Sardines, anyone?

No, no, no. It's not just a game you play. Sardines are real. They have scales! They have spines! They are packed into a can as tightly as can be. They do STINK!!! And they were eaten to pass off this part of my list.


A good to-do-list-passer-offer knows to ALWAYS to her research before ingesting anything. I am a good to-do-list-passer-offer! I read online how to eat them. I watched a youtube video about a guy who eats his with olive oil, kosher salt (make sure it's kosher!) and garlic powder. I read testimonials on people who LOVE to eat sardines (great source of omega fatty acids!) It was all very informative.

So we opened the can and the smell started percolating through our apartment. My roommates started gagging. Man! I started gagging!! But no, it had begun- it must be completed.


The above picture is the second attempt to eat it. After chomping down and swallowing, I realized

"HEY! THIS JUST TASTES LIKE FISH!!!!"

Can you believe it?!?! That's all it tasted like!! I even had a second cracker! I think the part that made me gag the most was that the spine fell out of the fish when I was first putting it in the bowl. LIKE, THE WHOLE STRING OF VERTEBRAE JUST FELL OUT OF THE FISH! I wanted to vomit. So I took a picture so all of you could enjoy the sight too! :)

Then we promptly threw the rest away in the outside dumpster, put on some "holiday essence" potpourri on the stove, cleaned our whole apartment, and it was ALL better!

BEWARE THE STORM!!!Football. Mmmmmmm! My favorite thing to eat, breathe, sweat, smell, look at, watch-- everything!! I JUST LOVE FOOTBALL!!!!!! That is the game with the 3 inch orange and black spotted ball, right? Anyway, the game yesterday was actually enjoyable! Hard to believe, right? BUT SEE!!!! We went into overtime because we were TIED in the last 30 seconds!!!! UTAH kicked a FIELD GOAL which brought them up to 23 POINTS!!! OH NO!!! WHAT NOW BYU!?!?!?! I know you are all DYING to see what happens next!!! Well, BYU SCORED A TOUCHDOWN!! THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED NEXT!!!! WHAT NOW UTAH?!?!?!
BAH HA HA HA!!!

So then of course the natural course of events would be to storm the field, right?

RIGHT!

And we didn't even get arrested!! WAH HOO!!! There were giant hulking masses (football players) EVERYWHERE!!! I couldn't believe that they were REAL!! I mean, I only ever see them when they are tiny little men running around in tight clothes on a green field... So being up close-- THEY WERE HUGE!!!!

And I touched one on the shoulder....

And he didn't even know it....

Now that I've officially established myself as a creeper, just know-- it wasn't TOO creeperish. Ok, maybe it was...

But it was the chance of a lifetime!!! WOAH!!! I mean, really? YOU'RE HUGE!!! Do I regret being a creeper for that brief little moment? Nope.

COU-GAR TAIL! COU-GAR TAIL! COU-GAR TAIL!

(Note: no cougars were harmed in the making of this blog)

Every game. EV-VER-Y game we see one of these things being munched on and we're like totally:

"DUDE! What IS that amazing culinary concoction?!?!?!"

Your answer: (cue dramatic orchestral music) A COUGAR TAIL!!!! Courtesy of your local cougar tail outlet! Aren't those cougars the nicest little guys!

Well, ktln and I decided that this was the game-- the game of a lifetime! We were going to buy a COUGAR TAIL!!! A TWO FOOT LONG MAPLE BAR!!!! Having worked as a "donut designer", I don't really ever feel the need to eat a donut ever again- ever-, but this was just too awesome of an opportunity to pass up! So we got it, and we ate it, and we became diebetics (that's LIVEbeties to you!!) But it was OH SO GOOD! (Even after I sat on ktln's portion...)

"Say, that reminds me of another amusing anecdote..."

There I was in Family Finance, being all studious and everything- taking good, legible notes on everything related to my FAVORITE topic (AKA municipal bonds) when all of a sudden:

Dr. I: "Blah, blah, blah, IS THAT A STAR TREK SHIRT?!?!"
Me (after slinking down really far in my chair): "Yep"
Dr. I: "THAT'S SO AWESOME! WOW!-- rant rant rant--"
Me: "I actually ordered it from a cereal box"
Dr. I: "WOW! THAT MAKES IT EVEN COOLER!!!"

All the while my face is flaming red and my hands are shaking as the ENTIRE class of 100+ students turns in their seats to gaze upon the awesomeness that is my mail-order Star Trek shirt.

"Aw yeah, everybody was pretty jealous of me after that- I was gettin' a lot of attitude!"

-- 15 minutes go by--

Dr. I: "So the year to market value is equivalent WHAT CEREAL BOX DID YOU ORDER THAT FROM?!?!"
Me: "It was from Kelloggs products back in the summertime"
Dr. I: "Wow. Cool shirt. I want one!"

--10 minutes go by--

I raise my hand to answer the question posed-- NOTE: I NEVER do that--

Me: "Blah blah blah (that is the answer to the question- I'm all about technical terms...)
Dr. I: "Correct. Thank you Number One"

"Anyway, I know it's kinda been a roundabout way of saying it, but I guess the whole point I'm tryin' to make here is-- I HATE SAUERKRAUT!"

LIVE LONG AND PROSPER!!!!

