Foodie Resolutions

1. My cupboards need organizing. Badly. I think a set of canisters will help with this, or a large amount of clear glass jars. Right now I have items from the bulk section in plastic bags, all intertwined and piled on each other. It's hard to find anything in the heap.

2. I want to become a bread baker. Okay, I want either me or my husband to become a bread baker. I think he'll be better at it, actually. He's more of a stickler for detail when it comes to cooking, where I like to substitute and improvise, which doesn't go well when you are baking. Anyway, I love good crusty artisan-style bread, and I've been meaning to learn how to make it at home for awhile now. I think this is the year. We have the book Crust and Crumb, which will be our guide.

3. I want to can, freeze and otherwise preserve more food this summer. I did can grape juice last year, but had to give it away when we moved. It's hard to know when we'll move again, but I still want to fill my freezer and shelves with summer bounty to hold us through the winter. It's in my genes. Mennonites are champions at this. It's about time I did it. This summer, all we managed to do was freeze half a bag of wild blueberries. It's a start.

4. Speaking of being Mennonite, I need to pay more attention to the cost of groceries. This is one area where I've been much more gourmet than Mennonite. I just buy what I want, regardless of the price. There's a certain purity to that but I need to be a little more practical. Someday our income might not be what it is now, and I should be a little more aware of what I'm spending on food in preparation for that. I'm still going to splurge on some items (good cheese, local produce, chocolate, fresh seafood, the occasional bottle of wine) but there are some areas where I could spend less. I could at least pay attention to sales.

5. Make homemade ice cream! Okay, that's an easy one, but I had to give myself something attainable. I got the ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid Mixer as a Christmas present from my parents. It requires some planning ahead (the bowl has to be in the freezer for 15 hours before making the ice cream, and the batter must be mixed and chilled for a few hours) but I think it'll be great fun to make blueberry ice cream, pumpkin ice cream, cinnamon ice cream...yum.

6. Try more seafood. I live in Alaska. I grew up in land-locked western New York, though, where the only seafood available is bland and white-fleshed fish, rolled in batter and deep-fried. Since moving here I have learned to love salmon (that was easy!) and found some fun ways to cook halibut. I can occasionally be persuaded to eat shrimp, but so far I'm not that excited about it. I need to branch out and eat more varieties of fish. I'm not so sure if I'll ever like shellfish but I'd be willing to try some.

7. Have more people over for dinner. I love to cook and to have people over. So far I've been shy about asking people to dinner, worrying mostly about scheduling conflicts. We tend to eat dinner late. I'll try for weekends, maybe.

Whew. That's enough of a list for now. I'd love to hear thoughts, recipes, helpful tips, anything! Happy New Year, by the way!