Top 11 of 2011
11. Top Blog Series: “Round Up”
Okay, so I really only had two series to choose from, but I had more fun writing disjoined round up posts than “What I Ate Wednesday” posts. No offense, WIAW lovers 😛
10. Top Success Story: Thanksgiving
Who knew I was a roll making pro? Answer: Not me.
9. Top Restaurant Experience: Tie between Root Down & Biker Jim’s Gourmet Hot Dogs
You can’t make me choose.
8. Top “A-Ha Moment” Post: Why I Do Drink
That picture is in no way associated with that post, but that margarita deserved some blog attention.
7. Top Project: 12 Days of Cookies Challenge
As fun as the apartment painting project was, I think baking cookies was much more fun. And fattening. Just kidding. Baking and photographing cookies goes down as my favorite cathartic activity.
6. Top Holiday Celebration: Tie between the 4th of July and Thanksgiving
Both were equally sun/family/food/laughter-filled, that it would be unfair to name one better than the other.
And really, every holiday this year from Opening Day to my birthday was just fantastic. Yes, Opening Day is a holiday and therefore, it gets capitalized.
5. Top Sappy Moment: Seeing Joey finish his first marathon
4. Top Race: Bolder Boulder
3. Top Vacation: New Orleans
French Quarter with my family and beignets at 1 AM? Say no more, that trip wins.
2. Top Original Recipe: Chocolate Chip Peppermint Pancakes
1. Top Proudest Moment: Graduating college
Boo-ya!
That might also go down as top most hungover day, but that’s besides the point.
P.S. I think what we learned from this post is that I really like margaritas.
Here’s to 2012 and all it has to offer!
*******************************************
What are you doing New Year’s, New Year’s Eve? Sing it, it’s more fun.
What was one of your top moments of 2011?
Have any big plans for 2012?
Why I Don’t Do Resolutions
I’m a list-maker down to my very core.
In fact, my girlfriends and I used to have a “Book of Lists,” where we had a list of qualities a dateable male had to have and a list of things we would have when we “grew up.” That’s normal, right?
I wonder where that book is now. Anyways, point is, I like making lists, so this may come as a shock to you, but I don’t do resolutions anymore.
“A giant list of things you want to change about yourself or your lifestyle? What do you mean you don’t do that? It’s like a list lover’s dream!”
No, it’s not because I think I’m perfect. It’s because I don’t get the whole, wait till the first of the year to start being a better person.
If you want to drink more water, drink more water today.
If you want to start exercising regularly, do it now.
If you want to stop looking at your phone while driving, do it this minute. But then remember to read the rest of this post later.
The way I see it, putting things off till the new year is just a way of avoiding something you don’t really want to do. And if you don’t really want to do it, how do you expect to stick to it come January 1st?
So instead of making a giant overwhelming list of things I have to do, I try to be proactive on a daily basis.
Today, I put my phone away when I got in the car, went to yoga instead of saying “I should go to yoga” and tonight I’m going to bed early. No need to wait two more days to do any of those things.
*********************************
Do you do New Year’s resolutions?
If you do, do you find it works for you?
Look How Far We’ve Come
Two years ago, I decided I would cook a 3-course dinner for Joey and I’s anniversary.
We cooked about once a week — yes, making Kraft mac and cheese and frozen chicken nuggets was totally cooking — so I figured I could pull it off.
I picked 3 Cooking Light recipes from their site. Wait, let me elaborate. I picked 3 Cooking Light recipes that I’d never tried before from their site. And one of them was a soufflé. Even now, I’m not really sure what a soufflé is, so why I thought I could make one when I had barely any cooking experience is beyond me. Let’s not add in the fact that I didn’t have oven-safe dishes to bake said soufflé in.
If memory serves correctly, this is how it all went down.
Course One: Zucchini Fries
Soggy, bland, nearly inedible and highly disappointing.
Course Two: Homemade Pizza
Okay, so I thought topping our own pizzas would be really fun. Little did I know someone was going to spend 20 minutes decorating their pie. Showoff. Did I mention I was hungry and losing all patience?
But really, the lengthy decorating time was nothing compared to how long it took the actual pizza to cook. Nowadays, I pre-bake my crust, then add the toppings and put it back in the oven. Two years ago, I didn’t have that all figured out. The toppings burned, but the crust was still extremely doughy.
Course Three: Chocolate Soufflé
It never rose. Or whatever a soufflé is supposed to do when you bake it.
I spent 10 minutes in tears on the phone with my mom. Our special night had become a giant kitchen disaster, with not even one successful dish. And I was still hungry (read: extra dramatic).
I ate raw pizza for dinner and felt like crud the rest of the night.
Flash forward to last Friday. I decided I would cook Joey and I a big ol’ Christmas feast. It would be like our very own Christmas celebration, complete with dinner, dessert, presents and a Christmas movie. No pressure.
But guess what. There wasn’t any pressure. I picked 5 dishes I know how to make, gave myself lots of time and ate a snack. That last part was key.
So instead of spending the night on the phone in tears, I spent it eating a heaping plate of delicious food and laughing at Scrooged like it was the first time I’d heard all the jokes and not like I have the entire movie memorized 😛
Then I gave Joey some chapstick for Christmas and he gave me a diamond bracelet.
I guess he’s still a show off 🙂
Lauren Loves Good Food 