Man oh man does time fly! I knew that my blogiversary was in October but didn’t really realize that I’ve been blogging here for 6 years at this point. And when I say “here” I’m not including the fact that I’ve had blogs for like 9 or 10 years before the 6 years that I’ve mentioned. Just call me an early adopter. I started What’s On My Plate as a space to chronicle what I’ve been cooking. Over the past few years it has evolved in to much more. Now I use it as a way to not only share what I’ve been cooking with others, but also to chronicle my food travels, try new techniques and occasionally share some of my fave restaurants… not to mention some of the great friends I’ve made in the process.
Every year I try and set goals around food and blogging. I usually forget about them shortly after posting but somehow manage to internalize them and usually end up accomplishing the goals in some capacity. With this year being so crazy between school, recruiting, traveling and well… life, I actually forgot that I even set goals until I searched my blog to see the last set of goals that I had posted. Go figure.
My goals for 2013 were pretty modest and achievable apparently as I ended up checking off everything on my list. Including rebuilding my “home studio”. For the past few years I had been coveting these so that I could take better photos with artificial light. At $125 a pop these were not the most practical purchase so a few months ago I bought all of the supplies to get my DIY on and make my own light setup! After moving the project from my weekly to do list every week for the past few months, I finally bit the bullet and built the setup a few days ago… not realizing this was one of my goals for the year! Check this link and this link for the DIY instructions that I used.
So what am I looking forward to working towards this year? I don’t like calling them New Years Resolutions but here it goes…
Capturing my own food – I’ve had this on my list before, but I really want to learn how to fish and/or hunt. I’ve already done a bit of butchering and I think catching my own food is the next logical step.
Hosting more rando dinner gatherings – As much as I’ve never liked to admit it, I love cooking for people that I care about. I can’t help it. This year I also discovered my love of the small dinner with good friends or potentially good friends. I limit these dinners to 4 people (including myself) since a) that’s how big my table is and b) that’s how many place settings I have. I try to invite a good mix of people and so far it has worked out famously. More of those please!
Traveling more in search of great food and food stories – There are so many great food stories to be told while on the road. While I do blog a bit about what I eat when I travel, I’d like to spend more time really planning out the food portion when I travel and finding great stories. I would love to go to Jamaica or Mexico although I do have plans to go to at least Korea, Japan and Ghana this year. Stay tuned!
Developing more recipes – I generally just adapt existing recipes but don’t completely freestyle that much. This year I want to create more recipes and spend time testing them. I actually have some cool partnerships in the works… stay tuned!
Being a bit more luxurious – Those who know me, know that I’m a pretty thrifty grocery shopper. I grew up reading the weekly supermarket flyers with my mom and growing up with not a lot of money meant hitting up multiple supermarkets to get the best deals or being willing to traveling a bit further away to get good prices (No Frills… holla!). Granted I’m still a “poor student” so I can get away with this, I want to be better about splurging on meals. A little less so when I go out but being better about buying that really good steak or doing surf and turf at home (with lobster tails) for no good reason other than that I deserve it.
Stepping up my cocktail game – so I’m pretty confident with my food skills. I like to drink. The next frontier is obviously to start stocking a bar and making some kick ass cocktails. We’re talking making syrups from scratch and all of that.
Baking more bread – I’m pretty obsessed with bread making. I even have a starter going. This might be the year of bread.
Happy New Year to all! Eat well!
xoxo
Tonya
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This is the year I’m finally going to capture my food too! It’s been on my list for like the past two years.
Love this list, just wish I was there for when the cocktail game is stepped up
Look forward to following your adventures this year