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Resolutions for 2010


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It's almost that time of year again. New year, new knowledge, new ideas, new ingredients . . .

The eGullet Society has a solid tradition of sharing culinary resolutions for the upcoming year.

I ask you to fill in the following blanks (which I have swiped from 2 (now 3) years ago with permission from Pontormo) . . .

In 2010,

I will eat_________________

I will make_______________

I will find________________

I will learn_______________

I will teach_______________

I will read________________

As always, please feel free to ignore or add blanks.

Peter Gamble aka "Peter the eater"

I just made a cornish game hen with chestnut stuffing. . .

Would you believe a pigeon stuffed with spam? . . .

Would you believe a rat filled with cough drops?

Moe Sizlack

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Hrm. Sounds fun to me.

I will eat better. Just...better. Due to pregnancy, there's been lots of crap coming and going from this house and I'm not proud of it. For the latter part I was just too tired to do anything. One of my new year's resolutions is that I will try to eat more whole foods and cut back on the processed crap.

I will make one soup a week for the entire year. I will never duplicate. We need to be a little bit more adventurous in our choice of cuisine.

I will find 3 recipes that I am confident enough in to take to the fair. I've always wanted to do that, and this is my year.

I will learn how to score my bread correctly. I'm still having trouble getting good ears.

I will teach myself how to bake and raise two kids at the same time. Fingers crossed.

I will read at least one new recipe a week.

I will create at least 5 new bread formulas that work for me.

Edited by Stephanie Brim (log)
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In 2010,

I will eat truffles! I've always wanted to try them, but lack of availability (or anyone to share them with) has always kept me from taking the plunge.

I will make more of my food at home. I have a horrible habit of being lazy and running out to get takeout at the last minute. This needs to stop. My wallet will thank me.

I will find a decent recipe for gingersnaps. All of the ones I've tried have been good, but none of them have had that sharp bite, that delicious crunchy texture I've always imagined the perfect gingersnap having.

I will learn to bake bread. Every time I try, I get discouraged thinking that I will not have enough time, I'll make a mess, my yeast is too old, etc, etc. It's amazing how you can find so many excuses not to do something you really want to try.

I will teach more of my friends the fine art of the cocktail. I'm tired of hearing how they had this great Tom Collins at T.G.I. Friday's made with Sprite :angry:

I will read all of the cookbooks I already have, plus the ones I know I am going to buy.

"...which usually means underflavored, undersalted modern French cooking hidden under edible flowers and Mexican fruits."

- Jeffrey Steingarten, in reference to "California Cuisine".

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Here were my resolutions for 2009:

I will eat more Pierre Herme macarons while I have the chance.

I will make that no-rise bread stuff that's such a phenomenon. Once. When I have access to an oven.

I will find some %@! Ras al Hout, a spice I've been scouring Asia for over the past two years.

I will teach my husband where I keep the pots for the umpteenth time.

I will read something by that MFK Fisher lady everyone is so keen on.

Done (delicious)

Done (hooked my parents on it too)

Done (thanks Chufi!)

No love (moved again)

Done (the Art of Eating)

Right. This year:

In 2010,

I will eat truffles, too! I've never had one either. When are they in season?

I will make preserves of some sort, ideally when I'm home in Canada for the summer, so my family can remember me when I'm away.

I will find time to write more about what I'm cooking.

I will learn how to make pasta.

I will teach my friends how to cope with cooking in a foreign country.

I will read more cooking theory such as Harold McGee.

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Just two -- pay more attention to these two topics:

Cookbook Roulette (so, just how many cookbooks do I have that almost never get used?)

Don't Shop Now!. Tis time to use up everything. Just how many kinds of mustard and vinegar does a person need? (Let's not even mention the 150 lbs. of venison in the freezer.)

Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"
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Tis time to use up everything. Just how many kinds of mustard and vinegar does a person need? (Let's not even mention the 150 lbs. of venison in the freezer.)

Exactly! My Asian fridge will bear no more than one of each category of condiment! We don't get new ones to try until the old one is all used up.

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I will eat truffles, too! I've never had one either. When are they in season?

The season is supposed to be late autumn into winter. I don't suppose they'll turn up in either of our local farmer's markets right now, will they?

"...which usually means underflavored, undersalted modern French cooking hidden under edible flowers and Mexican fruits."

- Jeffrey Steingarten, in reference to "California Cuisine".

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I will eat, as much as possible, local meat. Less quantity, more quality.

