Library and Information Science) I still have trouble finding a job. I'm looking, and I have faith that I will eventually find one, but I recognize that I live in a society that no longer seems to value culture and education, so finding a job that allows me to utilize skills in these areas will be understandably hard to come by. I think that some Liberal Arts majors get discouraged and maybe even regret not follwing an education path that would be more economically viable...not me.

I was at the library today looking at the CDs. I suddenly decided that I was in the mood for some classical music, and decided on Aaron Copeland. I went home put in Appalachian Spring and upon reading the liner notes realized that it was originally written as a ballet featuring Martha Graham. It then occured to me that the only reason I know the name Martha Graham is because of a Comparative Arts class I took in college. This same class also introduced me to the work of Frida Kahlo and Brancusi. Throughout my undergraduate career I was able to take English, Film, and Art History classes that allowed me to be introduced to artists, writers, auteurs, and composers that I otherwise would not know. To me, this is the essence of education.

An investigation into the american education system shows that it is broken. Teacher after teacher will tell you how the "No Child Left Behind" act doesn't work. As the price of colleges skyrocket in the United States there is a growing division between those who can afford the education that they want and those who have to settle for the educational experience that will make them the money needed to pay off the massive student debt. I'm not sorry that I chose to get a liberal arts degree. What I'm sorry about is that we live in society where art and culture are seen as luxeries not necessities.