Come to the Table

Meme of 4's

Jenny of the lovely blog de Arte Coquinaria tagged me recently for the Meme of 4's.  Here are my lists of personal trivia and introspection!

Four jobs you've had in your life (all in the past!)

1. Running my own housecleaning business when I was in high school.  One of the many "did I sign up for this?" moments was when one family had me wash their two collies as part of my duties.  The dogs didn't particularly like to get water on themselves, but they sure liked getting it on me!
2. Interpreting for Japanese track and field athletes at the Goodwill Games in Seattle.
3. Being a Public Affairs Associate for a forest products company in the Pacific Northwest. 
4. Working at a software company in Tokushima, Japan and having my desk moved to a different location in the office EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Four movies you could watch over and over:

1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
2. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
3. The Wizard of Oz
4. The Matrix (the first one only!)

Four places you've lived:

1. Eugene, Oregon
2. St. Paul, Minnesota
3. Riverside, California
4. Kyoto, Japan

Four TV shows you love to watch:

1. Lost
2. The West Wing
3. Alias
4. Barefoot Contessa

Four places you've been on vacation:

1. Aruba
2. Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan
3. Phoenix, Arizona
4. Ogunquit, Maine

The Blecch Factor

Let me do you a favor.  When you're cooking with a recipe that calls for fresh cilantro and you go to the store and all they have is cilantro in a tube, just forget it.  Skip the cilantro.

I was looking for cilantro to make Nigella Lawson's Sake Steak and Rice, but all the store had was mounds of parsley.  I saw this cilantro in the produce section where the real cilantro was supposed to be, and I decided to try it.  Bad idea.

It does taste pretty much like the herb I needed, but the texture was what made me say "blecch."