So there you are... just eating your something from a box of Kellogg's food product and what do your eyes behold?? An unturndownable offer for a free movie, stuffed animal, collectible racecar replica, or... A STAR TREK T-SHIRT!!!! Don't deny it! You know that you've ALWAYS wanted to order a product from the back of the cereal box. The problem was that you had to clip out 5 of those proof of purchases, send in the shipping and handling, and wait SIX TO EIGHT WEEKS to get the product that is subject only to availability!!! So your mom always said no. But can that stop you when when you are an ADULT?!?! NOPE!!!! WOOT WOOT!!!!


The above is a rather scary picture of yours truly RIPPING THAT PLASTIC BAG APART to get the long awaited T-shirt!

The thing is, I coulda sent in 5 box proof of purchases and gotten it free, but I just thought "There is NO way that I'm going to buy 5 boxes of CHEESE-ITS! That's like, a million dollars!" So I sent in the $9.99, I watched as it was taken out of my bank account... but alas, after 6-8 weeks, no Star Trek Tee!

As you can probably tell, I did end up recieving it after contacting the company. After all that, really the hardest part of this whole process was deciding what color to get!!!! There was the gold, the blue, and the red. I'm DEFINITELY not a Star Trek watcher-- and pretty much only sent in for this one because I happened to be looking at the back of a Cheese-its box and knowing it was something to do before I die... But the rationale for getting the red one was that I do NOT look good in gold (captain's tee), I have too many blue shirts (scientist tee) and not enough red ones (other people tees...) I found out later that every episode someone wearing a red shirt dies... So that put a little bit of a damper on things... BUT HEY! IT'S CROSSED OFF THE LIST!!!!!

ps-- the pearls were a nice touch, eh?

I'm gunna MARSH YOUR MALLOW!!!

Wazouski and ktln are measuring the proper ingredients for the... (dum dum duuuuummmmm!)

HOMEMADE MARSHMALLOWS!!!!

And yes-- the following picture is a true picture-- by us-- of our marshmallows--

Ok... so that mat be a little bit of a fabrication...

And by a little bit... I mean a lot a bit....

And by a lot a bit... I mean BABIES!!!

Photo courtesy of the boyscouting website: www.e-scoutcraft.com-- just for your FYI...

Ours looked like the following picture... errrrr... see any resemblance?

So we figure that since ours never set up, that we would experiment!! The beginning recipe is as follows:

1 1/3 c. light Karo Syrup
2/3 c. cold water
1 c. sugar
2 pkgs Knox Unflavored Gelatin

Put Karo syrup in a large bow. In a small pan stir together water, sugar and gelatin. Warm slowly until boiling. Pour into syrup bowl and beat until stiff peaks form. 15 minutes
Pour into a well buttered 13x9 pan. Cut into shapes and roll in powdered sugar, nuts or coconut. You may add food coloring to the marshmallow mix if desired.


We beat and beat and beat and beat and beat and NO STIFF PEAKS EVER FORMED!!!!!!! So yeah. Ms. Clavell and I decided that maybe the gelatin didn't set up well because we didn't boil it long enough. So we decided to try again-- but completely change everything!

So instead we did:
1 giant package of strawberry jello-- and top it off with regular sugar so there was 1 cup
1 1/3 cup karo syrup
2/3 c. water
1 package unflavored gelatin

Do all of the instructions like before, but boil the sugar/water/jello mixture for about 5 minutes. Then mix in a Bosch for 15-20 minutes-- till sharpish peaks form-- it will set up a little bit more than you think it will.

That's Ms. Clavell mixing the Jello/sugar/water mixture-- all boiling-- all goodness :) Note the excited glint in her eye!

The amazing Strawberry Marshmallow mixture being poured!! FANTASTIC!!!!!!

So. Ever since forever I have wanted to make my own marshmallows-- like, who ever makes their own marshmallows?!?! SO AWESOME!
We pretty, kind of failed a little bit, but it sure was fun! And they (even though they were super soft) are the PERFECT hot cocoa marshmallow! Melt to perfection!

yummm...yummm...yummmm....

Except, now I think I need to brush my teeth for 10 minutes to get rid of all the fur that grew from tasting all of the sugar all night long :)

Jump! Jump! Jump! The house is Jumpin'!

I've never been to a concert before, so before I die, I have to go to one. This little city concert was just to whet the appetite- and might I say, it was SO fun! I have this thing where I have to meet someone famous before I die, also, and this was the closest I've come thus far.

The band is named Truman- they are extremely talented! In fact, I'm listening to them right this second as I am writing this!!
You can't tell from the picture, but Chad Truman (the one on the far right) is touching my shoulder! EEP! So I also did something else on my "to-do" list-- bought an autographed CD!!!!

To recap-- all in one night I:

1. Went to a concert
2. Talked to someone "famous" (and he touched my shoulder!)
3. Bought an autographed CD

Needless to say, by the time we left, my legs were J-ELLO! from all of the famousness :)

I WENT TO ITALY!!!

(Well... Kind of...)

See all of the people in the authentic Italian background? That's right. Pure authentic!

Ok, so it might have just gone to an authentic restaurant called "Terra Mia". IT WAS FANTASTIC! It was like the Cafe Rio of Italy. I guess they import the flour, the pizza oven and the Chef directly from Italy. The pizza is incredibly flavorful and is done is about 8 minutes- SO AMAZING! I can't say it enough! We had the pesto and bolognese- fabulous. The Pesto was a tiny bit better just because the flavors were so amazing and different! I recommend it to anyone. So thing crossed off: Terra Mia (the amazing). Orem, UT-

but don't take my word for it...