working at mastering oven-braised stews.
continue to work on my vegetable gardening skills.
working at cutting out the snacking after dinner. A bad habit I picked up in 2020
continue to make soups most nights
working on a clear chicken broth and clear beef broth
So, we’re a few days in - how are your resolutions coming along? I managed to turn my summer harvest of elderberries into 12 half-pints of jelly yesterday, and made a batch of garlic scape dumplings (using up frozen garlic scapes and wrappers that were starting to get a bit freezer burned on the edges). There is officially room in the freezer now for some new food, but I’m going to continue running down my stash until at least February, as I wait for another cold snap to defrost!
So far, pretty good!
I have made 2 soups since Jan 1st, and I purchased a cabbage borscht from a deli for my dinner tonight.
So far last night’s salmon salad was a reasonable sized portion. I had pasta the last two nights and had portions that were way too big 
oh well one meal out of three isn’t so bad? I still have 362 days of the year left to work on my portion sizes!
That’s the best list of resolutions I’ve seen! 
Anyone have some Lunar New Year Resolutions?
Happy Lunar New Year to everyone celebrating!
This summer I am going to cook a chicken inside a watermelon. Saw this on you tube .Cooking show from the Ukraine. Hollowed out filled with peppers, onions, apple , paprika, browned cut up chicken and other spices. Top of watermelon cut off a couple inches down laying on it side . Filled . Top put back on then wrapped in foil . Placed in a pan . I dont have the wood burning oven but will cook it in the oven . Genius.
I’ll be curious to see the results. I am guessing it’s like a braise inside the melon? Does the meat of the melon impart any flavor, or what’s the point of this method?
We will see . I think it would . It just looked so cool .
I’ve never eaten at a hotpot restaurant. Something I want to do fairly soon.
@ChimayoJoe A friend of mine and I go to hotpot every couple of months. It’s a lot of fun! Hope you get to one soon.
I think you will love it, especially if you enjoy Sichuan cuisine.
Our love for hot pot inspired us to get a hot plate, and we make our own regularly. A fun and very low effort dinner.
