Monday/27-Jan-20: Scurried around this afternoon to find something for tomorrow's meal to use up the tomato pulp that I mistakenly defrosted.
Dinner was a halfish recipe of Tuscan Chicken Stew (Braises, p70). I thought this was just ok, but Ed liked it more. As suggested, served with Herbed Wide Noodles (Braises, p121), using mafalda as the pasta. A pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each for after.
Tuesday/28-Jan-20: Dinner was Penne with Broccoli (web), sort of. I didn't have enough of any whole wheat pasta so used casareccia*. I made more or less the whole recipe, enough to serve three, not six. But good it was. Some mini ice cream cups for dessert.
*Casareccia is one of my favorite pastas. Usually I get them as De Cecco #88. Last week I bought some as Garafalo #88. Do you suppose that 88 actually has some meaning to the Italian pasta-buying public? I always thought it was just De Cecco's way of numbering their products.
Wednesday/29-Jan-20: Off for a haircut today.
Dinner was pork chops, with ancho sauce from the freezer, leftover beans-and-rice and coleslaw, and polenta squares from the freezer. (I put the squares under the broiler, set the timer, then forgot what I'd set it for, so they got a bit burnt on top. Otherwise they were pretty good. We ate tastily. No dessert.
Thursday/30-Jan-20: Shopping today. As I was cooking dinner I discovered that we managed to come home without a bunch of the veggies I gathered. I think I must have put them in the wrong cart. So someone might have gone home with radishes, broccoli, zucchini, snijbonen, and tomatoes that they didn't think they wanted.
I finished off Paula Wolfert's World of Food today. This one of Wolfert's books wasn't much of a success, but was recommended in Unforgettable as an unrecognized masterpiece. I was disappointed. Wolfert's world is largely France and Mediterranean. Nothing wrong with that food, but it's more limited than the title suggests. We'll see.
Dinner was supposed to Baked Salmon with Charred Onions & Old Bay Radishes (EW/oct19; web). I used the end of a zucchini to replace the radishes. And a can of corn replaced the snijbonen that would have been our side veg. Not bad altogether. Then some pieces of three kings' tart that I got at the boulangerie.
Friday/31-Jan-20: Dinner was Risotto Friuli-Style, with Rosemary and White Wine (MarCuc, p226. I used canned stock, wild instead of beef, since that needed to be used up. My garden rosemary is blooming again. Risotto is comfort food. This was good. Then a big salad. Then a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each.
Saturday/1-Feb-20: While I was making dinner, I made some chocolate tapioca so we'd have a bit of dessert.
Dinner was a half-ish dose of Cajun Cabbage and Noodles (web). I used up some odd bits of whole wheat pasta (penne and fusilli) for the pasta, and didn't do a good job of halving the amount. I used some home-made cajun spice I had in the cupboard rather than make some new. The was pretty good. The smoked sausages (bio) were especially good. I'll look for them again and get some for the freezer if they're still there. We're stuffed.
Yogurt on overnight.
Sunday/2-Feb-20: Dinner was Vodka Marinated Steak (web). This was easy and pretty good. I didn't slice as directed, but served a chunk of meat on each plate. Served with Clothilde Dusoulier's Perfect Roasted Potatoes (web) and some steamed broccoli. Finished the chocolate tapioca for after. We're stuffed.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 BACKLOG: no
This month: #3 GUESTS: no for January, no for February
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW
Monday, January 27, 2020
Monday, January 20, 2020
This week in the kitchen
Monday/20-Jan-20: Dinner was Scallops with Thai Scented Pea Puree (web), that's scallops with mushy peas flavored with Thai green curry paste. Why not? It wasn't bad, but 500g of peas for two people is an awful lot. My 300g of scallops were nine, cut in half. Served with trio rice. We had cake for snacks during the day, so we had some chocolates for after.
Tuesday/21-Jan-20: Ed off to the doctor this evening. Returned from the pharmacy to find Korean Sweet Potato Noodles (Japchae) (web) for his dinner, along with Madhur Jaffrey's Cabbage Kimchee that I started last week. Pretty good stuff. The kimchee would have been better with chineeskool, but it wasn't bad. I only used half of the noodles James sent, so I'll make this again in a few week. More cake for dessert.
Yogurt on overnight.
Wednesday/22-Jan-20: We had dental checkups today in La Rochefoucauld, so we shopped after.
