Culinary Resolutions for 2007

[Pebs]

I will eat more varieties of fish and wild game.

I will make the most of what I have in my kitchen cabinet, refrigerator and freezer including all the venison my farm friends keep giving me.

I will find more than 5 morels.

I will learn to make terrines that don't taste and look like meat blobs floating in clear jello.

This year I will try sushi (ok... don't yell, I live in a small town in the midwest and I'm afraid.

I will taste truffles.

I will use the zuchinni and yellow squash I grow before they are the size of baseball bats.

I will give more impromptu dinner parties for smaller groups of good friends, since those always end up being the of best times.

I will stop feeling inferior for not being able to afford to go to all the fabulous restaurants I read about here, as it inspires me to learn to make what I cannot afford to order out.

My kid will learn to appreciate the fact that I scraped and saved to send her to culinary school, ( something I always wished I could do ) now that she is earning a good reputation in our community for knowing her way around commercial kitchens. At least I can dream.

I will teach my friends not to be afraid to invite me to dinner because they aren't foodies like I am and don't make bread cornocopias with appetizers spilling out of them like I do just for grins. Hot dogs and beer will make me happy as long as I'm in great company.

I will read more books like "You Can't See Paris From Here" and be inspired by the people that can fullfill their dreams by doing what they love.

Pebs

[kristin_71]

In 2007, I will eat more things that are out of the ordinary for me

I will make cassoulet

I will find more local producers of produce and meat

I will learn how to make potted foods

This is the year I will try to make demi glaze

I will taste real demi glaze

I will use more unusual veggies

I will give neat gift baskets of homemade stuff to family and friends instead of store bought stuff when I can.

I will enjoy learning how to make the 'tater tots' in Happy in the Kitchen

We will braise more than just chicken and beef!

I will teach my mom how to make tater tots

I will read MORE COOKBOOKS!

[bleachboy]

In 2007, I will eat more locally-produced foods.

I will make my own smoked meats.

I will find more ways to cook fish.

I will learn at least a few elements of Asian cookery.

This is the year I will try to make duck confit.

I will taste some vegetable I hate in a new way.

I will use some vegetable I hate in a way that tastes good.

I will give eggplant a chance.

I really ought to cook more vegetables.

We ought to have more dinner parties.

My kids will never exist.

I will teach my nephew to cook.

I will read something by M.F.K. Fisher.

[C. sapidus]

So, how did everyone do with their 2007 resolutions? I'll start:

In 2007, I will eat fresh fish and shellfish from the roadside stand that we discovered one week before it closed for the winter.

Not going to happen – the roadside stand closed down.

I will make Julie Sahni’s delicious vindaloo for the first time in years. Where did I put that mustard oil, anyway?

No vindaloo, but I did discover some milder Indian dishes that the boys enjoy.

I will find a reliable local source for dried Thai long chilies (phrik haeng) – a kitchen essential if ever there was one.

Our local Asian market started carrying phrik haeng occasionally, and the local Indian market carries a reasonable substitute.

I will learn to make simple baked goods – biscuits, maybe even no-knead bread.

Biscuits are coming along nicely.

This is the year I will try making mapo tofu.

Done and documented on my foodblog.

I will taste bitter melon at least once, probably when cooking for myself. I will also taste really good and salty to the dogs after I play volleyball.

Done. Whoa, bitter melon is remarkably, well, bitter, but somewhat improved with a little hoisin sauce. Our two old dogs are no more, and the new pack of dogs is less interested in using me as a salt lick.

I will use asafetida.

Done – in buttered smothered cabbage.

I will give more time to my family.

I shifted my work hours 30 minutes earlier, but I don’t seem to get out of the office 30 minutes earlier. This has been a mixed bag.

I will add at least one new vegetable to the boys’ “eat willingly” list.

Done – they like raw chayote and daikon radish. Apparently raw is the key. They also don’t mind stir-fried baby bok choy.

We will invite friends and family over for dinner more often, and in smaller manageable groups rather than huge unwieldy invasions.

Doing pretty well on this one.

My kids will continue to tolerate, and often enjoy, their dad’s weird cooking.

Status quo continues.

I will teach my kids to expand their cooking skills beyond grilled cheese, scrambled eggs, and omelets.

The boys are now responsible for cooking Sunday night dinner, and recently made char siu banh mi (with a little help and a lot of coaching).

I will read Jeffrey Steingarten or Anthony Bourdain, perhaps both. Also, I will read the introductions to my old cookbooks, many of which contain fascinating culinary and cultural information. Apparently, long ago I read cookbooks strictly for the recipes. Can you imagine?

Jeffrey Steingarten – check. Old cookbooks – check.

[purplewiz]

In 2007, I will eat at one new restaurant a month. It's a good resolution that works for me, so why change it?

Yup, sure did. Found some good ones and some really terrible ones that at least make for good stories later (a partially fried rubber duck leg is NOT duck confit).

I will make one new recipe a month. At least.

