I tried sushi, and didn't hate it!

Here's my attempt at a wrap up.  

• Still sucking at using my cookbooks.  
• I feel like I'm in a cooking rut...again
• I go back to full-time next Wednesday.
• Hunter LOVES going outside. 
• We tried out a new-to-us place last week - it's a sushi/tapas bar.  For a self-professed sushi hater like me, this was awesome; but then I discovered that if you take the cucumber out of a spicy tuna roll, and substitute it with avocado, I don't hate sushi!  Sam is beside himself, as this means he get sushi much more often.  

That's all I've got.  

Progress?

So, before I went on the rant about the Tebow and how much I despise CenturyLink, I had talked about some of my cooking goals.  I'm going to attempt to hold myself accountable, so here's how I'm doing so far:

• I froze my sourdough starter.  Older windows + granite countertops + Glass jar + temperatures outside below 10 deg F = dead starter.  So I'm going to start that over again, and make sure that I keep the starter in a warmer place.  
• I've been really good about trying some of the recipes I have pinned on the Pinterest.  I've decided to edit the pin once I've made the dish, because apparently everyone can see your pins, so some things have been repinned by random people.  
• I've been using more recipes out of my recipe binder things.  yay!
• I'd give myself a B on typing up recipes. 
• Probably a D on higher difficulty recipes. 
• Big fat F on using my cookbooks more.  Although to be fair I think I have a fair amount of recipes in the binder that are actually in a cookbook too.  I know this is true of most of the stuff I have clipped from Cook's Illustrated.  

So, one goal that I didn't mention.  Menu Planning.  I seriously need to get on that.  I don't think I've ever followed a plan for a whole week, but I know it's pretty awesome on the nights that I do, because I don't have to worry about what I'm making.  

How are you doing with goals for the new year?

2012 Plans

Assuming the Mayans weren't right, and the world doesn't end this year, I've got some things that I'd like to do in 2012.  Not necessarily resolutions, per say, because I can't go through with a resolution to save my life, but accomplishments!  

Here's a 2011 recap:

• Got a new job
• Sam got a new job
• Bought a house

Not all that exciting, I know.  Without further ado, here's a list of house-related things I'd like to do in 2012:

• Replace all the damned outlets in the house.  (This is already in progress, and proving to be more difficult then I thought)
• Same for the light switches.
• Swap out bathroom light fixtures.  Currently they're fluorescent lighting. 
• Replace baseboards in the house
• Build raised beds in the backyard
• Pay someone to replace windows. 
• New gutters (woo exciting)

Kitchen related items:

• Project where you put sliding drawers underneath the cabinetry.  This
• Get better at cooking with legumes.  
• Whittle down my recipes - I think one of my binders is thereabouts of 10 lbs now.  
• Sub-goal: make one recipe from the magazine files, a cookbook AND internet bookmarks a week.  So, three new recipes.  
• Sub-sub goal: keep this all organized and type the recipes up in a timely fashion
• Organize, print and bind the recipes I have typed up.  
• Make an awesome sourdough starter. 
• Try at least one higher-difficulty recipe a week.  

Well, that should keep me busy.  What are your goals for this year?  And yes, I have other goals that I'm not putting on the internets.  Some things stay private. 

Oh, one more big goal: get Hunter a friend! (of the non-human variety)

2010

Happy New Year!  Hopefully, everyone had a better New Year's Eve then I did. 

New Year's Resolution #1:  Do not repeat getting sick from what you ate for dinner next New Years Eve.  I know that I probably felt better on New Years Day than some people around me did (something about tequila shots, manhattans and long island iced teas comes to mind).  Now that the hangovers have cleared, and I'm done being sick, it's time to make some resolutions that I am going to try my damnedest to keep.