Julie & Julia

So today I saw Julie & Julia with my dad and it really makes me want to do something more personal with my blog or challenging...even though nobody reads this and my only subscribers are two of my friends. I wanted to join a baking group or community that cooked from a specific cookbook and posted on a specific day of the week. However, I don't have the required cookbook and I know I won't have the allotted amount of time once school starts. Plus, I'll be low on supplies and won't necessarily have the money to go spend on ingredients. I wish there was something low key, and semi-committal that I could do to challenge myself. Maybe I will learn to do some of the things that intimidate me...like cook meat or even boil (or poach) an egg. Or perhaps master pancakes since I can never flip them without the outsides running, making a battery mess of the whole ordeal. But now that I think about it, I might want to do some type of pantry challenge, or the challenges they feature on "Chopped" with secret basket ingredients. That way I could attempt/release my creativity (even though I'm not advanced in my culinary skills).  And I know that I would never be able to top a guiness world record for some baked dish, but I think it would be fun to try to cook something enormous, maybe Man v. Food challenge status.  

After the movie, my dad and I walked over to Hero's, which is a bar and restaurant.  They have this 1 pound burger with 2 half-pound meat patties, cheddar, swiss and american cheese, and two layers of bacon.  This comes with 2 sides of fries and two pickle spears.  The challenge is to clear this entire plate in 10 minutes.  This is the only food challenge I have heard/seen in Modesto.  My dad did it once and since they were out of Hero's gear he received a "Jack Daniel" hat (yes, missing the s).  Since the time period is so short, he said he didn't feel right for a day and a half after eating it from cramming/constantly eating for 10 minutes straight.  Anyways, we ordered this to share.  But after watching Man v. Food (one of my favorite tv shows now) and seeing this burger which was $15.95, I would totally have a food challenge if I owned a restaurant.  It would definitely be an exciting and profitable aspect and I think it would draw in a lot of customers.  Most people order this burger and pay the $16 because they figure they can eat the entire thing since the menu doesn't list that there is a time limit to finish.