I will use dried beans instead of canned. Eat less produce out of season.

I will learn to make cheese.

I will teach anyone I know who's interested all that I can about what I learn.

I will read for pleasure as well as for work.

Boy, it sounds like such a manifesto written this way...

I will also make lots of cakes.

www.cookbooker.com - Rate and review your cookbook recipes.

Cookbooker Challenge: July/Aug 2010 - collaboratively baking & reviewing Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home.

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The season is supposed to be late autumn into winter. I don't suppose they'll turn up in either of our local farmer's markets right now, will they?

Well, certainly not in mine! But it's an excellent excuse to plan a trip to Europe some time next year.

I will also make lots of cakes.

That sounds like an excellent goal. Any cakes in particular?

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Eat: More local meat. Specifically, more good pork, once I find a reliable source for it.

Make: More grill-roasted foods. More foods cooked over wood coals. More and better gluten-free Chinese dishes.

Find: A safe and reliable high-heat source for wok cooking that works with my small deck and clustered neighborhood.

Learn: Bao technique and get a grip on this whole wok hei business once and for all.

Read: The cookbooks I own but haven't read yet, as well as the small pile of new ones I suspect I'm going to get for Christmas.

John Rosevear

"Brown food tastes better." - Chris Schlesinger

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I will also make lots of cakes.

That sounds like an excellent goal. Any cakes in particular?

'Rose's Heavenly Cakes' by Rose Levy Beranbaum is sitting under the tree with my name on it, so I'll definitely be plunging into that one after the holidays. Generally just planning to expand my repertoire in the cake department. There are 6 family birthdays in six weeks starting in early February so I'll get lots of practice.

www.cookbooker.com - Rate and review your cookbook recipes.

Cookbooker Challenge: July/Aug 2010 - collaboratively baking & reviewing Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home.

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In 2010,

I will eat (hopefully with the help of the family) all the contents of the fridge and freezers, and grocery cupboard etc etc before we move countries towards the middle of the year. After New Year, I intend to buy no meat until the freezer is barren.

I will make a concerted effort to stay away from the shops unless absolutely necessary, and limit foodie impulse buys until after we have moved.

I will find a way to only purchase what we need for the week after our move instead of having a kitchen and freezer that could feed a rugby team for months.

I will learn to roll out fondant icing decently without it sticking all over before I have to cover next year's Christmas cake, and hopefully not have the whole process ending in tears ... again.

I will teach my daughter whatever culinary skills she desires, and hopefully get her cooking one evening meal a week.

I will read and try out at least 2 new recipes a month.

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Eat: More local meat. Specifically, more good pork, once I find a reliable source for it.

We just found a friend of a friend who's an organic farmer and was slaughtering four pigs last weekend, so we ordered a side - our first time doing so. I'm quite excited. We'll get the butchered meat after Christmas. Hopefully this will become a new tradition, getting it straight from the farmer, either at the farm or in the summer, at the farmer's market.

www.cookbooker.com - Rate and review your cookbook recipes.

Cookbooker Challenge: July/Aug 2010 - collaboratively baking & reviewing Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home.

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In 2010,

I will learn to roll out fondant icing decently without it sticking all over before I have to cover next year's Christmas cake, and hopefully not have the whole process ending in tears ... again.

Plastic wrap top and bottom. :)

"You dont know everything in the world! You just know how to read!" -an ah-hah! moment for 6-yr old Miss O.

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Where did Nakji find last year's thread? :unsure:

In 2009,

I will eat - more vegetables

I will make - a breakfast casserole; a meal of the new vegetable.

I will find - a good meatloaf recipe (w the ketchup baked on top) & a better mac'n cheese recipe (currently have Alton Brown's).

I will learn - how to make ravioli

I will teach - the munchkin to scramble an egg

I will read - nothing in particular

I will grow - at least one vegetable I have never grown before

Yes - until October

No; yes - fried zucchini & chocolate zucchini cake

No. :sad: But I found one in the pile o recipes just yesterday so there is still hope. & No.

No. Didnt even try to make pasta. Not once.

No. Changed my mind. This year there is more awareness of heat.

Yup, lots of that

Yes - zucchini & corn (successfully) & peas

In 2010:

I will eat more vegetables - quantity and variety

I will make a larger variety of vegetable dishes at home (grains are veg, yes? yes!)

