So 300 posts.  Really?  300?  How did that happen?  Didn’t I just start this blog yesterday?  Numbers, as they say, don’t lie and my count says 300.  Wow.  I thought I would give you some Top Ten Lists in celebration.

Top Ten Things You Probably Don’t Know About Me

1. I play guitar and sing.  Well, I don’t much anymore but I started guitar lessons in 7th grade and took them all the way through high school.  I sang in coffee houses all through college and at some open mic’s in my 20’s.  Now I sing “The Wheels on the Bus” ad nauseum.  I also write my own songs for the boys such as the “Hippo Song” and “I’ve Got Two Little Boys and They’re Eating Some Dinner”.  Genius stuff.

2. My boys’ names are Graham and Spencer.  There is a very cool (and very expensive) clothing line also named Graham and Spencer, which I didn’t know about until after we had decided to name the youngest Spencer.  It is the last names of the two designers.  I am always tempted to buy something of theirs so I can go around town showing people my label.

3. I am very very afraid of spiders.  All bugs really.  Can deal with snakes but not bugs.

4. I kind of hung out with – I wouldn’t say dated – the drummer from Alice in Chains for a summer.  He had a cervil (which is an African cat – like a small leopard) roaming around his house.  True story.

5. My dream is to attend the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) in Napa for pastry.

6. As a child, I was told that I would grow to be 5’9″.  I stopped at 5’3″.  Sometimes I pine for those 6 inches.  My own mother is four inches taller than me and both my brothers are over 6 feet.  My boys are tall for their ages so it looks like the short gene skips a generation.

7. I used to be a huge Bruce Springsteen fan.  My senior year of high school, I camped out on 3rd Avenue in downtown Seattle (with my parents’ consent) to get tickets for his concert.  In spite of almost being at the front of the line, we had lousy seats.  I wrote a letter to his fan magazine (Backstreets) and it got published.  And that is the only bit of my writing that has ever been published.

8. I don’t like tropical fruit.  Wait.  Is pineapple considered a tropical fruit?  If so, I don’t like tropical fruit except for pineapple.

9. I used to work in radio and I went to concerts for free for two years.  I got to go backstage often and met a lot of cool people.  Lenny Kravitz, Melissa Etheridge, kd lang, Jackson Browne, Hootie and the Blowfish, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Dave Matthews (yes, he is my neighbor – well, close enough), Tori Amos, Chris Cornell, the Spin Doctors (yes, this was the mid-90’s), Shawn Colvin, etc.

My favorite experience was meeting Jackson Browne.  My dad has been a huge fan since the early 70’s and we listened to a lot of his music all throughout my childhood.  I was friendly with his record label rep and asked if he could get us good seats and backstage passes.  This very nice guy delivered and we enjoyed a terrific show.  Afterward we went into the holding room where the “meet and greet” was going to happen and waited.  The label rep found us and brought us back to Jackson Browne’s dressing room where we got some one on one time with him.  My dad was like a kid in a candy store (not a description I would ever use for my dad) and asked him all sorts of questions.  Jackson Browne was really lovely and indulged him.  I had a lot of fun and was so proud that I could do something special for my dad who has done so many special things for me.

10. I met my husband online.  We used a site called kiss.com which was eventually bought by match.com.  I didn’t want to put up a picture but I didn’t want guys to think I was a dog either, so my tagline was “People Tell Me I Look Like Teri Hatcher” which at that time, pre-Desperate Housewives, they did.  Of the 50 responses I got, 48 of them told me how much they loved Teri Hatcher.  My husband was one of the other two.  About one hour into our first date (that eventually lasted ten hours), I asked him if he thought I looked like Teri Hatcher.  He said, “I don’t know who that is.”  He responded to me because he liked what I wrote about myself.  That may have been the moment I knew I was going to marry him.

Top Ten Cookbooks I Would Bring to a Desert Island
(I’m not saying my favorite books because some of my favorites fall into that category because of good looks.  If I were going to be stranded, I would like some variety – and some dessert – so that is how I chose these books.)

1. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone – Deborah Madison
2. Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison’s Kitchen
3.  All of Jeanne Lemlin’s books
4. Fields of Greens – Annie Sommerville
5. The Martha Stewart Living books, Volume 1 and 2
6. From the Earth to the Table – John Ash
7. The Provence Cookbook – Patricia Wells
8. Real Vegetarian Thai – Nancie McDermott
9. Tartine – Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson
10. The Perfect Scoop – David Lebovitz

Ten Food Bloggers (+2 More) I Want to Have a Potluck With and Their Assignments

1. Stacey from Stacey Snacks – Appetizer of her choice – no meat please!
2. Sarah from In Praise of Leftovers – Galette or Pizza of her choice
3. Sara from Sprouted Kitchen – Peanut Sauce Bento Bowls for everyone and her boyfriend as a photographer
4. Joy from Joy the Baker – Dessert and possibly breakfast for the next morning
5. Lisa from Lisa is Cooking – Main Course – something interesting and spicy
6. Tracy from Shutterbean – Some kind of salad and her adorable boy to play with my boys
7. Tara from Seven Spoons – That chickpea dish and her sweet gentle soul
8. Vivianne from Food and Style – That mac and cheese and she has to let me speak French with her
9. Allison from Local Lemons – Her Limoncello, once it is done
10. Cheryl from 5 Second Rule – Toasted Cumin Hummus and her wit
11. Giao from Kiss My Spatula – Her perfect bread with homemade goat cheese
12. Tim from Lottie and Doof – Two words – French Fries

I could have invited about 20 more people – so many lovely blogs out there.  Thanks to everyone for reading!  I really appreciate your support.