cooking goals

At the beginning of 2011 I sat down with my recipe binder and wrote a list of all of the new food I wanted to make this year.  The list served as a running record of the abundance of recipes I had collected but not yet prepared, some of which had been waiting in the wings for over three years.  The list seemed long and I was unsure if I would actually cook my way through it or not.  After all, as a collection of recipes I have accumulated from the Internet, friends, food magazines and my crock pot Tuesday research, my binder is only one of the many books I cook out of.  I wasn't going to ignore all of my other cookbooks just so I could finally figure out which recipes in my binder I should keep and which ones need to be tossed!

The list was a handy and fun way to menu plan when my sister Anna came to visit and has been a wonderful resource all of the times that I have needed to restock my fridge but didn't know what to make.   The goals are trivial and yet, out of 51 recipes, I have already prepared 37 of them!   For the sake of checking of all 51 recipes in 2011, I am left with three full months to cook the 14 remaining recipes that are bursting with ingredients eager to make it on my grocery list.  Up for trial this week week: saucy chicken lo mien.  

I figure I better get cooking since my 2012 cooking goals are already in the back of my mind.  Next year will be the year I learn how to make my moms shepherds pie, ginger snaps and Salisbury steak!

What's on your list?