Larocque and Roll

A year of eating interestingly

I’m not that bad at making resolutions and keeping them for a few months, but I’m really bad at keeping them for a whole year. And I’m getting to be Of An Age where self-improvement should be ongoing, not just something I resolve to do once a year. So rather than set a whole lot of arbitrary goals to try and stick to, I decided to pick a theme to guide me through the year. And the theme I picked? The Year of Culinary Experimentation!

The idea came to me while I was on my way home after Christmas. I was in a Second Cup in Toronto and saw that they had raspberry white chocolate scones, which I hadn’t had for a number of years ¹ and was inspired. I loved those damn things, and while I wouldn’t want to eat them more than once in a while ² they would be something I could add to my playlist.

That got me thinking of other things I want to bake or cook, the tools I had, and what skills I want to learn. Once I got home, I made a list of things I’d thought about, and decided that over the coming year, I want to try and make them. Some of them are simple, some… not so much, but all are things I know I and my family/friends would enjoy.

• White chocolate raspberry scones – I made these a few weeks ago, and I have pictures and a recipe to share.
• Bread – growing up, my mom always made bread. It makes the house smell good, and I can’t think of a better reason to try making it.
• Samosas – love these! And, from what I understand, they’re not all that hard to make.
• Pumpkin ravioli – I have a pasta maker, and I have a ravioli form. I tried making ravioli a few years ago, and it was a disaster. However, I learned my lessons, and I think I can make them without messing up too badly.
• Lasagna – see above about the pasta maker. Plus, it’s something that would be great to stick in the freezer for those times when I can’t be bothered cooking supper.
• Quiche/Bad Baby Pie ³ – this is something I would definitely share, since it’s too rich to eat by myself.
• Cheese fondue – it’s better that you just accept this and move on to the next item.
• Flourless chocolate cake – guess what I’m making for my birthday cake?
• Spring rolls – these are just about my favourite thing at Thai and Vietnamese restaurants.
• Cinnamon rolls – not like sweet bread-type rolls, but like the ones at the market in Halifax. This is going to be a challenge because I’m not really sure what the base is. Some kind of pastry or biscuit, I think.
• Manicotti – another good frozen food.
• Apricot red lentil soup – one of my favourite local restaurants ⁴ often has this as their Soup of the Day. It’s sweet and hearty, and it makes me deliriously happy when I eat it.

On top of that, I have a few other goals:

• Host at least four dinner parties, one for each season. The guest list shouldn’t be the same every time, but the same person can attend more than once.
• Clean out my freezer, and keep it stocked with only the necessities. The freezer on my fridge is narrow and doesn’t have a lot of room, and while a chest freezer, even a small one, would be an asset for preserving food, I also think it would be too easy to fill it and forget it. As of now, I only buy things to freeze if I know I’m going to use it in the coming week, or if it’s something like frozen fruit or vegetables that I might need. I’d like to have a few frozen meals, preferably that I’ve made myself, on hand in case I don’t feel like cooking dinner.
• Plant more vegetables and herbs in my (admittedly small) garden. I tried planting tomatoes and squash last year, and it was not a success. Granted, that may have had more to do with the lousy weather than my ability to grow things. As for herbs, I had some cute little pots that I got last year which will be perfect for some fancier things like cilantro and cinnamon basil, while the more standard fare like rosemary and parsley can go in the garden.
• Have more meatless weeks. I’ve tried in the past to set aside at least one week a month to go without eating meat, although I may have cheated when it came to lunches. I have a really great vegetarian cookbook, not to mention the several at the library, from which I can find tasty things to make, like the Curried Chickpeas I had on the weekend. I’m also aiming to make my lunches meat-free, and to go for longer than a week at a time.

And, as I’m trying to get back into the habit of blogging more often, I’m going to endeavor to post about all of these attempts.