My new goal

One of my favorite bloggers, Nilsa, has just signed up to run a half-marathon. Oh, no biggie...she's done marathons and 5Ks and such before - she's a runner (take that, Nilsa!). However, I was inspired by her committment and have decided to make one of my own.

I will also begin training. Even though I don't have the benefit of months to prepare, I am going to start on a strict regimen. I will stop eating chocolate frosted donuts. I have a visit with my midwife on Thursday and I have a suspicious feeling that she is going to schedule my gestational diabetes screening. I don't want to have gestational diabetes, so I'm going to wean myself from chocolate frosteds. I have been indulging in chocolate frosteds about once a week (but 3 at a time!) for the last month or so. The buck stops here. Well, after I eat the 2 that I picked up this morning on my way in to work...

Thanks, Nilsa for being my inspiration. I will continue to look to you for motivation. If you can run in Chicago, in January, outside - then I can bypass WesternCo donuts on Saturday morning.

One of the best things about going home

Is that your grandma will "throw a little something together" for you to eat if you give her advanced notice.

My grandma and I are working on a geneology project that unintentionally gets put on the backburner everytime I go home. I always have too many other things to do and no time to stop and sift through papers and records.

Well, this time, I made it a priority. I went straight from the airport to grandma's house where there was a lovely supper of the following waiting for me:
fried chicken
mashed potatoes and gravy
greens
cornbread
lasagna
and my very own personal butterroll

MMMMMMMMM!

This picture is for those of you who haven't been to grandma's lately. (And kudos to me for not overloading my plate!)

Omnivore's Hundred

The weather outside is crappy, I'm bored to drowsiness by this grant application. Thank God for the World Wide Web.

Y'all know how much I love email quizzes! I got this gem from cilantro & lime .

Instructions:

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) If you've put it on your blog, or emailed it to friends, shoot me an email of your list or post a comment here linking to your results.

I had to look some of this stuff up (thanks Wikipedia!)

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 (o how I luv 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. Frois gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters (not my cup of tea)
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (another new fav)
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float J
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (but that's a good idea...)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail (mom, remind me to take you for oxtails when you come. meat falls right off the bone!)
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (tried once, but never again)
43. Phaal
44. Goat's milk (Langston...)
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala (thank you, Anup, for bringing this into my life)
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 (disgusting!!!)
63. Kaolin (according to Google, this is clay. not down for that)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs' legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (all 3, many times)
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
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
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 (if rabbit is included, yes...if not, no thank you)
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 with lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Another goodie box

I received a goodie box from my second swap partner, kate, from thecleanplateclub.

I received some marvelously delicious (like eat directly off your finger out of the jar) black raspberry preserves, a chocolate nougat bar and some dark chocolate chunks that I can't wait to sprinkly on something decadent, and some locally made granola (which I will debut on my upcoming camping trip).

Many thanks to kate for putting together a great assortment of guilty pleasures!

For other Taste Like Home Food Swap news, visit Megan's site.

For All You Foodies Out There

I just signed up for a "food swap" with Megan and April. It's a pretty cool idea. You are matched with a fellow foodie in another part of the country (or international, if you like) to swap some home-grown goodies. I'm excited and seriously hoping that someone from Lousiana gets my name. LOL! I signed up for 2 swaps - one with Oklahoma food, and one with Washington State food. Should be pretty cool. I'd love to do swap internationally, but am not willing to pay the exta postage - that's 2 or 3 yoga classes!

Anyhoo, if you're interested, here's the blurb from Megan's website:

If you would like to join us in a local area goodies exchange, send your name, mailing address, e-mail address, and blog name and blog URL to either april at aprilsattic@comcast.net or to me at cookinmeg@gmail.com. Also let us know if you'll send internationally. We will match up partners and have a round up of the participating blogs. We ask that you post about the goodies you receive and include links back to both April and myself. Sign-ups end June 27th.

So, what do you say?

Want to share your *Taste Like Home* with someone?

Here's the link to the Taste Like Home blog.

I think I'll pick up something terrific at Pike Place Market.

I'll keep you updated with what I'm sending.