This year, I dare...

No, no, no - no kissing of fish! Silly!

Yes, I'm a follower. So sue me. But I like this idea - I'm always game for a challenge, especially the ones I impose on myself, heh! So this year, with a little inspiration from my fellow bloggers, I dare:

• To do more comparative cooking and, especially, baking. Why are bleached flours better in some instances? Why do a cold rise for bread, when the warm one is so much faster? What happens when you use sour dough vs. yeast vs. a biga? Hmm. Let's see if I can do this...
• Cook Osso Buco. The whole "big pieces of meat"-thing hasn't entered my kitchen too often, but I love me a good braise - Osso Buco could be a place to start.
• Make pasta Ooops. I actually did this, for the first time, for New Years Eve - and I loved it! I was given a pasta attachment for my Kitchen Aid two Christmases (is that a word?) ago, so it was about time. How about this, then: to use my Kitchen Aid attachments more often - I've also got a meat grinder, and (of course!) a sausage stuffer - must try making homemade sausages!
• Enter the Indian kitchen. I like spices. Martin like spices. I like Thai and Chinese food, but for some reason, they don't really appeal to the loved one. Indian food though - that he likes. What little he's tried so far, anyways. I've been reluctant to try making it myself, 'cause I have no idea what the 'real' deal is like - Indian restaurants are here, but a lot of them are just too, umm, grungy looking for me to want to try them. With the help of all the Indian food bloggers out there, I should be able to get a got idea of what it's all about though, so I feel pretty confident that authenticity shouldn't pose too big a problem. Anywho, as long as what I end up with tastes good, authenticity might have to wait until I lure him with me to the country itself! Dishes I'd like to try: samosas - Dal Makhani - five in total is the goal (but more are of course okay!)
• Cook Chicken Parmesan, a classic Wienerschnitzel and Cordon Bleu. Yup - MEAT! These are dishes I've either heard a lot about or already know I like to eat myself - but I've never tried making them, just ordering them. Time for a change.
• Make puff pastry. GAH! And then bake me some fine Danish "Wienerbrød" with it. Doesn't get much more Danish than that, does it?
• Thrash less food because it's gone bad. I'm guilty of doing that way too much, and it a) makes for a food budget that's probably a lot bigger than it ought to be and b) I feel bad when I do it. It's thoughtless and overflow-ish in a way I don't like, so I'll try to be more aware of what I have lying around and use it/freeze it/give it away before it's gone'rs. Starting with that big tub of mascarpone from New Years...
• Find the recipe for Ranch dressing I've been looking for...
• Make stock! Vegetable, veal and chicken - and maybe fish. And actually keep some handy, throughout the year (am I clashing with no. 7 here?) Shall this be the year of the death of Touch of Taste? (a liquid stock thing)
• Cook fish, at least once a week. Or, maybe, eat fish, at least once a week. Because it's good for me. And Martin, too.
• And oh, the agony: It has been suggested that my cookbook collection is ever-expanding, and the basket of magazines ain't getting no smaller as the years go by. So. I know this is probably going to be somewhere near IMPOSSIBLE for me to keep, but I'll try. I'll try not to buy any cookbooks. Like Jennifer said, gifted ones are of course perfectly acceptable. As are magazines, bought myself or gifted ones. C'mon, you don't want me totally deprived and depressed, do you?

Let's see how it goes, shall we?:-)