Monday, January 13, 2014

Happy New Year?

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The New Year is not that new but I am usually slow to step up and acknowledge change. Who is still putting 2013 on their checks? Oh wait - maybe the real question is who is still writing checks in 2014?

But I digress. Really this post is about the New Year. So, I am going on record saying that I do not have any resolutions, list of goals, or self-improvement plans, because mostly they only serve to make me look back and feel bad about myself.

Last year I had this plan-announced on this very blog that I would try a new recipe each WEEK and report back on how it went.  All you have to do is scroll to 2013 and see there are three postings-that’s it. Where did the good intentions go? Why didn’t I or couldn’t I keep up with this goal I had set for myself? I can only answer with - life showed up and I went ahead and lived it.

I actually did make some pretty awesome new dishes in the New Year. When I saw something tasty at the farmer’s market or I had too much of something growing in my backyard I came up with recipes- some failed - others were brilliant. I enjoyed it with family and friends. I learned to bake this incredible bread in Italy (thank you, Teri) and wound up making it every morning for a gang of 16. I learned how to cook with cocoa nibs, coconut oil, and goat shanks. I bought four flats of tomatoes from McClendon Farms and learned how to can the most incredible roasted tomatoes. I even made homemade tomato juice. I also decided to start making my own muesli after paying 8 bucks for a small box of it at Whole Foods.
All undocumented (except for the bread image by Saskia Jorda who went to The ItalyWorkshop with us in 2013)

What I’m trying to get around to saying is life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans. (John Lennon) I read this today-from a post on Brain Pickings (which is genius) and it really resonated with me.

To understand music, you must listen to it. But so long as you are thinking, “I am listening to this music,” you are not listening.


I’m signing off now-to have me a big slice of my life. Hope you are digging into your own fabulous guilt free life with gusto and joy.

Happy New Year.