Dinner was Easy Comforting Fish Stew (web); a half recipe served two, but not generously. It was good. Used cod since that was on sale this week. Then we had some St Nectaire that I bought last week and was on its use-by date. Then some of the still-yummy cake for dessert.
Thursday/23-Jan-20: Oscar off to the vet for his shots this afternoon.
Dinner was a half dose of Cuisses de Volaille à la Diable—Deviled Chicken Legs (Franey, p36). I used two thighs per person rather than a whole leg. Delicious these were. The suggested side dish was Asperges Sautées aux Graines de Sésame—Sautéed Asparagus with Sesame Seeds (Franey, p37). It not being asparagus season and me having some snijbonen in the fridge needed to be used, I steamed those, then drained and turned back into the pan with a tiny bit of low-salt soya sauce and some sesame seeds. This is a good way to do any veg, I expect. We also had, sort of, Pommes de Terre au Paprika—Paprika Potatoes (Franey, p93), but with smoked paprika rather than plain. All was good. We finished the cake for dessert. Tastily stuffed we are.
Friday/24-Jan-20: Dinner was Tortellini in Creamy Courgette Sauce (MC); I used the pepper Boursin instead of tuinkruiden kaas. The tortellini were potimorron and onion; I thought these were too sweet. Anyhow, fairly good. Then a big salad. Then some gateaux basques from the boulanger.
Saturday/25-Jan-20: Dinner was a half dose of Angry Pork Tenderloin, a recipe I collected in 1994 from EAT-L; the recipe purports to be from the Feb/93 issue of Chile Pepper Magazine, but that magazine seems to be defunk. (I used to subscribe, and still use a mug that I got as a gift.) This was pretty good. I used only a third of the olive oil asked, since there seemed already to be more than enough sauce for the marinade. It was good, but a trifle sweet. For sides we had All-Purpose Rice and Beans (BigFlav, p262), with Mama's Garlic Coleslaw (MC, HandyBook), and hominy from the freezer. Ed suggested that hominy could be used in place of the rice for the rice-and-bean recipe, and I've made a note. We finished off the sale chocolates for after.
Yogurt on overnight.
Sunday/26-Jan-20: Dinner was Tarte Épinard Pignons (VPG). I used Cyril Lignac's variation with burrata instead of mozzarella and cashews instead of pine nuts. This was pretty good, although the pastry (store-bought pâte feuilletée), was over-browned when the custard was nicely done. Then a grated carrot salad. Then a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 BACKLOG: yes
This month: #3 GUESTS: no
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW
Tuesday/21-Jan-20: Ed off to the doctor this evening. Returned from the pharmacy to find Korean Sweet Potato Noodles (Japchae) (web) for his dinner, along with Madhur Jaffrey's Cabbage Kimchee that I started last week. Pretty good stuff. The kimchee would have been better with chineeskool, but it wasn't bad. I only used half of the noodles James sent, so I'll make this again in a few week. More cake for dessert.
Yogurt on overnight.
Wednesday/22-Jan-20: We had dental checkups today in La Rochefoucauld, so we shopped after.
Dinner was Easy Comforting Fish Stew (web); a half recipe served two, but not generously. It was good. Used cod since that was on sale this week. Then we had some St Nectaire that I bought last week and was on its use-by date. Then some of the still-yummy cake for dessert.
Thursday/23-Jan-20: Oscar off to the vet for his shots this afternoon.
Dinner was a half dose of Cuisses de Volaille à la Diable—Deviled Chicken Legs (Franey, p36). I used two thighs per person rather than a whole leg. Delicious these were. The suggested side dish was Asperges Sautées aux Graines de Sésame—Sautéed Asparagus with Sesame Seeds (Franey, p37). It not being asparagus season and me having some snijbonen in the fridge needed to be used, I steamed those, then drained and turned back into the pan with a tiny bit of low-salt soya sauce and some sesame seeds. This is a good way to do any veg, I expect. We also had, sort of, Pommes de Terre au Paprika—Paprika Potatoes (Franey, p93), but with smoked paprika rather than plain. All was good. We finished the cake for dessert. Tastily stuffed we are.
Friday/24-Jan-20: Dinner was Tortellini in Creamy Courgette Sauce (MC); I used the pepper Boursin instead of tuinkruiden kaas. The tortellini were potimorron and onion; I thought these were too sweet. Anyhow, fairly good. Then a big salad. Then some gateaux basques from the boulanger.
