Complete: 35. go to 10+ new Provorem restaurants

We finished #35 in style with the wonderful assistance of Colette and Julie. Thanks, ladies!

Lunch was doner kebab at Rimmel's, dinner was all the snacks at Fruta Crush, and dessert was at The Wash. Naturally, I 'grammed it all.

I'll rank the 10 restaurants below:
1. Oh Mai
2. Asa Ramen
3. Rimmel's
4. Fruta Crush
5. Jugueria Rodriguez
6. Brasa's
7. Asahi
8. The Wash
9. Pizza Studio (doesn't actually exist anymore...it was replaced by #1 Oh Mai)
10. Lucy's Brazilian Kitchen

Oh man, Oh Mai and Asa Ramen are amazing. SO glad they exist and so close by! Rimmel's was a delightful find, as well. Fruta Crush has caught my eye for a while, so I'm glad we've finally gone. They just serve Mexican snacks. My favorites were the tostiesquite, which is Mexican style corn over chips, and the spicy apple - an apple coated in tamarind candy, salt, and chili powder. Super yum. Though I was the only one of the four of us who really liked it. More for me!

Anyway, so glad I've done this goal, because I love eating out, and I love trying new places. Provorem really has a great food scene.

Busy December

Christmas prep has got me under the pump, and on top of everything I'm still baking. It's times like these that I question my commitment to these Very Silly Goals.

2 potpourri bakes down, 2 to go!

Raspberry clafoutis

Humble Beef Wellington (complete with soggy bottom - Paul and Mary would be so ashamed)

Wish me luck!

Wrapping up the bakes!

I baked melon pan on Saturday, which is something I've always wanted to do.

 Melon pan is a Japanese bun wrapped in cookie dough. One of them exploded, haha.

I'm really glad for my year of baking as it's pushed me to make so many new things and so many thing I've been wanting to make anyway!

It's the last month and I've declared it potpourri month to catch all (well, 4 of) the things that didn't fit into categories or things I still want to bake. I've got to finalize things quickly, but here are my ideas:

• Japanese-style Christmas cake
• Chinese steamed buns (I've done savory, but never sweet)
• Butter mochi
• Japanese-style cheesecake
• Chilean bread
• Sourdough (never did sourdough!)
• Beef Wellington (the poor man's version with ground beef)
• Savory kolaches/filled buns 
• A modern art dessert
• Clafouti
• A galette (informal pie)
• No knead bread
• A decent whole wheat loaf

I could include the international recipes in item #69, so maybe that will help me decide. Hm! We'll see!

Short-term goals

As of today, I have 400 days left on my list!

400 days and 79 items left. Yikes. I think I'll take some of Christmas break to re-evaluate and decide if I'm changing anything. I'll probably be changing some things.

I'm really glad that I challenge myself with these things, but it's also a little discouraging because I feel like there's not much I could just go out and get done in a day. So many of my goals take time and have multiple steps. Maybe I should make it a little easier on myself.

Let's review. Here are the things I could theoretically get done in a day:

• #12: Ride the Heber Valley Railroad (if it wasn't frigid)
• #15: Culling of the cookbooks (this would be a pretty large task for one day, though)
• #16: Finish a grown-up coloring book (if I colored all day)
• #18: Make bottle cap magnets (I just need to get clear resin)
• #23: Host a Rummikub tournament (just gotta organize)
• #34: Pierogi making party (ditto)
• #35: Go to 10+ Provorem restaurants (I only have 3 left so I could do a full day of eating out. Actually this is a great idea. I'm going to do this. Why have I not thought of this before???)
• #53: Get a massage (Colette, you just need to hook me up with your friend. Let's do this already.)
• #67: Build a fancy cake for someone (but that one day would need to be a special occasion. Or not?)
• #73: Create a map of my heart (though I'm sure this could easily take longer - I'm so bad at deciding things)
• #85: Go to the Penguin Encounter at the Living Planet Aquarium (it just has to be the right day - Wednesday)
• #86: Collect 10+ smashed pennies, clean, and organize my collection (all that's left is cleaning and organizing - totally doable in a one day project)
• #90: Attend a Utah Old Time Fiddlers Association meeting (again it has to be the right day, but it could be done)
• #100: Host a miracle berry party (just gotta get them berries!)

Okay, so what I got out of this is I need to eat three meals out in one day. I think that was worth it. Happy blogging!

Health Challenge?

So Katelyn and I have started a health challenge???
 
I'm still kind of wondering what the heck I'm doing, but I also know it will be really good for me.

Things that will affect my list:

• 7000 steps a day - that's about 3 miles. I'll hit Mordor much sooner than anticipated!
• 25 grams or less of sugar per day - good thing my year of bakes is almost over!

We're also committing to 30 minutes of moderate exercise for 5 days a week, drinking lots of water, eating vegetarian one night a week, trying a new exercise monthly (me), and trying a new recipe monthly (Katelyn).

This week I baked pao de queijo and make Moqueca Baiano - a Brazilian fish stew.

We also saw the Women's Balcony at International Cinema and I loved it.

Still working on lots of things, so hopefully I'll have some completed goals to write about soon! Happy Thanksgiving!

Busy week!

Lots of cooking!
1 new panna cotta (pumpkin)
1 Cooking with Dog recipe (iri dofu)
1 Good Eats recipe (edamame dip)
1 year of baking bake (focaccia)

Lots of reading!
King John
Richard II

And I'm vlogging again???

Rauros!

Nooooo! I logged in today and saw this sitting as a draft. I promise I pushed publish last Wednesday. Oh well:

Apologies to all four of you for not blogging last week as I've been in the clutches of a most evil cold.

I am much better and I bear good news of my quest to destroy the ring of power. Our time in Orlando yielded much distance (47 miles in one week), and we have reached Rauros Falls. Unfortunately, the fellowship has dissolved and we continue on foot to Mordor, just Frodo, Sam, and myself. (Third wheel much?)

Please don't tell Sauron about my blog.