Saturday, December 18, 2010

Try

"Prompt: Try.

What do you want to try next year? Is there something you wanted to try in 2010? What happened when you did / didn't go for it?" (Author: Kaileen Elise)
--reverb10.com

Hmmm...  Something I wanted to try in 2010 was eating more whole foods and less processed foods - and we've been having a lot of fun experimenting with this!  We bought a bread machine and haven't purchased bread from the store since last February.  So cool!  I can now make several kinds of sandwich breads, yummy dinner rolls, a nice pizza crust, and many recipes for all kinds of sweet breads and dessert breads ready to try!

In this endeavor to eat more whole, local foods we've also discovered the joy of visiting the Farmers' Market every week.  It became a regular Saturday morning adventure to head into St. Paul for the market - getting our veggies, meat, and dairy for the week.  I loved talking to the vendors, bumping into friends, learning about the ways foods are grown - and where, and I loved finding new recipes to try so that we can use up our fresh produce!  The whole thing was a learning experience!
(A whole meal straight from the farmer's market!)

The last part of our fresh food adventure was learning to can.  I spent many days this summer canning strawberry jams (my favorite is Strawberry Vanilla - Mmmm), blueberry sauce (From blueberries I picked myself!  That was a new experience, too!), three kinds of salsa, and a jalapeno jelly!  It's all delish!  I can't wait to try new recipes next summer!

So last year's "try something new" ended up turning into LOTS of new things - and new things that I will continue to do, and to build upon.  So fun!

As for this coming year...  My goal is try lots of new "social" things.  My hubby and I are on a mission to get more involved in the community where we live and make more friends that live closer to us and are interested in similar things.  I don't really have steps laid out to accomplish this yet...  But it is our goal!  We'll see where it takes us...  I'm sure there will be some good stories along the way... 


Today I am thankful for:

1.  The ability to get lots done!
2.  A hubby who helps do errands while I bake.
3.  No headache today!
4.  Hugs when I'm frustrated.
5.  Delivering cookies and presents to Em, Jeremy, and Elly!  So fun!
6.  Getting to see Em's parents!
7.  AMAZING Christmas lights!  You can see this tree from across the river!  Whoa.  (Mom - you MUST go see!)
8.  Leftovers for dinner. Perfect.
9.  Another night to cuddle by the fire.
10.  Talking about the future.  So fun!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

okay...where is that tree?...and next June or whenever blueberry time is...I want to pick triple the blueberries...we gobbled ours up so fast! This was the best of the summer for me!

Jill said...

You're the first to know - social is my one little word for 2011 :)

Andrea, the little collector said...

Love that you tried canning! I made jam YEARS ago and loved it. My most recent attempt was severely thwarted (the jam turned out, um, a little like sludge!) Maybe it's time to TRY again. :)

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