Saturday/25-Jan-20: Dinner was a half dose of Angry Pork Tenderloin, a recipe I collected in 1994 from EAT-L; the recipe purports to be from the Feb/93 issue of Chile Pepper Magazine, but that magazine seems to be defunk. (I used to subscribe, and still use a mug that I got as a gift.) This was pretty good. I used only a third of the olive oil asked, since there seemed already to be more than enough sauce for the marinade. It was good, but a trifle sweet. For sides we had All-Purpose Rice and Beans (BigFlav, p262), with Mama's Garlic Coleslaw (MC, HandyBook), and hominy from the freezer. Ed suggested that hominy could be used in place of the rice for the rice-and-bean recipe, and I've made a note. We finished off the sale chocolates for after.
Yogurt on overnight.
Sunday/26-Jan-20: Dinner was Tarte Épinard Pignons (VPG). I used Cyril Lignac's variation with burrata instead of mozzarella and cashews instead of pine nuts. This was pretty good, although the pastry (store-bought pâte feuilletée), was over-browned when the custard was nicely done. Then a grated carrot salad. Then a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines each.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 BACKLOG: yes
This month: #3 GUESTS: no
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW
Monday, January 13, 2020
This week in the kitchen
Monday/13-Jan-20: Dinner was Spicy Sausage, Spinach, and Mushroom Gnocchi (web). This was simple to make and very tasty, a kind of comfort food. Also the last of my Italian sausage, so that's on the list to make again. I made a salad but neither of us felt like eating it — into the fridge with it for tomorrow. Three chocolates each for dessert.
Tuesday/14-Jan-20: Dinner was Raspberry-Balsamic Glazed Chicken (MC, web, CL/jan98). This is really yummy; I've made it a number or times, but not in quite a while. The raspberry preserves were not seedless, but I won't tell if you don't. Served with trio rice, and fêves that I impulse-bought last week — the first of the season. Then we had the salad left from yesterday. Then we had three chocolates.
Wednesday/15-Jan-20: Dinner was a half recipe of Panang Curry Red Lentil Soup (web). This was easy and very tasty. It did want a bit more salt at the table. Served over brown rice. Then a half recipe of Asian Cucumber and Carrot Salad (web). This was a spiralized creation, quite tasty. I'm not really a spiralizer fan; it's fun, but wastes so much veg. We finished with, yes, three chocolates each. One more night of these, unless they're still on sale.
Thursday/16-Jan-20: Shopping today.
Dinner was James Beard's Swordfish-Olive Pasta (Tenth, p263, also BeardPasta, p101). I thought this was good; Ed thought there were too many olives, even though I cut back the amount a bit. Oh well. Then a salad. Then the last of the chocolates. And there were no more of them on sale at Leclerc. Too bad for us.
Friday/17-Jan-20: I cooked up some chicken sausage today for tomorrow's meal. And started some Cabbage Kimchee (WofE, p379) for a meal early next week; unfortunately there was no Chinese cabbage to be had, so this is regular white cabbage.
Dinner was, very vaguely, a halfish recipe of Double Corn Cakes with Black Beans (VT, web). Having no access to pre-cooked polenta, which I probably wouldn't buy anyhow, I meant to make polenta earlier in the day and put it aside to cool for grilling. But that didn't happen so we just had the bean mixture over slightly cooled polenta. Instead of corn, I used hominy from the freezer. This was okay, but nothing special. Some mini Häagen-Dasz ice cream cups for dessert.
Yogurt on overnight.
Saturday/18-Jan-20: Finished the kimchee this morning. Now it will ripen for several days.
Early meal today. There was a halfish recipe of One-Pot Cream Orzo with Chicken Sausage (web). This was pretty good. It might be even better with broccoli rather than zuke. And crème fraîche or even pyramid cheese instead of cream. But good. I have some extra sausages for lunch in the next days. Then a salad. Then some of the other on-sale chocolates I bought.
Sunday/19-Jan-20: Spent some time today going through my pending "bird" recipes stack. Managed to toss a few. This is hard work; there really are too many good things to make.
I forgot to defrost for tonight's dinner, so we had pizza instead. Instead I made Chipotle Apple Pecan Cake (BH&G/sep05, web). Pretty good it is. (I used sucre de canne for all; reduced sugar in cake to 1-1/4cup.) Also the pizza.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 BACKLOG: no
This month: #3 GUESTS: no
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW
Tuesday/14-Jan-20: Dinner was Raspberry-Balsamic Glazed Chicken (MC, web, CL/jan98). This is really yummy; I've made it a number or times, but not in quite a while. The raspberry preserves were not seedless, but I won't tell if you don't. Served with trio rice, and fêves that I impulse-bought last week — the first of the season. Then we had the salad left from yesterday. Then we had three chocolates.
