Our New Year's Resolutions

I want to go back and edit my own recipes and organize them. I want to learn to use my wood burning oven more efficiently . I want to become a lot more savvy about writing my blog and using that technology.

To can tomatoes. (goal is to reduce BPA exposure from canned goods.); To get over my yeast-dough anxiety and bake my own bread regularly; To make some of my grandmothers' recipes: farmers cheese, napoleon torte, and plum coffee cake, among others. Some of these recipes are incomplete because neither grandma was much for measuring or writing things down, so they will take some experimentation to get them right; To get rid of all teflon from my kitchen - except the waffle iron.

I resolve to continue to experiment in my garden: to grow things that grow well in a compact space, and then to eat or preserve them. To learn how to plan for the growing seasons better. To preserve more. To stock my freezer with my own chicken stock.

I just discovered this site and I'm so excited. I would love to make everything that you outlined plus I would like to try and make my own scrapple as well as the sausage. My husband loves these things and I don't feel what you purchase at the store is at all good for you. I don't drink coffee, but I would love to be able to make the perfect cup!! So much to do, so little time!!

I would like to have time to make all those things you outlined from scratch. I've done ice cream, stock and bread for more years than I care to remember, but some of the others are just too time consuming and/or messy (making fresh pasta!).

I do want to get outside my comfort zone and cook Thai and Indian some this year. and make home made cream cheese and thence to better cheesecake. :)

I would like to have time to make all those things you outlined from scratch. I've done ice cream, stock and bread for more years than I care to remember, but some of the others are just too time consuming and/or messy (making fresh pasta!).

I do want to get outside my comfort zone and cook Thai and Indian some this year. and make home made cream cheese and thence to better cheesecake. :)

I want to replace wheat with other grains as much as possible and get my family to help me prepare veggies so that we can eat what we should in veggies. I do it on Sundays but I get so tired of it and if I don't do it we don't eat them.

Defrost my gosh darn freezer! Also, start a new sourdough starter, make more of my own stocks, get my own canning equipment, phase as much plastic as possible out of my kitchen, and get even better about packing my lunch. I'm terrible at remembering my resolutions within just a couple days of making them, but, hey, it's worth a shot!

Before I get to my resolutions, I'd like to make an observation about the lovely picture of that jar of chicken stock. I see that it is filled past the hips of the jar. The first time I made a huge batch of broth, I froze it in Atlas jars and filled them past their hips. They all exploded with the expansion of freezing. May I recommend filling to about half an inch below the hip (where the jar grows narrower)? As for resolutions: start making my way through the binders full of recipes I've clipped over the years; get back into making my own pasta, ice cream, vegetable and chicken stocks,and cooking for my co-workers.

Make my own broths and store them in the freezer! And definitely planting a spring and summer vegetable garden, no excuses!

I'm hoping to cook every recipe in Melissa Clark's COOK This Now. She divides the recipes by month so as long as I keep up monthly I should make it to the end !

Goals huh? Well, I hope to actually post to this site and contribute rather than just lurk. I want to make bread weekly, use less meat, less plastic, less commercially canned foods ( beans tomatoes etc.) and grow a garden. Oh and plant peach and apricot trees for yummy jams in years to come. Not much huh?

I want to make my own yogurt. I tried some at a recent yogurt tasting that was baked and it was amazing. I also want to make my own filo dough, although I'm not sure that'll be something I do on a regular basis...

Challenge myself each day in the kitchen to experiment more and grow more in my cooking and baking. Homemade yogurt is number one. I leave the pasta and condiment creations to my husband.

Use less canned beans, by using more dried legumes. And perfect my French bread!

I'm pretty happy with my current habits of homemade vs not, and my kitchen skills, but my food-related resolution is to feed myself and my family better by being more organized in my kitchen time management! This year, I don't just want to admire foodie food (and amazing vegetable recipes)and follow through now and then, but to organize the food prep routine so we can all partake of healthy foodie food daily!

More Canning & Gardening. We have moved from Ky to Tx and now back to Ky. I liked Tx, especially they're Peaches & Grapefruits. I have missed my Ky Soil and the many friends, and great cooks for the past 4 years. The weather and climate are soooo different here, than in TX.
So Yes, I hope to Garden More, Can More, Learn to be a better cook, Maybe a Photography Class, and Cooking Class. We bought a home with 2 Acres. "I can hardly wait for spring".
Oh, and do more research on local CSA's. I just love local fresh food...
Lastly, I have went to many recipe websites, but I think this one is the Best Ever...
I can just tell, there are so many good cooks and recipes on here. Amazing photographs and easy instructions
"The Sun Shine's Bright, On My Old Kentucky Home"..... :o)

I have moved to a home that is located 1 block from Whole Foods. So I am learning how to only buy each day what I will eat/prepare. Continue to learn and use this method. Minimize waste.

I live pretty sustainably when it comes to food: I can; bake; grow my own garden; only buy local meat; now do charcuterie (thank you Charcutepalooza); and so forth. Soon I'll be making my own crumpets. But this year I want to do two important activities, one directly connected to food and the other tangential to cooking food: make all my own pasta and use as little plastic as possible (ever see the plastic islands not only in the Pacific but now in the Atlantic as well?).

I love all of those resolutions. For me, I want to take food photography classes. You have that down, however, I need to learn the basics and beyond of food photography.