I will find a new 'no brainer' dinner recipe for those days when there is no time, no energy, no brain power. It will keep company w the fresh tomato sauce from 2 years back, and alfredo from last year.

I will learn how to make pasta. Really. This year I really will.

I will teach the child how to make her greatgrandmother's pudding cake recipe.

I will read more than I cook. That's a fact, not a resolution.

I will go thru all those loose recipes and sort,discard, reminisce, and put them in a binder for easier finding and longer lifespan

I will revive the scalloped potato tradition for the winter.

Edited by Kouign Aman (log)

"You dont know everything in the world! You just know how to read!" -an ah-hah! moment for 6-yr old Miss O.

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In 2009,

I will eat foods I like. I have no room for foods I know I dislike. There is no single source for any nutrient my body needs, so I am not required to eat anything.

I will make one new recipe a month, and eat at one new restaurant a month. I've had this resolution for about 5 years now, and it works really well for me to keep me out of ruts.

I will find more foods I like. That's what all those new recipes above are about.

I will learn not to go to trendy restaurants on Saturday night without a reservation. When I do anyway, I will learn not to be surprised that there is a 2.5 hour wait. I will learn to be grateful we always have a fallback plan because I have never in my life eaten at a restaurant whose food was worth a 2.5 hour wait.

I will teach my husband to make something other than stir fry.

I will read my foodie magazines within a month from when they arrive, and drop any subscriptions for those from which I haven't cooked or even wanted to cook anything for six months.

I will not feel guilty because my food habits and practices do not live up to the expectations of others. That was never one of my goals.

Almost a slam dunk. The only one I get only half credit for is teaching my husband to cook something other than stir fry. He did figure out how to pan fry a veggie burger and plop a fried egg on top himself, though. But I dumped one cooking magazine that stopped publishing anything I wanted to cook and kept up with the rest. And thank goodness for backup restaurant plans :).

So moving on to this year....

In 2010,

I will eat and I will remove as much guilt as is humanly possible from the process. I need to eat to live.

I will make one recipe a month and eat at one new restaurant a month. I'm not changing this one. It works too well.

I will find some new recipes for greens because, you know, I LIKE greens, and doing them the same way all the time is boring.

I will learn how much zucchini to plant now that we've moved and no longer have neighbors who will joyously accept any excess production.

I will teach my husband where a few more dishes are stored so when he "does the dishes" they actually get put away in the cupboards after removal from the dishwasher, not left out for me to do the final step.

I will read through some of my less used cookbooks and determine if they're still worth the shelf space. If not, they will be donated and hopefully someone else will enjoy them.

Don't forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he wanted...he lived happily ever after. -- Willy Wonka

eGullet foodblog

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I will eat: at a local restaurant at least once a month- I am surrounded by world class accessible food- I need to get out there

I will make: whole grilled fatty fish like mackerel or sardines- I have access to great ones - need to get a small outdoor grill

I will find: more food partners to allow us to explore and cook

I will learn: how best to use the mortar & pestle I got for Christmas (3+ inches deep by 5++ inches wide)

I will teach the newly unleashed teenagers the cooking basics- but I have to find a way to penetrate their "we do not need help" 'tude

I will read: I will re-read my favorites and pay attention to what really spoke to me and incorporate it into my cooking style and life

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In 2010,

I will keep better lists of what's in the freezers, both in the cellar and upstairs.

We will eat more stuff from the freezers before it is beyond rescue.

I will freeze less stuff!!!

I will find a decent recipe for okra and eat it, even if I do so alone. And with my DH looking on and making rude remarks. :raz:

I will learn how to make bread. Finally.

I will teach my 'up the road' neighbor how to work with chocolate because she has been begging me for years now.

I will grow an indoors herb garden. It's already set up and ready to go.

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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In 2010,

I will eat mostly organic meat, sustainably caught fish. I'm already doing ok here.. but I cave, a little too often, forn cenvenience sake or because I just 'feel like steak' and the only steak to be found is non/organic.

I will make.. I liked that ' one new soup a week' idea upthread so I'll steal that!

I will find more time to cook time consuming things.

I will read my old cookbooks, and be surpirsed by them, and cook from them.

and to add.. I will have more people over for casual dinners, not the kind you plan weeks in advance, but the kind where you say 'I have a big pot of soup, why don;t you help me eat it?´

I will also be a better (ie, more regular) foodblogger.

I will make an index for the recipes on my blog.

I will go to Paris in the spring and stuff myself with Pierre Hermé´s macarons.

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