I've been tagged!

Jody over at Where's My Damn Answer tagged me to list 6 random things about myself. So, here ya go!

1. I hate plain raw tomatoes. I hate them with every ounce of my soul. I hate when people tell me I can pick them off things. Yeah, you can pick them off but there is still residual tomato left. Here comes the weird part, I love salsa, pico de gallo, any kind of tomato based sauce, I will eat them in Nasi Goreng, but I will not eat plain raw. Seriously, just nasty.

2. Cheeseburgers are my most favorite food on the face of the planet. When I travel internationally I have to try the local cheeseburger. I'm not talking about McDonalds or fast food but a real cheeseburger at a real restaurant. The best cheeseburger outside of the U.S is at Poppies in Bali, Indonesia. It almost like a meatloaf patty. Jody and I had a couple of these with many Bintang! The worst cheeseburger outside of the U.S. was in Paris, France at some hamburger joint. It was horrible. You would think the French could cook anything, um, NO! The cucumbers on top were all wilty and I remember thinking "Why, couldn't they just make a pickle?"

3. I prefer to drive other peoples cars. It doesn't matter if they are nicer than my car or not. I get a thrill out it.

4. When I was a baby I didn't start to walk until I was 2 1/2. My parents took me to the doctor because they thought something was wrong with me. The doctor asked if they carried me every where. They said yes. The doctor told them to stop carrying me and I would start to walk. I started walking within 4 days of the appointment.

5. My dad died 3 weeks before my 4th birthday. Not that him dying is weird it is what happened afterward. When I was 4 years old I was almost kidnapped. My mom had taken my sister to her Girl's Scout meeting and I was staying with a babysitter. A man came to the door and said he was there to pick up the baby for Mrs. Marks. She thought this was really odd and told him no. He pushed his way into the house and tried to grab me. A neighbor heard what was going on and called the police. The suspect said he had read my dad's obituary and figured since he worked for Shell Oil we were rich. He figured he could get a lot of money for ransom. The other weird thing that happened to me after my dad died is that NO ONE can sing Happy Birthday to me. NO ONE! Every since my 4th birthday (yes, my mom still had my birthday. She was trying to keep things as normal as possible) it will bring me to tears. I guess when my family tried to sing at my 4th bday I kept yelling "we have to wait for daddy!!". Jody and Sean have always known this. Jody has stopped people from singing to me more times than I can count (wait, I'm not that old!). Thanks Maggs!

6. I collect perfume from a company called Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. I am addicted to their perfume. It is the most amazing perfume ever! It is pure perfume oil. No alcohol or additives. Every time they have a new update I must buy a few bottles or imps. I have been collecting from them for about 4 1/2 years. My two favorite blends are called Selkie - The chill waters of the Orkney coast, tea-leaved willow, honey-touched Grass-of-Parnassus, sea aster, and Scottish Primrose. I have 4 bottles of it. I am hoarding it because it is longer offered by the company can only be found on auction sites. Anactoria - Golden amber, white honey, red currant, daemonorops, kush, and Arabian musk. It is heavenly! Check out their website. You will spend hours looking at all the descriptions.

This has rules, too:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag a few people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Dale of mole, Elra of Elra's Cooking, Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies, Anne-Marie of A Mama's Rant

My Kitchen, My World - Indonesia

I was honored to be chosen to host this week over at My Kitchen, My World. The country I chose is Indonesia. I have been to Indonesia a couple of times. Once with my best friend Jody and the other with Sean on our honeymoon. Indonesia is made up of over 17,000 island so it saddens me I have seen so little of the county.

Jody and I went in 2000 to Bali. The day after we arrived we thought it would be great if we rented a Jeep and toured the island on our own. That day is one of the best days of my life. I don't think Jody and I will ever laugh that hard again. One of our first stops was the monkey sanctuary in Ubud. When we were getting out of the car I told Jody don't lock the keys in the car. Guess what? OMG. I think the entire village of Ubud tried to open our car with every tool available. Nothing was working. Then a very, very old man walked up, stuck his car key in the door, and unlocked our car door!!! I wish I had a picture of him but as soon as he unlocked the car, he turned, and walked away.

A few of our saviors.


There are so many beautiful things to see in Bali. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking.


This kind of scenery wasn't too bad to look at either! Oh, how I love those little blond surfer boys!


We did all the touristy things. Here we are at Ulu Watu. Seriously, so beautiful.

Jody and Michelle - 2000


Sean and Michelle - 2001


We went to a Kecak dance that totally blew us away. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. It puts you into a complete trance. But of all the things Jody and I and Sean and I did we ate good food. I mean really, really, really good food.

The places I preferred to eat at were the small family run warungs that you can find while wandering down a gang (alley). I crave the food I ate in Indonesia. The smell of the spice market, the beauty of the open kitchens, the smiling faces of the proprietors.

The owner of my favorite warung putting giving an offering. This woman made killer Nasi Goreng. I can't even think about it without drooling.


Tonight I made my dinner in honor of all of those fantastic meals I have eaten and all the wonderful people I have met on my travels in Indonesia.

We were lucky enough to be able to get a few of the ingredients out of our backyard.


We made Lumpia, Udang Goreng, Sambal Udang, Mie Goreng, and Chicken Satay with peanut sauce**. Since I have a broken arm Sean helped me out a lot!

Lumpia Semarang and Udang Goreng (Indonesian spring roll and fried shrimp)-


Sambal Udang (Prawns in chili sauce) -


Mie Goreng - (Fried Noodles)


Chicken Satay and peanut sauce -


The only things missing were some ice cold Bintangs and the sound of the ocean crashing to the shore. Dinner made me so happy tonight. It made me almost as happy as this...almost.


**I didn't post recipes this week because it was hard enough getting this all typed up with my arm. If there is a recipe you would like I would be more than happy to send it to you.