Plans for 2011

Since it's nearing the end of the year, I think it's time to take stock of what I've accomplished this year, and what I can attempt next year.

Tasks Completed in 2010:

-- canned pickles, not all recipes are created equal :-P
-- gathered many jars and 3-gallon buckets
-- found a great apartment with pantry space and gardening space (although shaded)
-- shopped at the Farmer's Market weekly to learn seasonal eating
-- learned many interesting recipes with cabbage and also zucchini
-- harvested lots of rose hips, and both dried and made syrup with them
-- made an effort to eat home more
-- made my first pair of socks
-- celebrated the holidays frugally and with minimal purchasing
-- scavenged local grapes
-- made liqueurs/cordials

Plans for 2011:

-- actually garden this year. I still have seeds that never got planted last year, so I will work on shade-loving plants outside, and using the large south-facing window in our new living room for such plants as tomatoes.
-- store 6 months of food for Mister and I
-- eat out of the pantry better
-- keep our budget down
-- put up more food beyond pickles, applesauce and grape cider
-- do UPick at least once a month while it's running (berries, apples, etc.)
-- involve more friends in the food process of pantry building (R, you're around next summer, right? Wanna help build up my pantry?)
-- learn to utilize spices better -- you do not want to know how bland my food is :-P
-- make more liqueurs/cordials and perhaps gift them!
-- aim to have all gifts be handmade
-- look into the possibilities of chickens
-- get a cat and try to train it as a mouser
-- learn more seasonal scavenging
-- make my own bread

Lots of Cooking

So on Thursday (initially intended for Wednesday night) I made a stir-fry. It's been SO LONG since I've made one, that people who've only had my cooking within the past 6 months or so don't honestly know that a stir-fry used to be my standby (it's apparently now baked pasta :-P). Very tasty, in case you were wondering!

Friday night, Mister and I went out for Tex-Mex, as we had to go shopping, and neither of us had eaten much that day.

Saturday night, Mister and I went to his uncle's house for dinner. More specifically, his uncle's SO was to show us how to make sauces. We wound up making: Root Vegetable turnovers (beet, parsnip, puff pastry), Tenderloin with Mushroom Sauce (see post), Diced Potatoes with Herbs, Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce (see post), and Individual Apple Crisps with Vanilla Sauce (didn't get recipe... :-\). It was an amazing meal, and all involved agreed that it needs to happen again soon.

And now, as I write, I have Beekeeper's Cabbage in the oven. The cabbage, the parsnips, and the apple NEEDED to get cooked a.s.a.p., and I kept meaning to get around to it... so while I while away the time before work, I figured I'd pop it in the oven. My modifications to the recipe are: set to 325F instead of 300F (I need to cook it faster :-P), it's half of a decent sized green onion, not red, it's 3-4 small parsnips, probably closer to 2 Tbs. of honey, and the vinegar that I have is apple cider vinegar, that had had shallots in it at one point. Also, phooey on the parchment paper and close-fitting lid -- I just buttered a cookie sheet, and laid it on top.

So all in all, it might turn out disastrous! But I'd rather cook and have it flop, than throw out food that I never touched.

Am I Too Weird Now?

At my new apartment, I had left a pile of compost materials in a plastic dish on the counter.

One roommate complains about the garbage everywhere, and the other says that she threw it out "for me".

What if I just wanted my compost?

How do I go about trying to keep plastic to a minimum, recycling to a maximum, and eco-friendly cleaners?

They buy veggie burgers and "Women's Protein Powder". ... what? Since when do women have different protein needs than men? Last I checked, protein was protein to a human body. Egads.

I am feeling very very leery about the house meeting we're having on Sunday. I have the feeling that I'm in a very small minority here.

Reading these posts every day, my last household, my mother's attitude, and my forgiving fiance have allowed me the luxury of feeling like this was NORMAL. I forgot that we were more "revolutionaries". :-P

Kathy Harrison over at the Just In Case Book Blog had a post recently (although I can't find it) about how she's so glad that she has the internet community to make up for the lack of one in real life. I was like "oh so true" but it clearly hadn't been up until now.

Note to self: tone down doom light for easily spooked roommates.


EDIT: I guess it was over at Retro Housewife Goes Green and not the Just In Case Book Blog.