The Omnivore's 100

This is sort of cute. It comes from a UK website, with all that means. I only stuck off one item (roadkill) but I would not be a bit surprised if I have eaten it in China, Indonesia, South America, or maybe somewhere in Louisiana.

Here's the game:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten. (I also italicized the things I have not eaten for clarity)
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 (but I have eaten alligator)
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10.Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12.Pho
13. PB&Jsandwich
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
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
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, 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
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
100. Snake

Blaze resting after Christmas

Christmas Dinner

We had a very nice Christmas dinner with family and friends.

See photos here.

Following is the menu:

Christmas Dinner with Doreen and Dan.

December 25, 2008

Opening Treats:

Artisanal bleu cheese and hand made olive spread.

Bleu cheese from heirloom sheep discovered on the north island of New Zealand. Aged in caves used by the Maoris after their battles with Captain Cook.

Olives harvested from 400 year old olive trees from the Perugia region of Italy. Brined in salt from salt mines originally opened by the Roman Emperor Titus.

Dinner:

Holiday Scalloped Potatoes

Potatoes, cream, butter, cheese, and onions. Potatoes are a recovered species from the high Andes found by Hiram Bingham while searching for Machu Picchu. Dairy products are cruelty free from free range Holsteins, but only the first 10 minutes of milk is used from the milk run as that is the most flavorful part. Onions come from European “Stone Soup” kitchens specializing in onions for baking

Sister Shubert Rolls

Baked by the Monasterios de las Descalzas Reales in Madrid. Flour is hand ground on ancient stone mill wheels, powered by the barefoot nuns themselves.

Roast Goose

Free range “Lavender Sebastopol” goose from the Holderread Waterfowl Farm in Covallis Oregon. Holderread is located in the picturesque foothills of the Pacific Coast mountains in Oregon. We have enjoyed raising and studying domestic geese and ducks continuously since 1961. We specialize in purebred waterfowl that possess a unique blend of superb production and exhibition qualities. Birds bred by us are exceptional layers, fast growing and have won top honors at the largest poultry shows in North America and Europe, including Supreme Show Champions at the American Poultry Association's annual National Shows. Our breeding program encompasses more than 20 heritage goose varieties and 40 heritage duck varieties, including some of the world's rarest and most unique breeds.

Apricot Stuffing

Windblown apricots from California’s central valley flavor this delicious and almost calorie free stuffing designed to complement the natural juiciness of the roast goose.

Horseradish Beets

Beets from the famous Beets Me farm in Coeur du Lane, ID. Natural red flavenoids add to the nutritional value of these root vegetables. The horseradish is imported from Japan and is hand ground by Buddhist Monks on their yearly sabbaticals from the Temple of the Sleeping Buddha.

Red Cabbage

An old world family recipe that combines the healthy effects of both bacon drippings and cruciferous vegetables. The cabbage is hand harvested by peasants in the foothills of the Ural mountains.

Green Beans

Blanched, blistered, and browned, these green beans have been individually selected by Haricots Verts experts in the Provence region of France. Hungarian Smoked Paprika and pine nuts from Friuli finish off the flavor explosions.

Dessert:

(it’s a secret)

(wine selection will include champagne, pinot noir, and a dessert sauterne)

Happy Newton!

The Ten Days of Newton - Olivia Judson Blog - NYTimes.com

Time to Reboot America

Tom Friedman - Time to Reboot America - NYTimes.com

Kaiser vs Czar. Some things last forever

Strange Maps

Death by Natural Disaster - By County

Following is an extremely interesting map and story about death by natural disaters:

SciGuy: What's the deadliest area of the United States?

Thought for the day

"The great thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise rather than being preceded by a period of anxiety and worry."

Warren Buffett

767 to Houston

CO 47.

I don't like the 767s. The only good thing about it is the single row down the middle. No noisy neighbors!

stupid, uncomfortable foker 100

fokker 100

this is inside the fokker 100 that I am on to AMS.

plane to amsterdam

klm would not check me in to iah.

that peeves me.

in the train station

waiting for the Fkytoget train

in the Oslo National Theater statiom

Washington Insiders

Some of y’all know that I am on the board of PGS, a Norwegian Geophysical Services company. What you probably don’t know is that I have to be reappointed every year. And one of the people on the nominating committee is C. Maury Devine, who is currently living in Washington DC, and counts as my one “insider” contact in our government.