Wednesday/15-Jan-20: Dinner was a half recipe of Panang Curry Red Lentil Soup (web). This was easy and very tasty. It did want a bit more salt at the table. Served over brown rice. Then a half recipe of Asian Cucumber and Carrot Salad (web). This was a spiralized creation, quite tasty. I'm not really a spiralizer fan; it's fun, but wastes so much veg. We finished with, yes, three chocolates each. One more night of these, unless they're still on sale.
Thursday/16-Jan-20: Shopping today.
Dinner was James Beard's Swordfish-Olive Pasta (Tenth, p263, also BeardPasta, p101). I thought this was good; Ed thought there were too many olives, even though I cut back the amount a bit. Oh well. Then a salad. Then the last of the chocolates. And there were no more of them on sale at Leclerc. Too bad for us.
Friday/17-Jan-20: I cooked up some chicken sausage today for tomorrow's meal. And started some Cabbage Kimchee (WofE, p379) for a meal early next week; unfortunately there was no Chinese cabbage to be had, so this is regular white cabbage.
Dinner was, very vaguely, a halfish recipe of Double Corn Cakes with Black Beans (VT, web). Having no access to pre-cooked polenta, which I probably wouldn't buy anyhow, I meant to make polenta earlier in the day and put it aside to cool for grilling. But that didn't happen so we just had the bean mixture over slightly cooled polenta. Instead of corn, I used hominy from the freezer. This was okay, but nothing special. Some mini Häagen-Dasz ice cream cups for dessert.
Yogurt on overnight.
Saturday/18-Jan-20: Finished the kimchee this morning. Now it will ripen for several days.
Early meal today. There was a halfish recipe of One-Pot Cream Orzo with Chicken Sausage (web). This was pretty good. It might be even better with broccoli rather than zuke. And crème fraîche or even pyramid cheese instead of cream. But good. I have some extra sausages for lunch in the next days. Then a salad. Then some of the other on-sale chocolates I bought.
Sunday/19-Jan-20: Spent some time today going through my pending "bird" recipes stack. Managed to toss a few. This is hard work; there really are too many good things to make.
I forgot to defrost for tonight's dinner, so we had pizza instead. Instead I made Chipotle Apple Pecan Cake (BH&G/sep05, web). Pretty good it is. (I used sucre de canne for all; reduced sugar in cake to 1-1/4cup.) Also the pizza.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 3; #2 BACKLOG: no
This month: #3 GUESTS: no
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW
Monday, January 6, 2020
This week in the kitchen
Monday/6-Jan-20: Last shopping day, I finished The New York Times 60-Minute Gourmet, by Pierre Franey. This was a good read and came away with many, probably too many, tagged recipes. The head notes to each recipe/menu could be gathered in a book by themselves.
Dinner was Chickpea, Spinach and Sweet Potato Soup (Ainsley2, p26; cookbooker). This was amazingly tasty. We each had a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.
Yogurt on overnight.
Tuesday/7-Jan-20: Dinner was a made-up stuffed bell peppers, with a stuffing made of short-grain brown rice, cooked pork from the freezer, onion, garlic, parsley, and some grated Parmesan. The sauce was as mixture of bits from the freezer, chipotle-tomato sauce, ancho sauce, and tomato paste. Turned out pretty good. Served with some chunks of snijbonen, a bit undercooked.
Wednesday/8-Jan-20: Dinner was a half dose of Linguine with Lemon, Garlic and Thyme Mushrooms (web). I have the feeling I've made this before, but I'm too lazy to search and see for sure. Anyhow, it was good. Easy in the day, I roasted the rest of the Brussels sprouts on hand, then marinated them per my usual recipe. The pasta was followed by a salad topped with sprouts. Then we finished off some on-sale holiday chocolates.
Later: Turns out I have made this pasta dish before; it's on the Do-me-again page. And, in the next days, it appeared in Nigella's daily email.
Thursday/9-Jan-20: Shopping today. Bought some more, different, on-sale holiday chocolates.
