are the shades of pemberley to be thus polluted?

this week, i am staying with hannah and jude ashley, two of my very favorite kids in town. more to come on that.

i didn't make any resolutions this year, but there are a few culinary items on the radar that i'd like to pursue this year. the impetus to make these resolutions came from a great article by mark bittman (nytimes) on what a modern kitchen should keep and also discard. article here

1. no more boxed broth. i have already made two batches of vegetable broth (and used them in tomato basil soup as well as butternut squash soup) and it feels earthier, more direct, making it over purchasing. after all, vegetable broth is just boiled vegetable scraps. as i make food, i keep the odds and ends, put them in a pot with kosher salt and simmer for a couple of hours. so far, i've used onion, garlic, celery and carrots. next time i will add mushrooms. it feels less wasteful and spectacularly efficient (it also composts down much faster)!

2. cook more korean. if you know me, you know that my dietary habits change on a whim. for the last month, i have dedicated myself to learning how to cook more korean food. the biggest help i've found is from a web site called maangchi.com. she is very cheesy and adorable, has a major korean mama accent but makes some mean authentic korean food. and now that i live alone, i don't have to be self-conscious about the smell of kimchi wafting through the air...if you are ever bored, watch her video on making butternut squash porridge (she is wearing a pink halloween wig and advises that you invite trick or treaters over for a bowl of squash porridge rather than giving them candy) or her avocado appetizers (she is outfitted in a green tee, green eye shadow and green beret, which she later says she wore as a tribute to the avocado).

3. eat more magical fruits. i believe the aisle at the supermarket with rows and rows of dried beans used is very possibly the most overlooked section in the whole place. however, beans are really wonderful. they are cheap, sturdy, absorb flavor rapidly and are very wholesome. i am exploring by color. right now, i am cooking mostly with navy beans, white lima beans, great northern beans and black eyed peas. tonight, i made rustic cabbage soup, which was great.

4. BARF. claire does not eat dog food anymore. i have resolved to also be more economically and ecologically sound by feeding her a diet known as "biologically appropriate raw food." this consists of RMB (raw meaty bones) as well as bland vegetables, ground meat, occasional dairy and some supplements (spirulina, flaxseed oil, vit c). this is supposed to mimic their natural diet. watching her motor through her first chicken neck/wing was monumental. the only thing that bothers me is that i've read that vegetables should be ground up to resemble what would be found in the innards of a dog's prey. wha? how am i supposed to know what that looks like?

5. focus on cruciferous vegetables. cabbage is so trendy right now so i've been eating a lot of it since there are a lot of great recipes out there. next on the agenda: bok choy, baby kale and cauliflower.