Cooking Around the World - 197 Countries To Be Exact!

So let me preface what the majority of my blog is going to be about. I'm going to be cooking A LOT; more than I ever have and much more diverse than ever before. My goal is to cook a meal from all 197 countries, straight through, from A to Z. Mind you, this has been done many times, by many people, all over the world. This ventures takes over 3.5 years if you make a new meal, once a week.

However, I'm going to be realistic here...I work full time, I have a part time job, I'm a coach, I play intramural sports, I also do a lot of volunteer work and I have a few trips and weddings planned for 2017 and probably '18, '19 and '20! Cooking a "big" meal once a week stresses me out just a bit! I figure, I'll make my own rules!

We all have busy lives and I'm going to be mindful that I am a very busy person as well. Ultimately when I plan a meal for more than myself and I'm feeding my boyfriend, friends or family, it will happen at least two times per month. I know I can keep to that rule as entertaining and cooking for people makes me truly happy.

 I want to show people that there is great food to be eaten all over the world. I'm going to cook food that I find over the trusty internet, I'll read the reviews, make sure it excites me and after slaving over that hot stove, I'll write about my experience and share it here, hopefully enticing friends and family to venture outside of their cooking comfort zone!

It all came to fruition when I was in Medina, Ohio at the beginning of November visiting my friend Yvonne. We had just gotten back from watching USA Men's rugby play New Zealand Maori and the New Zealand All Blacks play Ireland in Chicago. I have flown in every year since 2014 to watch international rugby matches and meet up with my college rugby friends and parents. This year, as I left the USA vs Maori game, they had a New Zealand meat pie truck outside of the stadium. I'm so thankful I didn't eat the awful, greasy stadium food. I was so happy, I gave my minced meat pie no time to cool and devoured it, while simultaneously burning my mouth and I didn't even care. I got my meat pie!

ISU Rugby girls at the USA vs New Zealand Maori rugby game at Toyota Park.

Chrisa with a delicious meat pie.

ISU Rugby girls tailgating at Soldier field before the Ireland vs New Zealand All Blacks rugby game.

After the Chicago rugby games, I drove back with bff Yvonne, her husband Pete and their newborn, Penelope Ann. They just moved to Ohio from San Diego for Pete's new job. While I was in Ohio I offered to make dinner one night and thought meat pies were the way to go. I had been on Pinterest late into the night after Yvonne and Penelope went to sleep. Pete had to go out of town for work (Napa...awful, right?) and I could tell in his voice as Yvonne and him Facetimed that he was sad he didn't get any meat pies. But have no fear, we had some leftovers for him. I've never made this recipe before. It took a while and they were delicious and even tastier the next day once the all the flavors settled into the puff pastry!

Aussie Meat Pie (Recipes below) with a side of Brussel Sprouts with Bacon

Yvonne and I like taking pictures of each other enjoying food!

The next day was the election. Well, we all know what happened. It got ugly.

I thought to myself after the election, there are so many amazing countries, ethnicities and religions in this world that I know nothing about. There's so much violence and hate happening and it's because we don't truly understand each other. I grew up in a diverse city with many ethnicities but I rarely took the opportunity to learn anything outside of the Mexican heritage. I currently live in Denver, a Mecca for ethnic foods and stores.  I want to know more about the world, its people and different cultures. From my favorite worldly cooking website: Global Table Adventure, Sasha, the author says: "We create peace when we learn about each other, when we understand one another." 

This is why I'm cooking.

I just finished my first country on the list, Afghanistan. I can't wait to finish writing!

That's it. That's how this idea came along. In the last week, a few people I know have said, "Wow, what a great idea. I'm going to try that too!" I'm stoked that people I know want to try something new. If you're on this same adventure, please post a comment or experience and let me know about your journey!

Aussie Meat Pie Recipes that I combined to make my own delicious recipe! We purchased a muffin tin that has 6 spots so you get a girthier meat pie!

Party Pies (Aussie Mini Beef Pies) - I used these cooking directions. Shorter cooking time too!

Steak, Cheese and Mushroom Meat Pies - I used these ingredients. Lots more veggies and spices.