Cooking Plans for the New Year

One thing I really love about Christmas is that I almost always get cookbooks, ingredients, and new kitchen toys. This year was no exception. Big J got me Ad Hoc and his mom got me Supernatural Cooking. Big J's brother and his partner sent me an ebleskiver pan and some exceptional spices made from their garden. Clearly there are lots of good meals on the way at That Girl's home!

Big J asked me last night what my cooking plans were for the new year. Here are a few things I would like to work on:

• Cutting up a chicken. I really don't like touching raw chicken, let alone cutting one up. This is going to be a challenge!
• Pie crust. I admit it...I'm not good at pie crust, and I really want to be!
• Canning. I would love to do more of this in the coming year.
• Fresh pasta. I'd like to be able to make a killer ravioli and learn more techniques for shaping.
• Using whole grains. One of the things that I am excited about with Supernatural Cooking is learning about different kinds of grains and how to incorporate them into our meals.
• New meats. I really want to cook duck; make beef cheeks; and generally experiment with some new (to me) and not so common meats and cuts of meat.

It could be an exciting food year!