Things To Do Before I Go

Go dog sledding | Safari in Africa | Scuba dive | See the salmon run in Alaska | Ride a camel in the desert | Pyramids at sunset | Tango in a milonga | Cross the Canadian border | See Cuba | Have a croissant at a French cafe | Try escargot | Take a road trip across the U.S. | Have an exceptional time in Greece | Whiskey at a pub in Ireland | Linguica in Portugal | Open a Swiss bank account in Switzerland | Stay in the ice hotel | Visit that church made entirely of bones | Make butterscotch from scratch | Go on a multi-day biking trip | Fund and finish my art project/store | Gather a few dozen people to blow bubbles from the Golden Gate Bridge | Attend the San Francisco Black and White Ball | Grow vegetables | Learn to roll in a kayak | Write a novel | Be conversational in seven languages. | Set foot on all seven continents | Set foot in all fifty states | Help someone get into or through college | Stand atop the Great Wall of China | Stand inside the Taj Mahal | Host a party when the fruit trees bloom | Go clamming again | Do two pull ups | Go berry picking and make pies | Meet Ms. Winfrey | Have a dog again | Take tap dancing lessons | Ride through the Panama Canal | Make my own perfume | Redesign Mighty Girl | Take Hank camping | Make a peaceful living space for our family | Institute chocolate and champagne Tuesdays | Tithe | Do a "10 Things You Don't Know About Women" feature for Esquire | Attend TED | Give $100 to a violin-playing busker | Wear a large hat at the Kentucky Derby | Taste 1,000 Fruits: Almond Shells, Golden Delicious Apple, Granny Smith Apple, Kiwi, Macintosh Apple, Pippin Apple, Red Delicious Apple, Rome Apple, Apricot, Hass Avocado, Bananas, Coconut, Blackberries, Blueberries, Cactus Pear, Cantaloupe, Cranberries, Feijoa, Figs, Cape Gooseberries, Thompson Seedless Grapes, Ruby Red Grapefruit, Honeydew, Kumquat, Lemon, Lychee, Meyer Lemon, Lime, Key Lime, Longan Berries, Loquat, Mandarinquat, Fremont Mandarin, Kishu Mandarin, Mango, Mangosteen, Manzanas de Agua, Horned Melon, Nectarine, Blood Orange, Mandarin Orange, Navel Orange, California Orange, Florida Orange, Papaya, Passionfruit, Peach, Asian Pear, Bosc Pear, Red Pear, Yellow Pear, Plantain, Pluot, Fuyu Persimmons, Persimmons, Pineapple, Pomegranate, Black Plum, Sour Plum, Tangerine, Rambutan, Golden Raspberries, Raspberries, Starfruit, English Strawberries, Strawberries, Sweet Galia Melon, Tamarind, Beefsteak Tomato, Cherry Tomato, Heirloom Tomato, Plum Tomato, Seedless Watermelon, Watermelon | Sparklers with Hank and Bryan | Get in the habit of grand loving gestures: - 40 Gifts for Bryan's 40th | Live in a house with a window seat | Parasail | Have a portrait done of myself in the style of a portrait of my grandmother | Swim with bioluminescent plankton in Puerto Rico | Attend Loy Krathong, the sky lantern festival in Thailand | Ring a church bell | Attend services at Glide Memorial | Take photos of the little girls twirling outside the Nutcracker | Organize a retreat | Rewire a lamp | Use my work to improve lives | Form a workplace with people I love | Repay the woman who let me live with her in college | Participate in a giant food fight | Know San Francisco like the back of my hand | Pretend we've had a power outage | Go a day without speaking | Plant a tiny orchard | Write another book | Watch Hank eat his first ice cream cone | Write thank you notes to my teachers | Own land | Throw a block party | Remove money as a concern | Write a million dollar check to a charity | Help decorate Hank's bike for a neighborhood parade | Take a two-week vacation without computers | Get my health issues in hand: Allergist visit, oral surgery, acupuncture for hives and carpal tunnel, vitamins, more exercise | Zip line through a canopy | Lemonade on the front porch swing, warm summer night | Finish up or give up all the unfinished projects in the house | Play imaginary games with the kiddo | Buy a stock on my own | Make a quilt of Hank's jammies | Make 1,000 lovely things: 1. Pink Sweater 2. A Cake for Michelle 3. Fishy Costume 4. Jellyfish Costume 5. Wax Paper Snowflakes| Have a big wedding anniversary party | Dinner at the French Laundry | Finish the baby book | Christen a boat | Read or attempt every book on the book list I started in high school | Remove toxins from our food and environment | Attend La Tomatina in Spain (August) | Plant bulbs in a public space | Have a family portrait taken | See a glacier in Antarctica | Live in another country for a year | Do one of Miranda July's projects

Feb 2 2010

Taste 1,000 Fruits: No. 71-73

allthree

Winter citrus! These are Mandarinquats, tiny Kishu Mandarins, and a Fremont Mandarin.

kishumandarin

Kishu Mandarins are so wee that the segments are about half the size of a quarter.

kishupeeled

They’re very sweet, with barely enough tang to feel like you’re actually eating citrus.

fremontmandarin

Fremont Mandarins tasted similar to the Kishus, but larger, with a brighter peel that would make lovely zest. Also, they have seeds.

mandarinquat

I was most excited about the Mandarinquats, which are a Mandarin-Kumquat hybrid. They’re supposed to be similar to kumquats, which have a super sweet peel and tart fruit. Kumquats are about the size of grapes, so you just pop them in your mouth whole, and I love them.

mquatpeeled

I do not love Mandarinquats. They’re pretty, but the peel is nowhere near as sweet as a kumquat, which means you’re just eating an orange peel. But! If you’re a bartender who wants to make a kumquat drink, these would be less time consuming to juice I guess. Also pretty in floral arrangements?

Meh. Mandarinquat, you are no friend of mine.

Jan 25 2010

Bon Appétit and Me

Jan 22 2010

Momversation: Mighty Lists