The Omnivore’s Hundred
Current mood: adored
Category: Food and Restaurants

A challenge from a friend.....

Here's a chance for a little interactivity for all the bloggers out there. Below is a list of 100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food - but a good omnivore should really try it all. Don't worry if you haven't, mind you; neither have I, though I'll be sure to work on it. Don't worry if you don't recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers.

Here's what I want you to do:

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 (probably won't try this)
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/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (probably won't try this, either)
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
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
71. gazpacho

72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill (not crazy about this idea)
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 (absolutely not)
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

Currently listening : Broken By Nine Inch Nails Release date: 1992-09-22

3:56 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Mel Brooks - Last Supper - History of the world Part 1
Current mood: giggly
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2skwoHvw-3w

2:26 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Fun, funky, fabulous jewelry!
Current mood: artistic
Category: Fashion, Style, Shopping

OK, I am not one of those people who wears a ton of jewelry. The stuff I'm attracted to tends to be of the funky, artsy, different, fun variety.

So, when my friend started making these super-cool pendants, from SCRABBLE TILES (how funky is that?) I was excited. This stuff is right up my alley.  Number one, they're reclaimed Scrabble tiles, so you get to feel all virtuous and "green". Number two, the designs are quirky and fun, which I love. And, she even makes custom designs (meaning I get to wear my favorite b&w pic of my daughter around my neck) which just puts her store completely over the top, in my opinion.

So, I like her stuff so much, I wanted to share. You should go check it out. They're super-affordable, too. Another plus. (And they're Buy Two--Get One Free! right now.) She also sells the ribbons and cords to hang them on.

Her Etsy shop is here:  http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5757075

And her MySpace:   http://www.myspace.com/designsbyappletree 

And if you ask her really nicely, she'll even make you one with JOHNNY DEPP on it. Not that I'd know that. Ahem. ;-)

11:40 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Happy Bastille Day!
Current mood: chipper

(That title is for you, Timothy. You're the only person I've ever met who knew July 14 was Bastille Day without having to look it up. And I am glad that I "don't get on your nerves that much." And don't scowl at me for calling you Timothy. I could have called you that other name you hate.)

*Turning on the light and blowing the cobwebs from in front of my face*

I have no idea why it's been so long since I've blogged. I have no excuse, other than that it's summer, and I've been gorging myself on vampire fiction and reveling in the fact that I have nothing academic to read. Seriously. I'm on my 6th vampire novel. It's becoming a problem.

Oh, it's also National Nude Day, in case you were wondering. I'm blogging au naturel, to celebrate. Which is awkward, since I'm at work.

I want to go to Amsterdam. And Crete. Oh, and Capri, while I'm making a list. In fact, let's just assume that I want to go to the entire International Travel Section at Barnes & Noble. I was there yesterday, in fact, looking at travel books wistfully and lamenting the fact that the Euro I planted in the back yard does not seem to have taken root yet. My friend told me that would work. Grumble.

Currently listening : Blood Stained Love Story By Saliva Release date: 2007-01-23

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Perplexed
Current mood: inquisitive

What IS a wonderwall, anyway? And, why would I need one?

11:59 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Lie to me.....
Current mood: awake
Category: Games

So, the way I understand this:

I tell you six (6) things about myself.

One of those things is a lie.

You guess the lie.  :-)

1.  I have interviewed Emmitt Smith, formerly of the Dallas Cowboys.

2.  I was a paid extra in a movie.

3.  I presented an hour-long seminar on Russian literature.

4.  I can play the oboe.

5.  I once did the two-step on the television show Club Dance at the Whitehorse Cafe.

6. I have broken a board with my fist.

5:20 AM - 3 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Show me how you do that trick...
Current mood: pirate

Friday is the reason I wake up every morning. The thought of an entire weekend stretching out before me, full of promise....nothing like it.

Tonight I’m going to a gallery reception for the Senior Exhibition at my university. Gonna see some cool art, and then go home and have some vino and chill.

My presentation went very well last weekend. I kicked scholarly butt. :-)  Celebrated by getting some new ink, which you can see in My Photos if you are so inclined.

What I really want, is a vacation. A nice, lengthy one.  Preferably with beverages containing tiny umbrellas brought to me by flirty pool boys. And sun. I’m longing for some sun.

10:05 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Academia
Current mood: contemplative
Category: Life

This Saturday I will be presenting my first academic paper at a symposium held by the Center for Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance Studies at the University.

I’m excited, and hopefully just the right amount of nervous. I’m going to be talking about ancient Greek and Roman art and architecture. I’m exploring the culture of competition, and conflict, and how it affected everything visual during the ancient world.

Research is going to become more and more a close friend of mine now that I’m about a year away from starting my thesis. I have two pretty large research projects due by the end of April...one about Franciscan and Dominican art, and the other about images of the Annunciation in Renaissance Rome.  I know I’m strange (you probably hadn’t noticed) but I’m rarely happier than when I’m in a library, up to my eyebrows in art research. It’s invigorating, but at the same time, it gives me a sense of peace I rarely feel in other settings.

If you think about it, send some positive energy my way around 10:30 a.m. central time Saturday.

Currently listening : Italia By Chris Botti Release date: 25 September, 2007

10:12 AM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Mirror, Mirror
Current mood: contemplative

There is a mirror on campus that is magical. No matter what time of day I look in it, no matter how I'm feeling, or how much sleep I've had....I always look beautiful in that mirror.

Now, I don't know if it's a trick of the lighting, or the positioning of the mirror, or what. But my face always has a glow, my hair always looks perfect, my cheeks rosy.

I only wish I could carry that mirror around with me every day. The image in that mirror is my true image....my inner self.

10:33 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

This is a new blog!
Current mood: sassy
Category: Writing and Poetry

"Why don't you ever update your blog?"  "You haven't written in a while." OK, OK! :D

First of all, grad school has been pretty crazy this semester. What little spare time I have is being spent reading about the Italian Renaissance. Hard life, huh? ;)

Seriously, tho, this week alone I had approximately 225 pages of reading assigned. And I did it all. Unfortunately, that leaves little time for things like blog updates, hygiene, and sleep.

I will say, this semester has made me even more sure that I'll probably choose the Italian Renaissance to focus on when I start thinking about my thesis. I absolutely love these classes. They don't even feel like work to me (most days).

So, aside from grad school, I'm spending most of my time learning to play the harp, making shrunken heads from polymer clay, growing heirloom tomatoes, milling my own wheat, learning phrenology, and putting the finishing touches on my time machine.

There. You're all nice and updated.

Currently listening : Vampire Weekend By Vampire Weekend Release date: 29 January, 2008

10:12 AM - 4 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment