It's That Time of Year...Again

Well, 2015 is in the bag. A new year has begun. 

I’ve never been much on New Year’s resolutions. But this year may be different. I really need to get back to my running routine.  From Thanksgiving to New Year’s, it seemed that every thirty minutes someone put food in my left hand and a drink in my right.

But this is a food blog. No one wants to read about diets, cleansing, and exercise, even in January. So my Ten New Year’s resolutions will this year will by about food. Here we go.

Resolution No. 1: Make homemade bread. I’ve always been intimidated by bread and impressed by those who make it. But dammit, it can’t be that hard. I recently bought a copy of the Bread Bible, and this year I plan to put it to good use. Amen!

Resolution No. 2: Dust off my slow cooker. OK, I admit I’ve never been much of a slow cooker fan, which we called a “crock pot” when I was a kid. But that may change because I’ve noticed more and more foodie magazines have “gourmet” slow cooker recipes. Maybe this is worth a shot. As a single parent, this could be of value. So, one day in 2016, I will throw some chicken and oregano in the slow cooker, a/k/a crock pot, one morning at 7:00AM and see what I get at 7:00PM.

Resolution No. 3: Cook at least one vegan meal. Last week, we took the kids to New York and made a stop at Candle 79. My boys were skeptical—after all these are my kids who are as meat-centric as I.  But they were at least moderately impressed. I have the cookbook, and this year I plan on doing something with it.

Resolution No. 4.: Clean out my pantry. More accurately, cook a meal from the oils, sauces, rubs, pastes, mixes, and specialty salts and spices that I’ve accumulated from my and others’ various travels.

Resolution No. 5: Teach my kids how to cook because they need to know that the fridge is not a magic box that produces home-cooked meals by itself. Besides, I could use some help in the kitchen from time to time.

Resolution No. 6: Use a kitchen gadget that I’ve never used before. I’m a nut for kitchen gadgets. The problem is that I buy them and they quickly collect dust in a forgotten drawer. Somewhere I have a blow torch that, one day in 2016, will be used to make creme brûlée.

Resolution No. 7: Drink more Champagne. It goes with everything, especially hot dogs. I may re-think SEC football this fall by serving Champagne instead of the “Champagne of Beers.”

Resolution No. 8: Cook more Indian and Asian food. I’ve got the basics of French cooking down, which are really not that difficult. But have you read the average recipe for an Indian dish? It reads like the re-entry sequence for the space shuttle! I’ve got to master that!

Resolution No. 9: Outdoor parties. This one is tied in with a real new year’s resolution. Buy a house where I can have a grill and an outdoor patio. Yeah, I’m giving up the downtown hipster vive for the quasi-burbs.

Resolution No.10: Be more creative. This year I want to create a dish that I can really call my own—maybe combine Asian or Tex-American flavors with classic French cooking techniques.  

Well, there you have it. My 2016 Foodie New Year’s Resolutions. Tune in around December, and I’ll let you know how they turned out. I promise I will be more successful than those New-Year’s newbies at your local gym.