http://foodproof.com/blogs/view/post/100-things-you-should-eat-before-246/
A friend had this on Facebook, and I was interested to see how many I had already eaten. See below in bold (I will update as I eat new things):
100. Venison
99. Nettle tea
98. Huevos Rancheros
97. Steak tartare
96. Crocodile
95. Black pudding
94. Cheese fondue
93. Carp
92. Borsht
91. Baba ghanoush
90. Calamari
89. Pho
88. Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich
87. Aloo gobi
86. Hot dog from a street cart
85. Epoisses
84. Black truffle
83. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
82. Steamed pork buns
81. Pistachio ice cream
80. Heirloom tomatoes
79. Fresh wild berries
78. Foie gras
77. Rice and beans
76. Brawn, or head cheese
75. Raw Scotch Bonnet Pepper
74. Dulce de leche
73. Oysters
72. Baklava
71. Bagna cauda
70. Wasabi peas
69. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
68. Salted lassi
67. Sauerkraut
66. Root beer float
65. Cognac with a fat cigar
64. Clotted cream tea
63. Vodka jelly/jell-o shot
62. Gumbo
61. Oxtail
60. Curried goat
59. Whole insects
58. Phaal
57. Goat’s milk
56. Single malt whisky
55. Fugu
54. Chicken tikka masala
53. Eel
52. Krispy Kreme Glazed Doughnut
51. Sea urchin
50. Prickly pear
49. Umeboshi
48. Abalone
47. Paneer
46. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
45. Speatzle
44. Dirty gin martini
43. Beer above 8% ABV
42. Poutine
41. Carob chips
40. S’mores
39. Sweetbreads
38. Kaolin
37. Currywurst
36. Durian
35. Frog’s legs
34. Beignets, churros, elephant’s ears, or funnel cake
33. Haggis
32. Fried Plantain
31. Chitterlings or andouillette
30. Gazpacho
29. Caviar and blini
28. Louche absinthe
27. Gjetost, or brunost
26. Roadkill
25. Baijiu
24. Hostess Fruit Pie
23. Snail/Escargot
22. Lapsang souchong
21. Bellini
20. Tom yum
19. Eggs Benedict
18. Pocky
17. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
16. Kobe beef
15. Hare
14. Goulash
13. Flowers
12. Horse
11. Criollo
10. Spam
9. Soft shell crab
8. Rose harissa
7. Catfish
6. Mole poblano
5. Bagel and lox
4. Lobster thermidor
3. Polenta
2. Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee
1. Snake
Heartless
By Anne Elisabeth Stengl
Another New Fiction shelves find at the library; luckily, this one was worth the find. This book plugs itself as ‘timeless fantasy’ which is true. It’s a classic prince must rescue the princess from the dragon theme, but with a few unique twists. The princess is mortal, the prince is not, the dragon is not what you expect, and there are a whole slew of other suitors and misscommunications to cause complications. It’s a light but very enjoyable read, and I look forward to more Tales of Goldstone Wood as promised by the end-leaf in the book.
I give it 3/5 stars.
Current reads I’m working on (expect reviews eventually):
The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan: currently on book 9, Winter’s Heart
The Noble Dead seres by Barb and JC Hendee: currently on book 3, Sister of the Dead
The Melusine novels by Sarah Monette: currently on book 4, Corambis
The Song and the Sorceress by Kim Vandervort
The Summer Country
By James A. Hetley
This was yet another random pick from the New Fiction section at the library. Generally I love a good modern-day crosses paths with Irish Fae-lands story, but in this case I did not. The main female character was an idiot, all the other characters were flat and unconvincing, and the ‘love’ story had no depth or believability. And while I don’t need my fantasy to be clean and prim, not by a longshot, this was unnecessarily brutal in parts, in ways that didn’t serve the story. I kept reading because I hoped the book would eventually redeem itself… but it didn’t.
I give it 1/5 stars.
War of the Roses
The Serpent & The Rose; The Golden Rose; The Last Paladin
By Kathleen Bryan
I enjoyed this series quite a bit. It’s got some of your usual fantasy trappings (beautiful noble lady falls in love with common man, knights and magicians and devious villains), but also some pleasant surprises. The world is obviously based on a fantastical Europe (where Britain = Prydain, Ireland = Eriu, etc.), but did not try to stay too close to reality or history or even known folklore. The story takes place in the equivalent of France, but aside from similarities in linguistics it’s not a France we’d recognize, and does not play on any of the classic European legends (with one notable exception in Prydain’s Myrddin, but even that Bryan gives a new twist). The structure of magic (and the different schools therein) was refreshing, and for once the author didn’t feel the need to overexplain the mechanics of it; the mages themselves don’t always know how their magic works (particularly in the cases of main characters Averil and Gereint), so the reader doesn’t know either. That sounds like it could be annoying, but was actually an enjoyable bit of mystery.
Without giving away too much of the plot of the book, I’ll say that the main struggle the characters face (aside from their forbidden love) is that in order to save the world from the doom that threatens, they have to get an entire nation to put aside ages-old traditions and ways of thinking – themselves included. The people of Lys (particularly the mages) are so set into one way of thinking, one way the world must be, that they don’t even acknowledge that other ways (and threats) are possible. And so great tragedy strikes in the first book, revealing the villain and overhanging evil, and setting the main characters on their path. Averil and Gereint spend much of the series trying to persuade everyone and themselves that in order to save their world, it has to change; people have to change. I’m simplifying for the sake of brevity, but it’s an interesting choice for the main plot/motif of a series, and I found in this instance that it was particularly engaging and believable.
I give it 4/5 stars.
I just figured out how to fix a major plot point issue I was having in my screenplay. Huzzah!
Happy holidays from the Dragon Lady and her Dragon Pup!
I haven’t posted in awhile, because the holiday season was crazy busy, but I will get back to normal book reviews and random ramblings soon.