Random Food Finds Part 1 of Many

Welcome, friends, to the first of many posts about food that I randomly find in grocery stores and decide to try.

Something I enjoy when I grocery shop is finding random things that look interesting and buying them. Most of the time, I only find these fun things once, and then never again, so I wanted to start documenting these interesting finds to ensure I don't forget about them, I guess. Also, I really love food so sharing my love of food makes me feel good.

On this, the first episode of this new series, I will be talking about Brazi Bites, which is Brazilian Cheese Bread (Garlic Asiago flavor). 

I've been to a Brazilian restaurant nearby a few times, and they serve these little cheese breads as an appetizer. They're literally so tasty, so when I saw these while grocery shopping, I just HAD to get them.

In order to make them, you heat the oven to 400 degrees and bake them for 20 minutes.

I made the mistake of baking them on aluminum foil. The directions call for either a grease on the pan or parchment paper, neither of which I have... so I used foil. It was a mistake, for sure.

Once they were done baking, I let them cool a bit, but peeling them off the foil was a disaster. A large portion of them were destroyed, and some somehow managed to lose half of their insides, so they were hollow shells of the cheesy goodness they could have been.

That's definitely my error....

They are a little boring in terms of how they look. I was expecting them to look similar to the ones I have eaten in the restaurants. Those have cheese on the outside as well as the inside, but these just have like a crust on the outside. I don't typically take too much stock into how things look, though, because I know that in my experience ugly food tends to taste the best.

Luckily, they were quite tasty despite being destroyed by my incompetence. The garlic flavor was really strong, and the cheesiness was perfect. It was salty without being too salty, and they were soft and crunchy at the same time.

I imagine they would go really good in a soup of some kind.. maybe a chili or some sort of creamy soup.

I thoroughly enjoyed them, and I'm glad that I bought them. I have another package in the freezer so I'll get to try them again and maybe not mess them up again. I think I will try them with some soup next time, so I'm excited to give it another shot...

That's it for this one.. I don't know what will be next, but I found some interesting finds when I went grocery shopping yesterday like a frozen street corn, some risotto things that are vegan or something (they looked yummy so I didn't look into it too heavily.. I often just buy and look at it later), and some new kettle chips with flavors like balsamic and rosemary..

So yay for new food!!

See you on the next one! 😁

It Just Doesn't Matter

I grew up in a very small town of like 500-1,000 people at any given time, and we had a beauty pageant each year for one girl in her junior year of high school. 

The girl who won would be the town's Miss Whatever, and I had never really considered going for it. It wasn't really my cup of tea. I didn't want to parade around the town in a sash and crown or be on a big parade float or whatever the other duties were.

By the time my junior year arrived, a frenemy of mine had planned to go for it. If I remember correctly, she and I were the only two girls from my class that could have gone for it. There might have been a couple others, but I don't really remember... it was a super long time ago.

I remember sitting down with someone, probably my mom, and having a conversation about it. I knew that if I went up against this frenemy of mine that I would probably win. 

I thought about it a lot. I don't think there was any prize money (and if there was, it wasn't much). If I won, I would have aVERY busy summer. And I knew that if I won, it wouldn't do anything for my future.. It's not like something I could put on my resume.

The thing that finally talked me into going for it? The Fourth of July. The Fourth of July in the town I grew up in was a huge celebration. Thousands of people came to our small town for a celebration each year, and at the time, I worked at a restaurant...the only one in town. The Fourth of July was the only day of the year that everyone that worked there was required to take a shift. 

Every year on the Fourth, we would spend the majority of the day at my grandparents' house watching the parade, having a cookout, and spending time with family and any friend that would happen to walk by. It was one of my favorite days of the year. But when I started working at the restaurant, I had to work at least one shift, and it would ruin the entire day. I would have to miss something... I would miss the lunch at my grandparents' house, or I would miss the fireworks, or the parade. It was just disheartening to have to ruin a perfectly good day by working.

Now, no judgement to the restaurant for asking us to work. It was the busiest day of the year in a lot of respects because so many people would come in to eat since there were so many people in town. I totally get the requirement. I just didn't want to do it.

Anyways, by being Miss Whatever, I would be exempt from having to work because the city forced me to be at a bunch of different events throughout the entire day. It's stupid, but that was the main thing that convinced me to go for Miss Whatever. I knew that with all the events going on across the town, I wouldn't have to work, but I would still have time to do the things I loved.

