I'll Toast To That

Life is too short.

Break the rules, forgive quickly,

Kiss slowly, love truly,

Laugh uncontrollably,

And never regret anything

That made you smile.

Life may not be the party

We hoped for,

But while we're here, we should dance.

Not Quite Hum But A Little Bugged

So today we head into the last week before yet again another Christmas. Another year of waiting until the last minute to go shopping, and buying meaningless gifts for people you may or may not care about or even want to buy for really. I am not sure what a candle from Yankee candle really says? "The last time I was at your house it was stinky?" Despite that I will still buy gifts for everyone so they can just regard it as stuff, and pile it with their other stuff, and set it on its way to being on a table at their next yard sale. I usually exercise the common courtesy of requesting for the receipt of my gift before I open it up. Is that wrong? What if someone really did put in the time and research what I wanted? Unless I end up with four more hours in the day for sleep, then they didn't do efficient research.


So do I hate Christmas? No

I find that mostly I am not upset with Christmas or dislike it as a holiday; on the contrary I actually love the movies and the music. What disturbs me is the person who is always bragging about how many gifts they have to buy. This is the same person who feels the need to rattle off each item they have bought and who the gift is for. Please repeat this next line out loud and make sure you listen with your ears. "I don't care!" I know that may be difficult for some but believe me if you say it enough it will come to you. Now some will say that they buy the gifts so they can express their love for another person in their life. Well that may be true but I would prefer you just tell me you love me rather than say it with a twenty dollar gift card to Best Buy.

So where does this lead me? Most people upon reading this would say that I am anti-Christmas. I guess to a certain extent I am. I just see things differently. I see Christmas as a time to reflect on years past and relive memories with the ones you love the most. A time to reconcile past differences and come together even if for one day and stand shoulder to shoulder in spirit of Christmas. I guarantee you are not going to find that in an electronics store or at a toy store. You will find it in your heart. Listen to it, and maybe you can discover that love and togetherness is gift that is free but it’s the richest gift you can give.

Knowing My Don't Knows

So another week in Cooking 1 and I must say the nervousness is somewhat subsiding and I am finally learning my way around. Today I was the designated Sous Chef, which is not as glamorous as one may think, mind you. Actually you have to make sure all cleaning is done at the end of the class. You guessed it, if it is not done, you must finish the task. Now don't get me wrong, I am not complaining at all, as matter of fact I like the additional responsibility. This class is about stepping up to the plate and making sure you do your best. And all yeah, not screwing up, which I fully expect to happen to me, but as for now I am good.


This week we actually got to produce some salads and make some dressings. Somewhat real food....hooray! The first task of the day was to make mayonnaise. Sounds pretty simple right? I mean how hard it could be to make some mayo. Well the first attempt of getting my mayo to emulsify was not too successful. Not sure why, but it just wasn't, and I had to start over. Humbling for sure but I wasn't the only one luckily. This brought to mind a quote that my Dad used to say to me,

"You don't know what you don't know until you try."

This is very important, I think, to my success in this class and going forward. I shouldn't assume that I know what I don't know until I try. Just because it sounds easy like mayonnaise I should first humble myself then proceed to follow each step as if I have never seen or heard of them at all. I guess when you finally understand what you don't know you can start learning correctly.

I hope that didn't bore you too much. Although I must say I am learning more about myself right now than I am cooking. No offense Chef Ropp, you are a true Iron Chef, and I am sure you will teach me a ton about the Culinary Arts. But right now it’s more about me discovering and learning about me.

So until next time....

"May foods make you full, but may love fill you up."

Red Beans And Rice Didn't Miss Him

Cold weather upsets me.... it encourages me to eat more and exercise less.  Which is good short-term but not for my waistline.  With this said I must confess that since last August when I participated in the Livestrong Challenge in Philadelphia I have completely let myself become an even bigger fat ass.  This is nothing new to me, I have been in this place before and lost the weight and been happy.  The problem is that I never seem to remember what I did in the past to drop the weight.  Then I normally just sit down with some nuetella and pretzels and try to remember.  Again not very productive...one may say this is counterproductive.  So where does this leave me?

I have to jump start my booty and get in gear.

 Which means a number of things:

1.  Go to the gym -  No matter how cold or how nasty I currently look like in gym shorts.

2.  Eat Better -  And no this doesn't just mean no more super sizing at McDonald's.

3.  Be Positive - Ummm I will get back to you on that one.

4.  Learn Yoga - Yeah that's right, yoga.... I feel sorry for the person behind me in class when I am in downward dog.

5.  Eat more things that are green - yeah okay and organic , geesh you hippies are killing me.

6.  Set Goals - First goal, be able to brush teeth without my belly jiggling.

7.  Just do it - Just not like Tiger Woods.

So there you go my full proof plan.... yeah I know go ahead make your own over/under bets.  I would put 20 on two weeks.