2008 resolution review

With today being December 31, I thought it would be fun to have an 'accountability moment' on my 2008 resolutions, which I had posted at The Ethicurean early last year.

Learn how to bake whole grain breads: I was superficially successful in meeting this one — I baked a few loaves of Vollkornbrot (a dense bread made from cracked rye kernels and other whole grains held together by a sourdough batter), baked my favorite sunflower seed loaf a few times (the recipe is in Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone) and many batches of whole-grain crackers — but never found the time to read Peter Reinhart's latest book or do any serious learning. Perhaps in 2009 I can be more serious with my whole grain baking. 

Use my solar oven more frequently and learn new techniques: This one was a bust — I barely used my cooker during the year. Sunny days happened to coincide with my busy weekend days and whenever I had nothing on the schedule, the famous San Francisco summer fog wouldn't burn off until noon and would then roll back in at 2 or 3 PM, thus preventing any serious solar cooking. I managed to build a prototype dehydration module, but only got one chance to try it out. (It was flawed and needs major modification.) In 2009, I need to find a better place to store the cooker so I can quickly set it up every weekend day that I'm home to at least heat water for dish washing.

Try a wider variety of fruits and vegetables: Although I didn't keep track of my purchases, I have a feeling that I did well on this one. On most trips to the farmers market, I'm looking for new offerings or trying items that I haven't done much with. In my resolution text, I specifically mentioned collard greens, and in 2008 I came to love these leafy greens braised in a little bit of sauteed garlic.

I don't know if I'll formally make any resolutions in 2009. If not, I'll keep last year's ideas in the back of my mind as I strive to improve.

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Random link from the archive: Ciabatta
Technorati tags: Baking : Food