Dinner was Parmentier de Saumon aux Poireaux, Sauce Curry (VPG). (Couldn't find an online version.) This turned out pretty good. I broiled the fish, then flaked the meat. The potatoes and leeks were riced to make the smashed potato topping; this is really the best way to do this. Instead of serving the curry sauce on the size, I spooned it over the salmon before adding the potato topping. The recipe didn't call for baking, but I did for a while, till the potatoes started getting some brown tips. Then a small, simple salad. Then some chaource, which was on sale this week. Then some millas, that I got at the boulangerie. This seems to be a speciality of the Charente, a kind of flan made with corn flour. We split a piece; that was more than enough.
Friday/10-Jan-20: Dinner was A Good Hash (Tenth, p228), made with cooked lamb from the freezer. This was pretty tasty, if nothing dramatic. It didn't brown as she described, but it was still tasty. Served with some roasted broccoli and cauliflower. For dessert, some we started on a package of holiday chocolates, which will end up being seven nights of three each.
Saturday/11-Jan-20: Dinner was Roasted Chickpeas, Mushrooms, Artichokes, and Tomatoes (VegHarv, p146), using up the last of the tomato passata from the potager, rather than making Wells' Rustic Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce. Served over brown rice. This was good and is more or less straight from the pantry, except for the mushrooms. Three more chocolates for dessert.
Sunday/12-Jan-20: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Date and Preserved Lemons (web), made with four thighs rather than two game hens. (These were supposed to be 24oz each. Don't I remember that they used to be 14oz or 18oz? Somewhere around 1lb.) This was quite tasty. Served with a half recipe of Carrot Salad (Couscous, p75), made with three colors of carrots. And some Moroccan couscous. Pretty good stuff, all. Then we finished the chaource. Then we had three more chocolates.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 BACKLOG: no
This month: #3 GUESTS: no
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW
Dinner was Chickpea, Spinach and Sweet Potato Soup (Ainsley2, p26; cookbooker). This was amazingly tasty. We each had a pair of chocolate-covered madeleines for after.
Yogurt on overnight.
Tuesday/7-Jan-20: Dinner was a made-up stuffed bell peppers, with a stuffing made of short-grain brown rice, cooked pork from the freezer, onion, garlic, parsley, and some grated Parmesan. The sauce was as mixture of bits from the freezer, chipotle-tomato sauce, ancho sauce, and tomato paste. Turned out pretty good. Served with some chunks of snijbonen, a bit undercooked.
Wednesday/8-Jan-20: Dinner was a half dose of Linguine with Lemon, Garlic and Thyme Mushrooms (web). I have the feeling I've made this before, but I'm too lazy to search and see for sure. Anyhow, it was good. Easy in the day, I roasted the rest of the Brussels sprouts on hand, then marinated them per my usual recipe. The pasta was followed by a salad topped with sprouts. Then we finished off some on-sale holiday chocolates.
Later: Turns out I have made this pasta dish before; it's on the Do-me-again page. And, in the next days, it appeared in Nigella's daily email.
Thursday/9-Jan-20: Shopping today. Bought some more, different, on-sale holiday chocolates.
Dinner was Parmentier de Saumon aux Poireaux, Sauce Curry (VPG). (Couldn't find an online version.) This turned out pretty good. I broiled the fish, then flaked the meat. The potatoes and leeks were riced to make the smashed potato topping; this is really the best way to do this. Instead of serving the curry sauce on the size, I spooned it over the salmon before adding the potato topping. The recipe didn't call for baking, but I did for a while, till the potatoes started getting some brown tips. Then a small, simple salad. Then some chaource, which was on sale this week. Then some millas, that I got at the boulangerie. This seems to be a speciality of the Charente, a kind of flan made with corn flour. We split a piece; that was more than enough.
Friday/10-Jan-20: Dinner was A Good Hash (Tenth, p228), made with cooked lamb from the freezer. This was pretty tasty, if nothing dramatic. It didn't brown as she described, but it was still tasty. Served with some roasted broccoli and cauliflower. For dessert, some we started on a package of holiday chocolates, which will end up being seven nights of three each.
Saturday/11-Jan-20: Dinner was Roasted Chickpeas, Mushrooms, Artichokes, and Tomatoes (VegHarv, p146), using up the last of the tomato passata from the potager, rather than making Wells' Rustic Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce. Served over brown rice. This was good and is more or less straight from the pantry, except for the mushrooms. Three more chocolates for dessert.
