Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a fun New Year's Eve celebration. We had a cozy night in for New Year's Eve, noshed on some assorted cheeses (Port Salut (new & yum!), Old Croc Sharp Cheddar & Smoked Gouda) & smoked salmon dip with toasted French bread (recipe to come in future posts). We also had champagne cocktails (yes, technically it's a sparkling wine because it wasn't produced in France but I prefer calling it champagne...anyway, we tried a new, budget friendly one that was quite good as a mixer and on it's own: Baywood California Brut Sparkling Wine, $7.87 at Walmart). On New Year's Day, we had our traditional "Good Luck" meal and I must say, it turned out to be quite delicious (original post here).

New Year's Eve Noshing

New Year's Day "Good Luck" meal

In summary, 2014 was truly amazing as it's when our son arrived and made us parents! We are definitely excited for 2015, despite how cold it is starting off! Brrrrr!

I don't generally make resolutions but I have realized that there are quite a few things I would like to learn how to do in 2015! I'm publishing this list only because it might continue to remind me about accomplishing them this year...I have become quite forgetful, distracted, focused on a baby... ;)
Naturally, a lot of them revolve around food and those are the things Cory and I enjoy doing together so much! There are a few new ones this year that are more crafts or skills related. We'll see how those go! Finding time may be a challenge but as always, I'm up for it!

2015 List of Ideas:

• Sew (take a refresher course! I used to sew back in the day)
• Cross stitch / embroidery (I’m dreaming of making personalized tea towels, blankets and more!)
• Create an app for moms highlighting mom/baby/kiddo friendly places 
• For my continuing education, I would love to take a class(es) in web and graphic design.

More of I Can Make What?! items (see my first ICMW?!, ricotta recipe link here):

• Whole Wheat English muffins (because we eat them for breakfast pretty regularly despite the fact that store bought ones are not very good)
• Tortillas (HEB isn't close enough for me to buy theirs)
• Preserving fresh pasta we make at home (we usually consume it all right away!)
• French Baguette (not Walmart French Bread people, a legitimate crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside baguette!)
• Croissants (uh, why not?!)
• Cheezits (yes, this idea came from Pinterest!)

Cooking: 

• Icebox cake (after seeing one in NYC at Magnolia Bakery a few year ago, I can't get it out of my head. This year may be the year I'm brave enough to take it on!)
• Rack of lamb (another one that has been sitting on my brain but I haven't had the nerve to do it)
• Not sure this is possible?!: Cheese!…we might need to go to a legitimate class for this
• Smoked meat (we just might need a smoker for this…great Father’s Day idea for Cory ;)
• Cassoulet- I can't remember where I learned about this one but I've always wanted to make it

Would love to hear any suggestions of previously tried/tested recipes y'all might have or if you have any ideas on app development or the web/graphic design idea! Please post them in the comments section below.

May this year be a blessed one for you!