Happy New Year! 1/1/11

This year is bringing me such inspiration that I can't wait to get started. Already I have my desk littered with notes, a calendar full of ideas and Foodie Dates. A stack of Recipe Books at my feet filled with post-its marking new recipes. A spiral notebook with my chicken scratch of ideas.

As a crockpot full of seasoned black eyed peas simmers, a loaf of Baba bread is baking, a roast is in the oven, and future posts and recipes are swimming through my head (even though I should be taking down Christmas decorations.)

This year, my resolution is be an organized cook. To plan more meticulously AND adventurously. To help me out with that, I'm going to be using the National Food Holidays to give me direction as well as new magazine subscriptions: Cooking Light, Weight Watchers, Southern Living and Martha Stewart Living. Towards the end of the year, I began to get in a rut, planning the same old meals over and over with nothing interesting to blog about when Fall is typically a good time of year for my cooking endeavors (where as summer is usually busy with gardening/canning I have little time to blog about the activities). Granted last fall, I was dealing with morning sickness etc. so I'm giving myself a break.

Despite the fact that I'm expecting a bouncy baby boy in March, I am still planning to be active with this blog ESPECIALLY while on Maternity Leave. (I'm pretty sure, my plans may change when I'm sleep deprived and trying to function and decide cooking is not in my immediate future, three months from now. LOL)

To begin the year, I am going to list out 11 things I want to try this year. What do you aspire to make?

1. Croque en Brouche
2. Croque Madame (without ham)
3. Perogies
4. Bread Machine Baking
5. Deep Frying
6. Pannini's
7. Creative Salads
8. Creative Grilling
9. Homemade Pasta
10. Sugar Cookie Decorating
11. Pastry Decorating

Some of these may not sound very intimidating but they are things I haven't done a lot of, have new equipment for (Thank you SANTA!) or I've just been putting off for various reasons. I don't want to just try everything, I want to be really good at some of it!

I hope the New Year brings good things your way: good food, good friends, and lots of love. Hope to see you here all year!