The Usual Look Back

Time for the standard evaluation of the past year's goals, and the setting of some for 2011. I think one goal must be to keep better track of my goals, since after August the whole enterprise went by the wayside. So did a lot of other things. When I wrote these out at the end of last year, I didn't expect to be having a baby.

• Financial -- Blown in a big way, what with moving and buying the van. We did pay off one of the credit cards, and an another unexpected event (my company being bought) should allow us to pay off the other one.
• Health -- Also blown, given that I quit exercising in July. 
• Food-Related -- Hit or miss, and I can't entirely blame pregnancy for this one. My energy level did suffer a lot from our crazy summer and autumn.
• Writing -- I didn't get done what I wanted to, but I did get a lot done, including a second NaNoWriMo win. 
• Reading -- More hits than misses.
• Birthday observance -- Started well, then lost it over the summer.

All of which misses the point of the year, unexpected as it all was. Miriam is the sweetest baby one could wish for. The move was exhausting and difficult, but we're glad we did it; we like our new place, and our new town, and my new commute. We got rid of a lot of stuff we didn't need any more, and got some new things we've been needing for a while. I might not have been tracking my cooking well, but we have eaten well much of the time.

My hopes for 2011 are for recuperation and exploration.

• Financial -- The emergency fund needs to be replenished, we have three college educations to think about, and of course we still hope to buy a house someday.
• Writing -- Empire goes out to agents in February. If no one likes it, it goes in the drawer, under a rock. I'll also be working on a proper draft of last year's NaNoWriMo project.
• Do Things -- This is a new one. I want to get out and about in New England, to see our friends, and to take advantage of the wonderful resources of this region.
• Food -- I'll shoot again for at least one new recipe per week, and a blog entry for it. I hope to spend some time on ways to make my kitchen more efficient, to smooth out our weeknights as much as possible.
  

I would like to make exercise a goal, but experience tells me that rarely works with nursing; there's only so much time in a day. I'll work on my eating habits and see how the weight loss goes.

I've also been hearing about the 365 project, which sounds like it would be fun, but I'm not so good at forming new habits unless they fit into a particular time slot.

So that's it, and there's nothing too ambitious on the list. May 2010 go out in peace, and the new year be all that you wish for. 

How I Spent November

Retail Therapy

During the long, long week and a half we spent waiting for Mimi to arrive, and the long, long days I spent having contractions that didn't get anywhere, I must confess to having vented some of my frustration by shopping. I splurged at Penzeys,

indulged myself at amazon.com,

and after our daughter finally decided to join us out in the world, reached an agreement with my mom in which we would split the cost of a new, 6-quart stand mixer as an early Christmas gift--replacing the smaller one that has been used pretty darn hard for the ten years I've had it, and which spews flour all over the place every time I start it.

I don't think I'll be getting anything else for Christmas now, but I'm going to have a lot of fun!

Today is the next-to-last market of the season. The temperatures have gotten sharply colder. It's time to snuggle down and think warm thoughts, turn on the oven, dig out the hats and mittens, and buy root vegetables.

Where I've Been

Kind of a weird week here

I woke up at 2 a.m. on Tuesday feeling crampy. This being exactly how labor started with JJ, we figured things were getting underway. We kept on thinking that for the next couple of days, but as I am posting this on Saturday, still babyless, you can infer that this was not the case. It's been pretty exhausting and frustrating; having an occasional contraction seems like a cruel tease on nature's part.

What with trips to the hospital and fretting, I didn't end up doing nearly as much cooking (or anything else) as I was planning to last week, but these new recipes made it in before things got stressful:

• Chicken fried rice with bok choy -- Excellent. I even got L to eat some of it, by keeping the various pieces separate for her consumption.
• Bo nuong cha (about halfway down the page)-- A lot of trouble to make and to eat, but totally yummy; a keeper

At least the false alarm gave us a chance to get things sorted out at home; the baby's room has been cleared of moving boxes, the clothes are washed, the car seat installed. Yesterday I went in for my trifecta of appointments: ultrasound to check fluid levels (fine), non-stress test to make sure the baby's doing okay (fine), general -purpose appointment with one of the midwives (fine, though they have a whole new batch of them who all seem terribly young).

We made it to the market this morning regardless--a bright, chilly day after yesterday's storm, the first one that has really felt like autumn to me--and made the rounds. I have been trying to buy some meat there every week, stocking up the freezer, but I am a bad locavore, since I have not yet been able to bring myself to pay $25 for a chicken.

