A new year

Here we are, at the end of my two-week vacation, and here's a small sampling of what I have to show for it. 

A few weeks ago, Joel came home with a surprise bottle of Calvados, not knowing that I had also purchased a surprise bottle of Laird's Apple Brandy - the stuff you have to order all the way from New York City. 'Twas the season to indulge in these things that often start off as gift ideas for the other person but are clearly meant to be shared.

I know that photos like the one above are not entirely appetizing under harsh lighting, but if you're looking for a delicious chicken katsu curry recipe, take my word for it, this is indeed one. I was hoping to cook more interesting stuff like this over the last two weeks, but this was just one of a few dishes that wasn't leftovers of some bigger, tried-and-true dish (rouladen, roast, prime rib...I ate more red meat in two weeks than I'd eaten all year).

 Are you catching a theme here? It's always about what I ate/drank. I did try a new cookie recipe this Christmas - an America's Test Kitchen recipe for real ginger gingersnaps, which calls for browned butter and pepper and everything you'd ever want in a gingersnap, including the extreme snappiness that calls for hot tea.

We were on our own on Christmas Eve. We watched "Home Alone" for the first time in ages. It's such a snarky comedy - and I couldn't believe what a jerk Kevin was to his parents, or how dumb those burglars were to not look before they took a single step. And yet, the musical theme always makes me a little teary-eyed. The night before we watched "Adventures in Babysitting" - a classic I had never seen. We were truly on a roll.

Yesterday (Jan. 2) we celebrated our second full year with this cat. I love remembering the day we got her and the tiny "meows" she made as she explored each new area of the house, and how excited I felt when she found little spots to curl up and sleep. Then there was the moment when we realized that cats are little terrors in the night who knock things over and howl, who walk across your legs when you're in the middle of a wonderful dream. Alas, she's a cat. But she is kind of the best.

And now we are in a new year. Despite the crazy way we celebrated it - leaving a casino a few dollars poorer, but just in time to catch the fireworks rain over downtown - it feels like the most anticlimactic start to a new year I've ever experienced, and I think it is partly because I started some good new habits at various points last year to counteract the bad ones that kept creeping in. Nevertheless, it should be no surprise to you, after viewing the display of food and drink above, that I'm looking forward to leaner months with more tea and fewer cookies. I'm devoted to writing more things by hand, spending far less time on my personal Facebook account (usually just on Fridays, for about 10 minutes) and far more time on at-home daily routines (I'm a sucker for things like this) and getting better at my job. I borrowed a friend's copy of Zero Waste Home and am trying to incorporate a few of her practices in my ongoing quest to consume less. (I'm also really glad to have people around me who are good at this.) I want to travel more this year (like every year) and already have a few trips in mind. I hope to have more people in my home this year for impromptu drinks or dinner or dessert or tea. I have oodles of craft projects in mind, and am venturing into sewing clothes with knit fabrics instead of stiff cotton ones. In summary, those who know me know that my 2015 resolutions are pretty standard Liz fare. Either way, I'm bound and determined to make something out of them. Cheers to this bountiful year!