#84 Try 50 New Foods

#9 Cajeta & #10 Cocada

Thank goodness my chefs' parents are visiting from Mexico, because they brought these sweet treats with them.

# 9 Cajeta is a common and tasty Mexican confection. It is made by cooking goat or cow's milk with sugar very slowly until it thickens. It is great on toast, crepes, fried bananas or just eat it straight up!

Cajeta (Caramel Candy) Recipe
2 quarts milk (goat or cow's)
2.5 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in 1 tsp water
1 cinnamon stick

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Turn the heat to low and simmer mixture until it turns a pale brown, about 1 hour. It is done when the cajeta is the consistency of a thick caramel. Transfer to a glass container and chill.

#10 Cocada is another sweet treat that is made with coconut. It seemed quite similar to a macaroon.

#36. Run (at least) a 5K

I'm already on week 2 of the "Couch to 5K" training! Phew...week one went by in a jiffy, I guess now the real work begins. This week the goal is: a brisk five-minute warm-up walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes (3x/wk). Surprisingly, after just one week, I already feel my endurance building up. Don't get me wrong, it's still painful to the lungs, but not as piercing as last week! The search is on for 5K runs in the area. If all goes well, I should be ready by the end of July!

#105 Read all the books in Oprah’s Book Club

I just started on my 6th Oprah Book Club book (only 60 more to go!). It's called Back Roads by Tawni O'Dell. It's about a young boy who takes care of his 3 sisters after his father is killed and his mother is sentenced to life in prison. I am only on page 26, but I am already intrigued. I love that; when you find a book that you can't put down. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened with any of the Oprah books so far. I hope this is the turning point.

#26 Eat at 500 great restaurants

Great restaurant #109 is GG's Earth & Surf in Santa Rosa, CA

I was so happy to have stumbled across this restaurant when we were headed to a brewery for burgers & beer!"

The most amazing thing happened on Saturday night; our restaurant was slow and we were able to go to dinner before 8:00 on a Saturday night!! Opportunities like this only happen about twice a year, so we weighed our options. It wasn't long after that we realized that we had no reservations and the places in town were packed (I just found a perk to having Monday night off). Defeated, we headed to 3rd Street AleWorks after the Russian River Brewing Co. turned out to be a chaotic mess with no apparent hostess. Thank goodness, on our way we came across GG's Earth & Surf. The menu claims to be "earth friendly" with lots of vegetarian, organic and vegan items. I'm not a vegetarian (this girl likes a steak every now and again), but the menu enticing. The prices seemed way too reasonable, I had no idea how they could charge $14 for Halibut, but then the tentative waitress informed us that is was "tapas" style. Fine by us, we love to try a bunch of different things. Food was creative, service was awkward & ambiance was a cross between modern sleek and a cheesy hotel breakfast restaurant.

What I ate and how I liked it:

Crostini of the Day A-

Every day their crostinis rotate. That day the 2 features were: basil ricotta, caramelized onion & smoke steelhead and shrimp, grapefruit & radish.

Pistachio Crusted Goat Cheese on Baby Greens Vanilla vinaigrette B

This salad was nicely done with a variety of fresh greens on the plate. The vanilla vinaigrette was something I had never heard of so I was dying to try it. At first, I love the flavor, but after a few bites it was just odd to have vanilla mixed with vinegar.

Spring Risotto with a Cashew Cream A-
The risotto was nicely cooked, though I didn't taste any cashews in the cream sauce. The variety of fresh herbs that is was topped with added most of the flavor.

Panna Cotta with Lemon Granita A

I didn't care for the presentation of this dessert, but the flavor of the panna cotta together with the granita was tremendous.

Manifesto Cabernet Sauvignon A

I very nice semi-bold wine choice. Many of the wines on their list are organic, though this was not one of them.

Bucket List #36. Run (at least) a 5K

I starting training for my first 5K today. I am not a runner, nor am I a jogger....heck, I barely like to walk. A friend had told me about the "From Couch to 5K" training program. If you follow the plan, you should be crossing the finish line in 9 weeks.
On the week one agenda was the following: A brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes (3x/week). My initial thought was that day one would be pretty easy, much better than the typical 60 minute spin class I would have taken that day. But, to my surprise, I was winded after 10 minutes. Hmm...lesson learned...running is not the same as spinning. If someone was literally a "couch potato", day one would most likely not lead to a day 2! But, I am excited that I only have 8 weeks & 6 days left.

#106 Completed! Smoke a Fine Cigar

"Yes, I inhaled...but maybe I shouldn't have!"

Let me start by saying, I have no idea what the characteristics of a fine cigar are. But, I assumed, the more expensive the better. After staring at the a daunting selection of smokables in a little Mexican shop, we opted for a box of Cohibas. I wondered why they didn't have something like peach flavored? I'm not really sure how much they cost because it was Pesos and I didn't pay. I wondered if they even sold fine cigars in Mexico? I was grateful as I bit off the end my cigar, that we did not have one of those scarey cigar cutters (horrible visions of the mafia chopping fingers off). I inhaled once and had mixed feelings about the taste; good or bad...hmmm? The second puff was deeper, longer and started me on a perpetual coughing display. I wondered why this was on my bucket list at all? That was enough for me, goal completed.

#82 Eat at a great restaurant from every country

Puerto Rico (yes, I am considering it its own country)

"Puerto Rican food is definitely worth the experience, but I won't be going back any time soon...maybe just for the plantains!"

My mother really wanted to go to a Puerto Rican restaurant for Mother's Day and I thought "how great is this, I can spend time with my mom and check one more thing off my bucket list". We had gotten a fantastic recommendation for a place in San Rafael, CA called Sol Food. It turns out that they have two locations just one block away from each other. Weird, right? I called to ask which one was better, the employee told me that the old one (on 4th Street) had more character and would be a great place to go for our first experience. Though, when we did a drive by we thought that the restaurant look too small, so we chose their alternate location on Lincoln. The decor was colorful and eclectic, they had one wall lined with different colored old doors. This is a "order at the counter" type of place. The counter gal was very helpful in explaining & suggesting items on the menu.

What I ate and how I liked it:

Let me preface this by saying I have no idea what Puerto Rican food should taste like, so really this is just a matter of opinion (but aren't all reviews anyway?).

Pollo al Horno (chicken thighs, marinated in oregano and garlic) C
I was told that this dish was their specialty and the most popular item on the menu. The chicken thighs said they were marinated in oregano and garlic, but I tasted neither. The piece of meat was on the dry side and I was happy that I opted for just the one piece meal.

Maduras (sweet plantains) A+

You could have just given me a plate of these sweet, fried plantains and I would have been a happy girl. I might go back and order just that!

Pastelon di Carne (beef and plantain lasagna) B
This dish was layered similar to a lasagna, but with plantains, beef & cheese. My mother really enjoyed this, though we had to search for the plantains at the bottom of the dish.

Templeque (coconut pudding with mango puree) A

This was a perfect way to end a filling meal. The pudding was light and the flavor of coconut wasn't overwhelming. The mango puree was delicious!

Coco Rico Soda (coconut soda) C

I love coconut, but I do not love coconut soda. I think I will just stick with Diet Coke.

Liminada Fresca (lime fresca) A+
This house-made fresca (lime, sweetener & water) was a house specialty and I definitely could see why. It had the perfect balance of lime & sugar with the water; not too tart or too sweet.

All in all, if you are looking for Puerto Rican Food in Northern California, Sol Food would be a great choice.