Maury is very close with Hillary Clinton, and almost certainly would have been part of her administration had Hillary won.

Maury and Roger O’Neil, our other Nominating Committee member joined us for the Board Dinner. Jens Ulltveit-Moe(our chairman) asked her to talk about the mood in Washington, and how the transition was going.

She was part of the Carter administration and said that she has never seen a better transition than Obama’s. The problem that the Obama team may have had was that they were running as outsiders, and that outsiders just don’t know how Washington works. She said that the Carter and the Clinton transitions were disasters for that reason. Nobody they brought in wanted to work with the folks that were there. (She also confirmed that the Clinton to W transition was extremely ugly. Clinton staffers really did pry the “w” keys off of the computers. She also said that President Bush is being very gracious and helpful to the transition team. He will be able to take some credit for how well this is working)

She also said that the mood is the best she has ever seen it, in spite of the financial crisis and everything else. Obama’s choices, his attitude, his approach are all going to make it better. She said that there is a palpable feeling in DC that this recession can be handled, the war can be handled, everything can be handled. Jens then said “Yes, we can” That has really become a shorthand for an attitude that change is possible. (Last week we went to see Robert Wilson speak in Houston. He used the same phrase to the same effect)

The Europeans at the table were all really happy about Obama, and about what he is doing. Everyone has been very impressed with the quality and speed of his appointments, and the amount of face time he is spending explaining all his decisions.

I asked Maury if she was going to State, and she said no, that she was going to be an advisor. She also said that watching Obama work that she believes he was the absolute right choice.

She also said that this recession will end in September of 2009.

tarmac @ AMS

waiting at the gate

Yesterday morning I flew to Dallas to meet with a client.

I got back to Houston about 5:00 pm. I then had to go to my car (leaving security, obviously) to grab my luggage and my coat, and get on a flight to here - Amsterdam.

Now I am waiting to get on a plane to Oslo.

Once in Oslo I go directly to the office and meet with the people who will decide if I should keep this position.

I hope I am awake enough to convince them to say yes.

KLM flight to Oslo

Finally! a differently colored plane.

Security here in AMS had a problem with my reading glasses and Parker Sonnet rollerball pen. sort of odd.

We are supposed to be loading directly. As you can see, the plane is here. But no people.

on the plane

a boeing 767

on the plane to Houston

Little Plane to Houston

another embrair

on the small plane

small plane to Dallas

this is an Embrair ERJ.

I cannot stand up in the plane.

An award I never knew about

The Book Design Review

Good and Bad customer service from Sirius Radio

I have Sirius satellite radio in my car. The first year was free, and then last November, they called me up and asked me to resubscribe. Following a good salesman's script, they first asked if I wanted to get a lifetime subscription - but I demurred. They then told me what it would cost to get one year, or two year's subscription. I asked for two year's (you save a bit of money) and charged it to my American Express card. I though that was that.

Until I got a notice today telling me that they were ready to charge my next year's subscription to my Amex card. What? So I called up, and asked what was going on. The first fellow I spoke with said: "Sorry. You only paid for one year. There is nothing I can do" I told him that I felt that they made a mistake, and they should give me the second year's subscription at the incremental price from a one year, to a two year subscription. He said that was impossible, but he would connect me to a supervisor. 20 minutes later, I hung up.

I called back, and told the same story again, a second time. The woman who answered said that they have no record of me asking for a two year subscription, and there was nothing she could. She put me on hold, assuring me that she would come back every two minutes to let me know what was going on. 10 minutes later, I hung up.

SO I called back a third time. Again, I explained to the guy (Paul) who answered what the problem is. He understood immediately, and said, "Let me see what I can do. I want to give you a credit for the delta between the two fees. But I need to put you on hold for a moment to get authorization". He put me on hold, and less that two minutes later he was back and had credited my account the amount between the two charges.

Bad
Bad
Good.

I give them credit for fixing my problem. I only wish it did not take three calls.