The American Omnivore's Hundred

From Slashfood.

1. New York pizza
2. Hoppin' John - can make a veg version.
   
3. New Mexico green chile - more difficult, but maybe could make a veg version.
   
4. Homemade buttermilk biscuits
5. Tasso
6. Whole Maine lobster
7. Calabash-style shrimp and hushpuppies
8. Kansas City barbecue ribs
9. Hot glazed Krispy Kreme
10. San Diego fish tacos
11. Cheese curds
12. Key lime pie
13. Philly cheese steak
14. Memphis pork barbecue sandwich
15. Lowcountry boil
16. Huckleberry pie
17. New England clam chowder
18. Boiled peanuts
19. Buffalo burger
20. Eggs Benedict
21. Pastrami on rye
22. Corned beef and cabbage
23. Pancakes with maple syrup
24. Everything bagel with cream cheese and tomato
25. Thin Mints (preferably frozen)
26. Frito pie
27. Potato knish with mustard
28. Silver Queen corn on the cob
29. Soft pretzel from a street cart
30. Fresh-picked blueberries
31. Sourwood honey
32. State fair funnel cake
33. Chesapeake crab cakes
34. Candied yams
35. Oyster dressing
36. Snow cone or snowball
37. Wild Alaskan salmon
38. Sautéed morels
39. Persimmon pudding
40. General Tso's Chicken
41. Frozen custard
42. Italian sausage with peppers and onions on a hoagie bun
43. Chili dog
44. Buffalo wings with blue cheese
45. Spam musubi
46. Saltwater taffy
47. Fluffernutter sandwich on Wonder Bread
48. Black and white cookie
49. Frybread
50. BLT with thick-cut applewood bacon
51. Baked beans
52. Pumpkin pie
53. Collards with vinegar and Tabasco
54. Tex-Mex fajitas with skirt steak and sautéed peppers
55. Fried green tomatoes
56. Succotash
57. Shrimp and grits
58. Hot water cornbread
59. Barbecue chicken pizza with red onions
60. Chicken fried steak
61. Carnitas burrito
62. Apple butter - I make a great apple butter, actually. Can't wait for apple festival at Greenbluff!
    
63. Geoduck - Surprised I never had it as a kid, growing up in geoduck central.
    
64. Soft-serve ice cream cone dipped in chocolate shell (especially Dairy Queen)
65. Pecan pie
66. Catfish supper at a church or fire station
67. Oysters Rockefeller
68. Homemade cranberry sauce
69. Pimiento cheese
70. MoonPie washed down with R.C. Cola
71. Pickled watermelon rind
72. Cracker Jacks at the ball game - Never actually while at a ball game. Must remedy.
    
73. Smithfield ham
74. Meatloaf and mashed potato blue plate special at diner
75. Chicken and waffles
76. Po'Boy
77. Green bean casserole with French's fried onions
78. Stuffed sopaipillas
79. Turducken
80. Shad roe on toast
81. Sweet potato casserole with or without marshmallows
82. Cioppino
83. New York cheesecake
84. Pan-fried river trout
85. Jambalaya
86. North Carolina pig pickin'
87. California rolls
88. Burgoo
89. Penuche fudge
90. Fried peanut butter and banana sandwich (the Elvis)
91. Scrapple or livermush
92. Elk medallions in red wine reduction
93. Muscadine grapes
94. Cheeseburger at backyard barbecue
95. Open-face turkey sandwich
96. Chicago deep dish pizza
97. Cobb salad
98. Peach pie a la mode
99. Macaroni and cheese with Tillamook sharp cheddar
100. Root beer float

Sweet.

Changing the template fixed it. Rock on.

Quoi??

If anyone could explain to me why the title and description of the blog are appearing on the side as well as on the top no matter what I try in Blogger to remove them from the side, that'd be great. OK? Thanks.

And because I suddenly feel like Bill Lumbergh, I'm gonna need you to go ahead and come in on Sunday, too.

Mists of Avalon

In the interim between the bar and real life (read: searching high and low for a job), I'm also trying to read as many books as possible. Now, ordinarily I'd have a higher count (I'm at five finished since July 31), but naturally I had to pick a fricking long book. The Mists of Avalon runs to a densely-packed 876 pages, so it took a little time to get through. And some nights where I didn't bother to sleep so much.

I liked it quite a bit, really. It's interesting to see a different viewpoint of the Arthurian legend, and I liked how Christianity is told as just one expression of the "Goddess" as worshiped by the priestesses of Avalon. And I also appreciated the arguments made that Christianity is not evil in and of itself, but that the priests can, and often do, warp it to their own selfish, prejudiced and sometimes shortsighted ends.

But more than any of that, what I came away with was this: Gwenhwyfar is a fucking bitch. Seriously. Allow me to quote a conversation between her and Arthur:

"You must remember, my lady," said Arthur, "that I come of the royal line of Avalon. I am king, not only as Uther Pendragon's son, but because I am son of Igraine, who was daughter to the old Lady of the Lake. Gwenhwyfar, from time out of mind, the Lady ruled the land, and the king was no more than consort in time of war. Even in the days of Rome, the legions dealt with what they came to call client queens, who ruled the Tribes, and some of them were mighty warriors. Have you heard never of the Queen Boadicea? -she who, when her daughters were raped by the men of the legions, and the queen herself flogged as a rebel against Rome, raised an army and nearly drove all the Romans from these shores."
Gwenhwyfar said bitterly, "I hope they killed her."

Wow. Just, wow. She's a right charmer, huh? In most Arthurian tales, I actually find Guinevere fairly sympathetic, but in this book, she's such a fanatical Christian (the book calls her "pious"), not to mention such an unbelievably selfish and bitter woman, the exact antithesis of feminism, believing wholeheartedly that women are intrinsically evil and sinners, that I really don't understand why Lancelet and Arthur even tolerate her, let alone love her. It gets tiresome.

All in all though, it's a worthwhile book to read. I'm glad I did, even if it did run a little long for my taste. Now I'm reading, among other things, The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova, and Anonymous Lawyer, by Jeremy Blachman. The latter is damn funny, about a hiring partner at a big corporate firm, who enjoys torturing associates. It's also a slender 272 pages. I'll be done by the end of the day. One day turnaround on library books is a good thing!

Meme

From Sara.

The Omnivore's Hundred is a list of foods the gastronome Andrew Wheeler thinks everyone should try at least once in their lives.

The rules of the meme: bold those you have tried, strike through those you wouldn't eat on a bet.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Bread pudding
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 (I'd try it, but without the anchovies.)
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float (I would love one right now, in fact.)
36. Cognac
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal (way too spicy...)
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala (Paneer tikka masala, yes...)
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 (as in kaolin CLAY?? I guess I'd eat it... in very small doses.)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain (yum... tajadas)
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 (I would have a vegetarian version though.)
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 (I'm all about the Honduran coffee, but would try.)
100. Snake