My boyfriend originally suggested starting this blog so that I had someone else to share my food travels with since he’s not quite as adventurous as I am with food and so I could have an outlet for reviewing books that I read. See below for how I have time to read all these books.
So, here I am putting myself out to the world to share some of my favorite things, hence, eat.cook.read! See below for why “bake” isn’t on that list. I hope that you enjoy some of my posts and I promise that I’ll start to put more of my own flavor and personality as I get more comfortable!
SIDEBARS:
How did the hobby farm come by surprise you ask? Well I’ll start with the beef cows. I had a best friend with horses growing up. Parents, you know what that means. Even before my best friend Brittany came into my life in 2nd grade I loved horses, collected the “Grand Champion” series, and drooled every summer at my grandparent’s neighbor’s equine Tajmahal that they had for their show horses. But Brittany coming into my life was the ultimate flame to the horsey fire.
By the time I was 12, I had worked my parents into an agreement that went like this: “if you build the fence, we’ll get you a horse”. Now, for a normal 12/13 old that would seem unreasonable. Unluckily for them, I was a dorky and awkward preteen who wore Tasmanian Devil t-shirts and didn’t have anything else to do. I was out there with a post hole digger and post driver for the entirety of the summer…and my mom got me a big fat trail riding horse after rationalizing with my dad that technically…the horse cost the same as what he smoked in cigarettes for a about a year. Case closed; the jury went with my mom.
Some of my favorite memories as a kid are with that dumb mule and I wouldn’t have changed a thing about having Cindabelle; it was an experience of a lifetime for me (and I’m sure for my parents since they had to pick up the slack!). But when I turned 16 and had sports, two jobs, and a social life (since I stopped wearing the Taz shirts) it became apparent that Cindabelle had to go to a better home where she had a 13 year old version of me. Especially when we couldn’t catch her for weeks at a time…talk about stubborn. After Cindabelle departed us, my parents figured that since we now had two fences, water hooked up, and a good deal (through trade) on hay that they would get some cows for them and our family friends. Thus far, it’s worked out fantastically!
Now for the pigs. Since me and Brittany were in 4-H for the horses,we decided that we would try to make some easy money raising pigs and then selling them at the County Fair. To be honest, I think that Brittany’s mom talked my mom into this little project but I don’t know that for sure! So we again built the fence and then me and all of my sisters sold pig at the Fair and I’m guessing that my brother will too, but, until then…my parents keep picking up pigs each spring for our family since the water and fence were there so why not?
Where do you find time to read all of these stinkin’ books? I have a 30+ mile commute each way (which equals about 1.5 hour/day) through both of the Twin Cities (versus just one). Earlier this year I tried audio books and I won’t be going back to life before them. If you drive a lot I suggest that you give http://www.audible.com a chance ASAP.
Why isn’t “bake” on the list? Quite honestly I can’t bake to save my life. My aunt and grandma were the ones that were awesome bakers so we didn’t necessarily have to do much baking while I was growing up. But the determining factor is that while we both know how to, my mom and me have certain skill sets that bode well for cooking (ie: we add things because we think they will taste good and go on a whim with our dishes). So if you know anything about baking, you’ll quickly realize to why we’ve found ourselves not blowing away the critics with our baked goods. Baking is about chemistry and following the strict rules…neither of which I was ever good at!
I’m jealous!!…wonderful I can’t wait to read more : )
🙂 Love it!
Great bio Ann!
[…] the lovely ladies I went to college with and noticed that she does a lot of book reviews. Turns out she “reads” her books via audiobooks.com while driving to and from work each day. I have a 10 minute commute which isn’t very conducive to listening to a book and I have a nearby […]
WOW Ann Marie!!!!!!!!!!! The more I learn about you, the more amazed I become! You are such a dynamic thing….I can’t believe all that amazingness can be packed into just one person?!?!?!….but you proved it….it can! Way to go on this blog! It’s wonderful, and even though I know you well, I learned so much about you reading this!
Ms Emily you have no idea how dynamic and amazing you are too! Amazing cook, salsa dancer, superb therapist and advice giver, dermatological expert, and just overall wondreful person inside and out! You’re just too sweet! You and Jen mean so much to me and I hope you both know that!
[…] the lovely ladies I went to college with and noticed that she does a lot of book reviews. Turns out she “reads” her books via audiobooks.com while driving to and from work each day. I have a 10 minute commute which isn’t very conducive to listening to a book and I have a nearby […]