Resolute

So far, I'm sticking to my New Year's Resolution of trying new recipes...

...well, sort of.  We had lasagna on Wednesday. I've made lasagna before, but since it's not in my regular rotation (I make it once or twice a year, if even that) I'm counting it as a new recipe. It was delicious, easier to make than I remembered, and a nice change of pace for dinner.

But, I do need to branch out to truly new recipes, and I've been pouring over my cookbooks.  This is the stack on the family room end table that I peruse whenever I have a spare moment.  The tabs sticking out are marking the recipes I want to try:

And here's another shelf of cookbooks in the office:

This shelf is baking cookbooks only:

Of course, I have more cooking/baking books that don't fit on those shelves just laying around the house.  I want to go through all of them, try the recipes that sound good, and get rid of any that don't have something I can use. 

In addition to the usual cookbooks, I have years of back issues of magazines with valuable recipes.  Below are my office shelves dedicated to Martha Stewart publications (plus the Complete Chicken Cookbook which won't fit on the other cookbook shelf).  Some of the Martha Stewart books deal with crafts, organization and business, but I own a few cookbooks from her and I've kept every issue of Martha Stewart Living from 2005 on.  I've also kept every issue I've ever received of Everyday Food, which now amounts to a sizable collection of those. I need to go through each of these again and find recipes and meals that will work for my family. 

As if this weren't enough cookbooks and magazines, I also have 10+ years worth of Taste of Home back issues, as well as 10+ special Taste of Home publications (hardback books, recipe collections, etc.).  There's also two years of back issues of Better Homes and Gardens, and several binders worth of recipes, tips and ideas I've clipped from magazines over the last 14+ years. 

With all material for new dinner and meal ideas, I might need to change my resolution from trying two new dinner recipes a month to trying a new recipe twice a day.  And working out more. That, or investing in several new pairs of sweat pants. 

I'm leaning towards new sweat pants.

Dinner theater

I stumbled across a delicious sounding recipe in the September issue of Better Homes and Gardens: Slow cooker Indian chicken stew. Doesn't it look delicious?

My thoughts upon seeing this recipe, in this order, were:

1. OMG I love Indian food!

2. I haven't seen my neighbor Yogita in a while. I should have her over for dinner.

3. Hey! Yogita is INDIAN. I'll make this dish and she will be so impressed that I have mastered a chicken stew recipe from her culture.

4. BONUS! This is a slow cooker recipe, which means kudos and accolades will soon be mine for very little effort on my part.

Those thoughts became the basis for my little dinner drama.

The setting: a weeknight. Yogita comes over. I prepare the recipe but leave out the spinach. I even use basmati rice instead of regular white rice. At this point, the kitchen smells great and I am convinced that I am awesome.

Scene One

Yogita takes her first bite.

Yogita: Why are you taking my picture?

Me: I just want to see your face when you taste how awesome this stew is!

Yogita: Is this for your blog thing?

Me: ...yes.

End scene.

Scene Two

Me: So....does this taste like authentic Indian food?

Yogita: No. But it tastes okay.

Me: So you'd never find this in India?

Yogita: No.

Me: What about at an Indian restaurant in the United States?

Yogita: Um...no.

Me: What about at an Indian restaurant in the United States, where I am the owner and cook?

Yogita: .....yes. That's where you would find this dish.

End scene.

Overall, I think Yogita was very entertained by my attempt to cook real Indian food. And amused that this is what passes for Indian food in Better Homes and Gardens. I thought the recipe was okay. I give it five stars for the ease of preparation, but only one star for flavor. I expected, and wanted, something with a lot more kick. This had no kick at all, though it was tasty and seemed like a very healthy dish.

Twenty stars for the theater, though. I am a bit of a Drama Queen.