OK, how did we get to the end of a quarter century already? Wasn’t it just yesterday that we were all saying “Oh wow - the Year 2000 is so weird to say!” And we were all talking about Y2K and how the world was going to shut down. But that didn’t happen, thanks to many, many IT people who worked tirelessly behind the scenes for several years prior, updating computers to work with a 4-digit year instead of the previously used 2 digits.
How time flies when we’re having fun, yes? Our interests in food has changed in 25 years as well.
2000 - Cupcakes were a big trend.
2004 - McDonald’s ended its super-sizing after Morgan Spurlock’s documentary “Super Size Me!” came out.
2007 - The word “locavore” came into regular use as sustainability and eating local-to-us foods became more popular.
2010 - Food trucks became much more prevalent. They seem ubiquitous now, don’t they?
2016 - Everything Matcha and poke bowls became popular.
2020 - Homemade no-knead bread became the latest thing due to the pandemic. Cooking at home became a necessity for so many.
Who knows what 2025 will bring? Only you do - so what’s going on your tables in January 2025?
Happy new year — happiness, harmony, good health, and good eats to all.
We started with a bang — my mom ordered U-5 prawns (under 5 in a kilo) from the fishmonger — they were my dad’s signature splurge and one of his favorite things to eat and share.
Seasoned simply with salt, chilli powder, turmeric, garlic, and lemon juice, and then pan-fried.
They were massive with only 3 to a kilo — just the body longer than the span of my hand.
And really delicious and sweet.
My sib came via his favorite seafood place in London and remarked that the colossal prawns he ate there were less than half the size of these for some ludicrous expense account price.
I made masoor dal fry and rice to go with — dal, rice, and pan-fried seafood is the classic combo in our family.
We also had some vegetables on the side (mainly for the vegetarians today, haha) — broad beans with dumplings, cauliflower, and long beans (separately).
And mango pulp aka aam ras.
Also jalebis and boondi laddoos and mishti doi (caramelized yogurt) because mom decided that’s how the new year was going to start (She also ordered sweets and savory snacks for all the building staff, so everyone was well-caloried today )
I made chicken enchilada-esque lasagna with chipotle tomato sauce, “Mexican blend” cheese, black beans, and sour cream. It was aight. Leftovers will hopefully be better. To be fair, the kiddo loved it.
His 'n hers steamed broccoli and a bagged Texas-ranch salad for sides.
Spent a very lazy, very cozy New Year’s Day hanging out in my PJs, cuddling with the chonk, and reading — occasionally distracted by unseasonal & incredibly annoying pests that will hopefully be taken care of before the weekend
Nasty lil buggers.
Currently hanging out with the gang at their place. They’re watching football, I’m reading.
Will pick up takeout from the mediocre Indian on our way home, as my PIC’s got a hankering
I don’t do sauerkraut on Jan. 1st (or ever), but pork? Hellz yes!
Roasted pork tenderloin, seasoned with olive oil, Herbs de Provence, dried orange peel, and s/p. Plum Ketchup alongside.
Roasted purple and yellow potatoes, tossed with olive oil and seasoned with McCormick Garlic-Herb seasoning and s/p and steamed buttered green beans were the veg.
There was wine.
Back to work F/T tomorrow. If I get tired, I’ll leave early.
I would recommed Terro liquid ant baits. They swarm the bait traps and bring it back to the home nest. We used them at work in our old space (the area that flooded) and within 1-2 hours, my then-CFO came over in a panic saying “Linda, there are HUNDREDS of the ants on the concrete windowsill” Yup. Told him to wait until the next morning, and they’d be mostly gone. And they were.
Our daughter made some deviled eggs and we made one of our very rare repeats - fusion cuisine with Southern-style pork vindaloo and green bean verakka with cardamom cornbread from “My Two Souths” by Asha Gomez
and we were in the mood for heat to wake us up a bit. We ordered both the mutter paneer & the chicken makhani HOT. The mutter paneer (one of my faves) had a nice kick, but the chicken had zero heat. We dig the tomato sauce, tho, so it’s all good
Given your love of heat, you’d probably want to add some of your Thai chiles in addition to the mild chile powder in the ingredient list. Her cookbook also has a Jain style one that is alium free, but thickened with cashews that is also fantastic.
Throwing this up here because you put that you wanted to cook more new recipes this year in the resolution thread
I’ve not made Indian food at home, but if you say this is easy I’ll give it a shot. We have an Indian grocer that’s pretty well-stocked, and paneer is available at most supermarkets these days, I think (?). I would def kick up the heat level!
I think it’s pretty easy; the key is prepping everything before you fire up your pan to start cooking. If your mise is tight, then it’s smooth sailing!
Black-eyed peas for luck. We’re going to need it. Onions sauteed in bacon fat, collards, ham hock, chicken broth. Warm baguette and butter. H₂O, I’m going to try dry January.
(She also ordered sweets and savory snacks for all the building staff, so everyone was well-caloried today 
)
