I'd probably be the first one to tell you how stupid New Year's Resolutions are. They're self-indulgent and honestly, pretty likely to fail. I mean, seriously, how many times have you heard someone say, "You know, if it weren't for that New Year's Resolution, I'd never have turned out this skinny/rich/cultured/stylish/exquisite/happy/etc!" (If you know someone who has uttered this phrase, please leave me a comment! I will need to interview said person, because it's probably the only time in history that this has occurred.)
Okay, so, it's true. It doesn't usually work like that. But they are well-intentioned thoughts, and maybe sending out those favorable intentions into the universe does have its merits. And while I don't necessarily believe in their effectiveness, I none-the-less have my own New Years Resolutions:
- Duh. Lose weight. Get healthy. Blah blah blah.
- Read more. Watch TV less. -- This is a two-fer-one deal! There are just so many good books gathering dust on my bookshelves, begging to be read or re-read. I know someone who read one-hundred books in 2011. WOW! I initially thought I wanted to mimic that in 2012, but then I pulled my head out of the clouds, and thought that fifty would be a good jumping off point. So, that's the goal. Fifty books in 2012.
- Bake and cook more. -- But, more importantly...
- Figure out how to not let #3 affect #1. -- This is probably the hardest one to incorporate, but let me tell you why it's important. I LOVE to cook and bake. I LOVE to be in the kitchen. I truly believe that I'm happiest when I'm there, making delicious things for my family and friends. And I love blogging about food. I love food photography and I love the idea that more time spent in the kitchen means better cooking, shooting, and blogging.
- Photograph more. And care less about what I capture. -- To be perfectly honest, I needed a break from photography. And I'm glad that I had an opportunity to take that break, but I do miss it. And I want to start shooting again. I also feel like school instilled a desire in me for "the perfect shot" all of the time. I was never given the chance to shoot just for the hell of it, I was always shooting to capture something specific. But now, I just want to be able to shoot without critiquing myself as I go. To shoot just to shoot.
- Become more financial stable. -- i.e. bring home more bacon.
It may not make any difference to have these resolutions, but I figure it can't hurt to hope. Last time I checked, a little hope never hurt anything.
What are your New Year's Resolutions?
Restart My Heart - such a delightful blog with lots of beautiful photography and inspiration. Go check it out.
After I got home from work this afternoon, I was pumped up to start some holiday baking. I'm off tomorrow, a day that I am officially claiming as entirely my own, to do with what I want, and I want to spend it entirely in the kitchen.
Tonight, as a pre-baking-marathon exercise (a warm-up, if you will) I decided to try my hand at candied orange peel. I mean, why not?
Oranges? Check.
Sugar? Check.
Water? Check.
Here's what I came up with:
- I started this venture at approximately 11pm. Granted, not exactly an early start. However, it took until around approximately 3am for me to finish. With all of the tedious boiling and draining rubbish, this took entirely too much time for something that essentially ended up tasting a lot like an orange slice. No, not that kind. This kind:
- Five oranges seemed like a lot of peel at the beginning. But in the end, I probably only got about 2 cups worth of candied peel out of the batch.
- I initially intended to dip these babies in white or semi-sweet chocolate after finishing and packaging them up as holiday gifts, but I'll certainly pass now. I've already put far too much energy into, essentially, sugared fruit.
- One unexpected delight that came out of this recipe was the orange simple syrup that resulted from boiling the orange peels in sugar and water. I couldn't bear to throw it away, so I poured that sweet, syrupy goodness into a squeeze bottle and stuck it in the fridge. If you're looking for cozy, you can find it in a hot cup of tea with a shot of that delish, orange-infused simple syrup.
- I think that this recipe would be well suited for a very large batch of "left-overs" from oranges over time. A great way to utilize something you'd otherwise just throw away. Perhaps, in the future, I'll save up my orange peels (you can just throw those puppies in the freezer until you're ready to use them) and try again. Or rather, to be honest...most likely not.
All-in-all, I love the idea. I certainly think an application of these peels in some way is the way to go (i.e. the dipping in chocolate or dicing them for "chocolate pops") because if I had to do it all over again just for the peels, I'd have much rather headed to the gas station to grab two-for-a-dollar bags of those wretchedly delicious orange-like candies.