So I made the decision. I told my frenemy and then she told me later that day that she changed her mind and wasn't doing it. I think that was the final straw in our friendship. We never really talked much after that.... Strong friendship, huh? She didn't want to go up against me, I guess. 

I was the only one to go out for the pageant which meant that I was Miss Whatever. There was still a ceremony, keeping up tradition, I guess.. I sang a song or two, I gave a speech about how excited I was, and then I was crowned. The only people there were the "judges," the little Miss Whatevers (there were 5 of them that year because they never wanted to tell little girls no.) and their moms, and my mom. It was like 40 minutes of my life total, and that was that. I was crowned Miss Whatever.

Looking back, I'm actually really glad that I did it. It was way more fun than I ever expected it to be, and it was super out of my comfort zone, which I think I needed at the time.

I was in 7 different parades if I remember correctly. Being in such a small town, there were surrounding small town parades that I had to be a part of. I don't really know why anyone cared that much, but it's fine. I got to sit in convertibles and wave at people. I felt like a rockstar.

The Fourth of July was a fantastic day! I got to help serve food at a pancake breakfast for the town. My grandpa was a part of the group that served the breakfast, so I got to flip pancakes side by side with him, which is a memory I'll forever cherish. I honestly think that of everyone in my family, he was the most proud that I was Miss Whatever. I love that.

I got to call Bingo. Doesn't seem that great, but oh my gosh, people really get into bingo! It was a blast!

I got to sing the national anthem at two different events. 

I got to walk down main street with my sash and crown and have people jokingly bow to me... that bit was odd.......

I still got to spend time with my family and friends, and, to be honest, it was the most fun I think I had ever had at a Fourth celebration.

Then, sometime later, I had to go a new pageant, one where I would actually be competing with other girls to be Miss County Whatever... LOL!

I was up against like 10 other girls, and I knew I wouldn't win. I was a big shot in my small town, but I was a nobody there. I wasn't all that conventionally pretty, I was chubby, I didn't talk all that great... I knew I didn't have a chance, and I accepted that.

The other girls and I had a lot of downtime. We actually had a lot of fun just chatting and joking around. I remember it being really awkward but I cracked a few jokes because I was uncomfortable and that's what I do.

I sang for my talent.. I think everyone sang if I remember correctly. I did well. It was no big deal. I didn't put too much effort in.

Then came the portion of the show where they asked you questions. I don't even remember what the question was. I don't think I knew what the question was at the time because I was so nervous (I hate public speaking and there were like 100 people in the audience). My answer to whatever the question was was "WORLD PEACE!" I remember getting some laughs out of the audience. My answer was a joke based on the movie Miss Congeniality. I thought it was funny, and to be honest, I still think it's funny that I actually answered that at a beauty pageant. 

The girl who won had a last name that was and probably still is known around the area. I don't mean to say that she didn't deserve it, but if you have the right last name, you've got a perfectly golden road ahead of you. Your name can open doors. And she won just as I expected partially because of her name. And that's ok. I was a little sad because, ya know, I lost, but it wasn't a huge disappointment. I was happy for her. 

I honestly don't think I would have wanted to be Miss County Whatever. There was so much more effort that needed to be put into it. Then there was the next pageant and the next one and the next one and the next one. There were so many parades, and so many events, and etc. It was just too fricken much, and I didn't have the time nor energy to deal with it. 

With all that being said, though, I think about this story often. I think about the system and how unfair it was. I won Miss Whatever because I was the only one who went for it. There's a very good chance I would have won even if I had gone up against other people. But past that to Miss County Whatever? How ridiculous is it that I knew going into it that I didn't have a chance? Even my mom (I think) told me I didn't have a chance. It wasn't an insult... it was just the truth and we both knew it. It didn't matter if I was the best singer or had the best answer to questions... it didn't matter because I wasn't skinny and my name wasn't popular in the area. 

It just didn't matter.

And looking back, I wonder if that's how it was everywhere...

I know that things have changed over the last decade in the pageant world, and for that, I'm grateful. But I wish things had been different for me. I am partially glad I didn't win the Miss County Whatever, but I also have to wonder what types of doors could have been opened for me if I had continued on.

