meme

From this page comes this Tuesday’s question… What are 10 things I hate doing? In no particular order…

1. Cutting my toenails
2. Cutting the grass
3. Growing older
4. Having to do something that I know will hurt someone — for example, starting a difficult conversation
5. Getting dental work done
6. Singing in public
7. Getting an injection at the doctor’s office
8. Bringing the garbage can BACK (I don’t mind taking it OUT, I just don’t like bringing it back (I don’t know why that is))
9. I tend to dislike (hate is far too strong a word) doing things that I don’t feel confident about (see #6 for an example) especially if I’ve tried to learn how to do it and simply cannot for whatever reason (see #3 for a possible reason), though I am always willing to learn new things (and even fail along the way)
10. Failing.

From this page comes this Tuesday’s question… What are my 10 favorite albums? As you will soon see, I was unable to select just 10 favorite albums. Each of the albums below are in the category of “nearly perfect album” in my mind. These recordings stand together as a cohesive whole, and while each album is comprised of amazing ‘parts’, are more than the sum of their parts.

In no particular order…

1. So or Passion — Peter Gabriel
2. Deep Blue or Rapture – Peter Mulvey
3. Fallen — Evanescence
4. Films for Radio or Drunkard’s Prayer — Over the Rhine
5. Shaking Off Gravity or One Thru Fourteen — Vance Gilbert
6. Throwing Copper — Live
7. The Seeds of Love or Songs from the Big Chair — Tears for Fears
8. Crowded House or Woodface — Crowded House
9. Strange Fire or Rites of Passage — Indigo Girls
10. Oracle or Torched — Michael Hedges

Ah, if only I were younger! I’m not sure if the spirit of this meme is to ask “what would I do if I could roll back the clock?” or if it is addressing things I no longer feel I can do since I’m older… Interestingly, this exercise became more the former than the latter for me…

1. Race sports cars
2. Be a chef in a professional kitchen
3. Begin & finish a few more degrees
4. Start SCUBA diving a lot earlier
5. Chuck it all and move somewhere — total change of scenery
6. Travel, travel, and travel! See the whole damned world!
7. Learn to manage my money earlier
8. Spend more time with my grandparents, all of whom are gone now
9. I would have jumped out of that plane!
10. Be more courageous

This is a difficult meme since as a foodie, I tend to like almost everything, and I wouldn’t say that I hate any of these (dislike is a better word), but here goes in no particular order:

1. Green peppers (especially raw)
2. Red peppers (especially raw)
3. Celery (especially raw)
4. Okra
5. Natto (well, I’ve only had it once and would probably try it again)
6. Raw tomato slices, especially if they’re not ripe
7. Pickle relish
8. Salmon roe — it’s a texture thing, though I like other roe
9. Vegetables *when they are overcooked*, especially green beans and asparagus
10. Pepperoni

PHEW!

Number of books I own: Wendy estimates that we own over 400 books, appoximately 1/2 of which are cookbooks or kitchen related.
Last book bought: THE SEASONING OF A CHEF
Last book read: Just finished HEAT by Bill Buford
Five books that mean a lot to me: CULINARY ARTISTRY by Andrew Dorenberg and Karen Page, KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL by Anthony Bourdain, THE LORD OF THE RINGS series by J.R.R. Tolkein, HOW TO COOK EVERYTHING by Mark Bittman, and LITTLE, BIG by John Crowley.

From The Unlimited Mood, by way of Virtualzen…

Five Items in My Freezer
* Herbed Goat Cheese Polenta Cakes — I made it as an experiment some time ago
* Vidallia Onion burgers just waiting to be cooked
* An old, squarshed genoise cake — it’s probably no good anymore…
* Stouffer’s French Bread Pizzas
* Chicken frames for stock

Five Items in My Closet
* A plastic hamper
* Shoeboxes
* A big blue terrycloth robe — very comfortable!
* Several chef coats
* Frequently, a cat. Often, a blind cat

Five Items in My Car
* CDs — Over the Rhine, Rocky Horror, and The Verve Pipe at the moment
* Pen & paper (does that count as one item?)
* FM transmitter — I listen to audiobooks on my PDA through this
* Mobile phone charger
* Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pie

Five Items in My Wallet
* Business cards
* 2 free passes to the movies
* A fortune from a fortune cookie: “A man [sic] best possession is a sympathetic wife.; Lucky # 4 8 15 16 23 42″
* 4 phone calling cards (all expired by now, I would imagine)
* “Player’s club” cards from 3 casinos in 2 states