Poor Form

I am probably the worst blogger ever. Last entry was in August, seriously?? I get really excited to write, and I plan all sorts of things to blog about, but then I go to work, or I read, or I fall asleep on my couch watching The Daily Show...I never make it to the interview! But now that my pesky Master's degree is out of the way, and I'm starting to spend a couple of hours less on my job a day, I think the blogging needs to come back. Writing is good for your brain, and it's no secret I need a hobby. As any athletic experience, needlework, scrap booking, darling crafts, and any other domestic arts are eliminated due to my personal shortcomings, the hobby shall be blogging.

This year, Matt and I are trying to do new things, and I'm keeping track of all of them in a leather bound book. (seriously) We each have a page for books we have read, movies we've seen in the theaters, fun places we've gone, and new restaurants we've tried. What perfect fodder for my blogging pleasure! Today's topic shall be: food you pay for by the pound.

I'm really into this concept. Looking back, I think my love affair began with the weigh-and-eat Hy-Vee salad bar. Easy, yummy, and healthful (?). But now it's all about the frozen yogurt. There are several new places around town that have fro-yo, as we cool kids call it, for sale by the ounce. It's a fantastic concept, especially for picky eaters with a sweet tooth. You just can fill as much of whatever flavor you want. I like to keep it traditional - swirled chocolate and vanilla, or chocolate and peanut butter, or chocolate and raspberry. I do like a little dollop of an experimental flavor too though, like red velvet cake. Then you get to go to the topping bar and pile on whatever chopped candy, cereal, fruit, or sauces you like. Then they weigh it and give you a price. Genius!

When I was in college, a group of friends decided we would go to what we believed was an informal Mexican restaurant called Gaucho's. We realized we were mistaken when we saw the waiters in ties and the white tablecloths. What we had mistaken for a place to go to in shorts and order chicken nachos and possibly a pitcher of margaritas was actually a Brazilian churrasco steak house, where enormous slabs of meat were brought to us speared on swords. It was an expensive mistake, too...chunks of meat on swords do not come cheap. But what do you do if you are in the mood for delicious churrasco but don't have the money or time for the weaponry? Fazenda Brazilian Grill, my friends. Located by the Borders where the Planet Sub was before it burned down, we ended up there last week because we saw it from the highway and were hungry. We imagined a sit-down place, so picture our delight as we realized it was a buffet set-up that charged by the pound. It still had all the cold salad bar, and some hot appetizers, but then you got to go stand in front of a roaring grill and direct the friendly carvers to pile whatever meat you desired on your plate. Especially yummy were the chicken drummettes and some kind of provolone sirloin. And when you were done loading your plate, they weighed it and rang you up. We had two full plates and two drinks for about $20. Definitely recommended, and would definitely go back.

To show that I don't spend all my time eating, next time I'll definitely write about some of the fine fiction or award nominated movies I have been watching.