Back at home, we had what is becoming our traditional post-market lunch of fresh mozzarella on focaccia with sliced tomato--quite possibly the last tomato of the summer. I am planning next week's menus, and feeling more than a little grumpy about, well, everything. I am going to try to put that grumpiness to some productive use this afternoon, but we'll see.

No links this week because most of these are improv to at least some extent:

• Zucchini fritatta; squash soup
• Braised chicken and root vegetables; mashed potatoes
• Pizza
• Pasta with beans and broccoli
• Something in which I can use Thai peppers (so cute I had to buy them) and bok choy
• Calzones with chard and....?

It would be nice to get some baking done, too, but I've been saying that for weeks now and haven't managed to do any.

The Return of Supper Club?

Me being me, one of the first things I did after we moved was go hunting for people to cook with. Having no luck with Meetup.com, I went back to the good old Cooking Light forums and found an old post for a group in the area that was looking for new members. A couple of emails later, and the arrangements were made for a meeting at the end of September.

Every group has slightly different customs, and of course lots of them try to change things up a little bit with every meeting. The host for this one picked an herb theme. I offered to do an appetizer, on the theory that a) I don't get many chances to make those and b) if I ended up missing the dinner due to baby's arrival, I wouldn't be deleting an essential part of the meal. Once we had all settled on a course, the host sent out randomly selected herbs to be part of each person's dish; mine turned out to be rosemary.

A wonderful, easily available herb. Yay. As the weeks went by, I did some searching. I found plenty of recipes that sounded good, but they tended to have one thing in common: they were really easy. I didn't necessarily hope to knock everyone's socks off with gourmet flair (alas, this is not the Noble Pig), but I was anxious to show that I do like to cook and would be a committed member of the group. So I decided I would do three different dishes; none of them would be difficult, but the variety might be nice.

• Rosemary Roasted Cashews
• Rosemary-Lemon White Bean Dip
• Rosemary-Apple Bread

I did all of my shopping on Saturday; alas, no rosemary at the farmer's market, but I did find some fresh at Stop&Shop. Sunday dawned mercifully cooler than the previous day (late pregnancy does little to enhance one's ability to appreciate unseasonal warmth--I would rather it snowed tomorrow than hit 85 again).

The cashews were first. Five minutes' work, if that, and they smelled fantastic. Next up, the dip. Again, five minutes, and the food processor did nearly all of the work. The bread was the only thing that required anything resembling effort, and that not much. I haven't made bread in ages.

Everything was well received, but the bread made the biggest splash (someone wanted to know where it had been purchased!). In addition we had butternut squash ravioli with sage, brown butter, and hazelnuts; a dish of chicken, mushrooms, and tomatoes with tarragon; an orzo salad with tomatoes and oregano; and cookies made with basil (which was... interesting). I met a bunch of the group and had a very pleasant evening; most of them have kids and one is due any day now, so there was plenty of built-in conversational material there.

I'm not likely to make any meetings arranged for October, but we'll see how things go after that.

Last week, this week menus

Closing in on the end of this pregnancy (2 1/2 weeks to go, more or less). Tthings are going well. We've been shopping for baby things, we got the van inspected, and the baby's room is slowly taking shape (though it does still have the curtains the previous tenants left, which are black). We think we have a name.

I haven't bothered to pack a bag for the hospital; previous experience suggests that labor is proof against pretty much all distractions, that you may as well go home in the clothes you arrived in because you still look pregnant, and that the baby will be professionally swaddled the whole time and oblivious to any adorable outfits you attempt to impose.

Last week's recipes turned out thusly:

• Eggplant and fig caponata -- Excellent as always, the only problem is that one tends to eat too much of it on this fantastic foccaccia and can hardly eat any dinner.  
• Red Potato and Tomato Gratin -- Just okay, a lot of work for what you get out of it; I doubt I'll make it again.
• Spiced Kuri Squash and Chicken Stew --  Really good. The squash turned out to be very dense and not too sweet, and went marvelously with the spice. I wish I had used both squash and skipped the chicken. Seriously.
• North Woods Bean Soup -- Old standby for a reason. She ate two helpings = success. 
• Mushroom and Fettucine with Red Pepper Flakes -- Excellent! I didn't have as many mushrooms as recommended, added some sliced up pattypan squash. It was really good..
• Couscous Salad with Chickpeas and Tomatoes -- Haven't made this in a long time; it remains an excellent recipe

This week should include:

• Chicken fried rice with bok choy
• Bo nuong cha (about halfway down the page)
• Improv pasta salad
• Stuffed squash
• Chicken with linguine, leeks and tomatoes

Tonight, assuming I don't have a baby, I'll be meeting with a new supper club for the first time, but I'll try to blog that separately.