I'm giving myself this one because I did make more than 12 new recipes last year. Unfortunately, due to life blowing up, there were some months in which I didn't make any, but I believe the spirit of the resolution has been kept.

I will find a new local supplier of my favorite sugar free chocolate sauce. Sure, I could mail order it, and I will if I have to, but I'd rather know somewhere close by.

Sadly, no. But we have moved and have a much richer pool of suppliers to explore. The search continues.

I will learn more food Italian and food Spanish. (Recognize the ingredients and be able to read a menu)

I think I have. I didn't do any formal studying, but there are a lot of dishes I don't need to read the English translations for anymore.

This is the year I will try deep fried twinkies. Or deep fried Oreos. Or deep fried pizza. Or deep fried Snickers. Or....you get the idea. I've been meaning to do this for years. No, I'm not going to make a steady diet of it, I want to TRY.

Yes, yes, no (pizza), and yes. The Twinkies and Oreos were disappointing but edible, the deep fried Snickers was disgusting. And we also tried deep fried Pepsi which is the worst thing I ate last year - two bites each and we tossed the rest.

I will taste foie gras again.

I did.

I will use all of my kitchen equipment.

Kind of. I have come to the conclusion that there are certain specialty items I keep around because when I need them I NEED them, and they're too costly to keep replacing. But see next resolution...

I will give away all the cooking gadgetry I don't use during the year (which doesn't have any sentimental value, which is most of it).

Goodness, yes. As part of the move the kitchen cabinets were emptied and Goodwill was the recipient of boxes full of unused or lightly used gadgetry, often complete with instruction manuals. We got rid of a LOT, and a lot of it was from the kitchen.

Which is good, because now I can buy new stuff

I will update my restaurant review/food blog on time.

Nope. I've pretty much abandoned it for lots of reasons.

We will continue to eat according to our plan.

And so we have.

My kids will continue not to exist.

That's pretty much a done deal at this point.

I will teach anyone who really wants to learn almost anything I know how to do.

I gave out a lot of cooking advice to my friends online (when they asked me!), everything from browned butter to cooking temperatures to flavor combination suggestions. I also freely admitted to things I didn't know.

I will read my foodie magazines within the month of their date. No more backlogs.

You bet. And I immediately threw them out if there weren't any recipes I wanted to make, or dogeared the pages when there were recipes so I don't have to read them again when I go looking for interesting things to make. I have a LOT fewer cooking magazines around now.

Marcia.

[MarketStEl]

So we're taking stock now?

In 2007, I will eat as cheaply as I can (within reason, of course) so I can save up in order to celebrate my 50th birthday in 2008 at Le Bec-Fin.

Well, I did manage to save up some money, but then had to spend it all to clean up a case of identity theft. With this year being a GALA Choruses Festival year, and with some other major moves in the works, I think that even with my new, bigger salary, I may have to put this resolution on the shelf and dust it off in 2008.

I will make paella. It seems like it's not that complex a dish to make, just time-consuming, and it's something I imagine I could do at home.

Didn't make the time to do it. Must remember to revisit this one.

I will find my way to Tierra Colombiana, finally.

Folded into the "eat at an interesting restaurant within Philadelphia but outside Center City or South Philly" resolution. Even though this place is well known to eGers, it still fits.

I will learn how to hand-toss a pizza crust if it kills me.

Still haven't gotten the hang of it.

This is the year I will try tomatillos. Maybe in a homemade salsa if I work my way up to it.

This I did manage to do, but not in a salsa -- instead, they made their way into a piri-piri sauce.

I will taste organically raised meat or poultry and see if I notice any difference between it and the conventional product.

Forgot about this one.

I will use a new gadget I don't yet know I need.

I think I got my first Kyocera ceramic slicer too early for them to fall under this resolution, but I added the ultra-thin and adjustable ones this year. Who needs a mandoline?

I will give the rough equivalent of the contents of my pantry to local food banks over the course of the year.

I did donate several canned items to area food banks and added a dollar or two to about a third of my grocery bills, but I don't know if this really adds up to "the rough equivalent of the contents of my pantry."

I am always interested in finding companions for dining out.

Mostly eGers, as it turned out, but I did dine out with a fellow Chorus member or two NOT in the post-rehearsal context. I need to give my old colleague Jon Caroulis a call.

We will nonetheless do the bulk of our entertaining at home, no doubt.

And so I did. Usually with good results.

My kids will continue not to exist.

Wasn't a difficult resolution to keep at all!

I will teach others how to write well if the occasion presents itself.

My cousin Akiba asked me if I could help motivate her high-school-age grandson, who says he wants to be a journalist or writer. I e-mailed him a few times but never heard anything from him. My offer is still on the table.

I will read as much good food writing as I can, in hopes of emulating it soon.

Well, I read a lot of good writing and even more mediocre writing, but not that much of it was about food. As this year's resolutions should make clear, the Gourmets are piling up.

Edited January 5, 2008 by MarketStEl (log)