Sunday/12-Jan-20: Dinner was a halfish recipe of Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Date and Preserved Lemons (web), made with four thighs rather than two game hens. (These were supposed to be 24oz each. Don't I remember that they used to be 14oz or 18oz? Somewhere around 1lb.) This was quite tasty. Served with a half recipe of Carrot Salad (Couscous, p75), made with three colors of carrots. And some Moroccan couscous. Pretty good stuff, all. Then we finished the chaource. Then we had three more chocolates.
Progress on goals
This week: #1 VEG/FISH: 4; #2 BACKLOG: no
This month: #3 GUESTS: no
This year: #4 SHORT: no; #5 LONG: no
On-going: #6 READ; #7 RECYCLE; #8 NEW
Wednesday, January 1, 2020
New Year's Day 2020
This meal turned out greatly simplified since I've still not get my energy or appetite back. And I forgot to take a photo of my plate, with its tiny servings, so it's just the pictures of the dishes served.
The main was Lamb with Spinach (MJInvite, p73). This wasn't hard to do, but I always forget how long it takes to cut up and brown the meat bits. Otherwise it's fairly simple to put together. And tasty. We have lots of leftovers, of course, now in the freezer.
The main was Lamb with Spinach (MJInvite, p73). This wasn't hard to do, but I always forget how long it takes to cut up and brown the meat bits. Otherwise it's fairly simple to put together. And tasty. We have lots of leftovers, of course, now in the freezer.
For a vegetable there was The Lake Palace Hotel's Aubergine Cooked in the Pickling Style— Bargan Achari (MJ1, p100; cookbooker). I'm sorry not to have made this before, because it was especially delicious to me. Instead of deep frying the eggplant bits, I tossed them with some olive oil and cooked them under the broiler. Easy and tasty.
And then there was Aromatic Yellow Rice—Peelay Chaaval (MJ1, p153). I didn't soak the rice and it was fine, and very aromatic.
No dessert. Ed had a piece of three kings' cake earlier in the day. I didn't, but didn't need any more.
Kitchen goals old and new
Kitchen goals for 2019
Altogether, I didn't do that well on 2019's kitchen goals. It was not a good year altogether, but we muddled through.
- Backlog — Although I have spent bits of time thinning various piles of recipes throughout the house, I've spent hardly any time on the stack in the cookbook area. What I've been recording is only the work in the cookbook area, so maybe that's not completely fair. Some small progress, but not very visible.
- Veg/fish meals — Averaged more than three vegetarian or fish meals per week. Not too bad.
- Cookbook — Enjoyed this for the first months of the year, but gave it up after August. The stress from the Neighbor from Hell situation took away much of my desire to cook at all.
- Pasta — Didn't make pasta once this year. For much of the year the counter was full of Stuff, mostly foodstuff that I inherited or received as a gift and don't have a place to put up. Lack of energy is another factor. Hope this doesn't mean I should give up pasta-making.
- Bread — I did make some bread this year. I have the feeling that I made more than I managed to record. Have spent a bit of time trying to figure out how to fit bread-making into the day so I could, perhaps, make a loaf weekly. Should follow this through.
- Guests — We had guests several times, but not enough.
- Project — Got my Three Kings' Cake made on the penultimate day of the year. Have a nice list of quick and long projects that I'd like to do.
Kitchen goals for 2020
These goals do help me focus on things I'd like to do, so I think I should continue keeping them. For 2020, I think I'll skip the bread and pasta ones for this year, because it's too depressing that I've been so unsuccessful with these.
- Veg/fish — As I've been doing, count vegetarian and fish meals, just to be sure that I'm cooking at least three per week.
- Backlog — Continue working to clear out recipes. I need to work a bit more aggressively on this before we're buried in recipe clippings. Measure: Whenever I spend more than 5 minutes sorting, tossing, or filing recipe clippings, that week gets a Yes.
- Guests — At least once a month we should have someone over for a meal.
- Short — This year I want to do at least one of my short (completed in one day) food-related projects.
- Long — And at least one of my long projects (that takes more than one day).
- Read — Usually on the way to and from the grocery store I read a cookbook. For every book I read, I mean to show it on this blog, to add it to the Cookbooks page, to write a paragraph about it on my weekly page, and to add interesting dishes into my OnThePlan spreadsheet.
- Recycle — This is painful, but in the interest of reducing the number of cookbooks I have, I'll recycle at least 30 cookbooks. That will be about 5% of what I currently have.
- New — Add no more than five cookbooks to my collection this year. If I exceed this number, the Recycle goal will increase correspondingly.
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