I have never been and never will be the type of woman to do pageants. And that's tooooootally fine with me. But I always wonder.......

I am glad that I went for Miss Whatever, though. It was such an incredible experience, and I have a lot of fond memories. 

I honestly don't know what the point of this story was.. I don't even know if there was a point. But it's out there now... so yeah... 

I think I just wanted to share an experience of mine from what feels like a past life. Maybe that's what this blog is. 

I guess I think that so often there are events in your life that don't really matter in the grand scheme of who you are. That's what I think this story is. I think about it often, but it didn't really help mold me into who I was back then or who I am today. It's just a story... 

Well I suppose that's the point of all of this... That not every story has to have some bigger meaning or revelation or whatever. Some stories are just stories. Sure... why not... 

Ok byeeeee!

Hey Siri, Publish!

 I'm back!

It's crazy that after so many years I would be back writing here again. I deleted all of my previous posts because I just really want to start fresh. New blog, who dis?

I don't necessarily have big plans for this blog; I really just want it to be a creative outlet for me. It's been a really long time since I felt like being creative. It was and still kind of is my dream to be an author, but since graduating college many moons ago, the lack of inspiration and motivation to actually write has been a problem for me.

For a couple of years, I tried to do youtube videos. I mean.... they turned out decently.... I guess....  But I wasn't really that into it. I loved the finished products of the videos themselves, but the effort to get there was just too much. I hated filming the videos because it took so long and I'm not the best at speaking under pressure (granted it was pressure I put on myself but still), and the HOURS it took to edit the videos was just awful. I hated it. It wasn't worth it to spend all of that time on it. I was proud of what I was able to accomplish with those videos, but the entire process just wasn't for me.

I would watch the videos, and the person talking just didn't seem like me. I tried way too hard. I was putting on a show for the camera to seem cool or something. I'm definitely not cool... trust me, I am very well aware of that fact.

In the last year or two, I have really come to appreciate my anonymity in this world. Yeah, of course, people know me (because I am my father's daughter, that's for sure), but I like not being popular on social media or whatever. I don't really use social media that often. If I do, it's mostly just to like posts. I rarely post on Insta or Facebook, and my Twitter profile is mostly just retweets. I'm not completely anonymous, but enough that I feel comfortable. 

*side note: thank fuck for auto correct and spell check because I can't spell the word annonomyous to save my life ;) *

I am an introvert. Anyone who knows me knows that I would rather spend my life at home than anywhere else. Partially, that's because home is where my cat is. And also sweatpants.

.....Anyways, being around a lot of people has always been really hard for me. I get anxious and feel the need to pretend that I'm outgoing, which is really hard on my self esteem and mental health. During the pandemic, I joke all the time that my entire life has prepared me for quarantine. The joke doesn't seem to land too often because I don't think most people get it... and that's ok. Most people like going outside and doing stuff. They're crazy, but hey, to each their own.

I don't plan to really talk about the pandemic or quarantine or anything like that in this blog. It might get mentioned like it just did, but I don't plan to dwell on it. I want this blog to be my safe place where the world isn't in shambles, and I am just free to be me.

I will, however, be posting a hodge podge of random crap. Look at the title of my blog: The World According to Jenny. That's what this will be: my world. I am going to post about some of my favorite things like books, movies, and food. I will post random stories from my past. I might even share some of my fiction... if I can find the courage to hit publish. 

This blog isn't for other people. If other people want to read my posts and you're able to get something out of it, then that's pretty cool. But I'm not doing this to change the world or make a difference or have a platform or make money or whatever reasons people have for doing this kind of stuff. I am doing this for me.

I've been struggling with my mental health in the last few months worse than usual. I know a lot of my relationships have suffered because of it. Mainly my relationship with myself is the worst it has ever been. So I decided that I wanted to try something new to help with my mental health... and here I am! I've always been a writer, and I really want to get back to the basics of who I am.

So yeah, I'm back. If you want to follow my "journey" of getting back into creativity, well then welcome. Enter at your own risk. Otherwise, I'll just be here.... posting pictures and comments about that amazing salad I ate three weeks ago, laughing at myself after attempting (and failing) a makeup trend, and cringing at a terrible book I read last year that I can't get out of my head.

Okay byeeeeeeee! :)