Beastmomma

When I turned 22, Corrie wrote a note saying something to the extent of how two was her favorite number and now I was the queen of two.  She went on to say that this was going to be a great year for me.   I made another recipe tonight for a dinner party that we are having at our place tomorrow.  This soup had lots of hearty vegetables with good flavor. Most of all, it was pretty simple.  We are making a five course meal and decided to split the cooking duties. I am making soup and green beans. My brother is making chicken, grilled vegetables, and dessert.  My mother is making potatoes.  Tonight, we wanted to get as much of the cooking finished as we could, so that tomorrow would be an easier day.  I started making the soup late and it was nice to have my mom help me chop things.  That really makes the cooking process go faster. Unfortunately, she and my brother got into an argument and I feel bad that she went to bed upset. 

Aside from that, it was actually very fun to cook with both of them. I am beginning to think that the trick to getting my family to like my recipes is to have them cook with me. If they are invested in the process, they tend to be more enthusiastic about the final product.   When I lifted the lid to taste the soup, I was impressed with the aroma. Hopefully, the guests will like the taste.

I am really coming down to the wire on my New Year's Resolutions.  I had four for this year and they were:

1. To make 26 new recipes.  I have been reading a lot of food blogs and they have inspired me. I also want to eat healthier and expand my cooking scope. 

2. To make a scarf. When I have my surgery, I am going to be off my feet for three months.  In order to make the time pass quicker, I am going to try to knit at least one scarf.

3. To post at least 24 times per month on the blog. I want to increase my average monthly posts from 23 to 24 per month.

4. After recovering from surgery, I would like to make and achieve another fitness goal.

So far, I have completed 21 recipes and I am four away from completing the resolution. I am not sure if I am going to get it done because trust me when I tell you that it is CHALLENGING to cook for my family. I was telling Sonja tonight that my palate has gotten very different from that of my parents and brother.  Unfortunately, my mother was in the same room, so I could not tell her that I thought my parents were trying to make my brother feel more comfortable in the kitchen.  As a result, I think that they give his culinary efforts more props then mine. I could also just be acting like a brat because I want to knock their socks off with my cooking and that has not happened yet. 

Plus, when I asked my brother what he thought about a potential soup I was thinking about making he said, "Why can't you cook something with meat for once?"  In response, I wanted to say, "For the same reason you cannot seem to finish college--I cannot be bothered to put energy into it."  However, I think that would have reflected anger and issues that are my own and I did not want to put that energy out there. Instead, I talked about my comfort level and wanting to finish these recipes as easily as possible. I am more willing to try different spices and cooking technique with vegetables than with meat. That is something that may change, but for now this is where I am at.   My other potential back up plan is to make a meal on New Year's Eve.  

I did try to knit a scarf, but I just did not have the passion for it that I had hoped.  The scarf is about half done and I am hoping that I will complete it some day. 

In Feb, when I had my surgery, I only posted 11 entries. I thought that this would ruin my chances of raising my average number of entries to 24 per month.  However, I entered a challenge in November and I just kept rolling with lots of entries into December.  So far in 2006, I have posted 306 times which averages to 25.5 entries a month.  After such a crazy year, it does feel miraculous that I even completed one resolution.  I am glad that it is the one which allowed me to write every day. Blogging is both very personal and global.  At the risk of sounding arrogant or foolish or something unsavory, I just want to thank you for reading this blog.  It means a lot that I have become part of an internet community that feels like home.

As for a fitness goal, I feel like I am still in the midst of recovery. Therefore, I am giving myself a pass on this one.   The desire to be healthy and physically active runs deep and is getting stronger.  I am hoping to manifest the wish for the health in a non-negative manner in 2007. I just have to figure out how to do it.

My parents had people over for dinner tonight.  I decided to make a dish to contribute to the potluck. I found this vegetarian and well seasoned recipe for vegetarian lo mein.  Instead of adding cabbage, I put in three different colors of pepper. I think that it gave the dish some fun color.  My father helped me with the chopping and my brother was the taste tester.  This made them more positive about the process and the dish was a big hit with the family.   Even though we do not celebrate Christmas, everyone had the day off-- well, except my mother.  My parents wanted to get the family together to do a group prayer to thank God that my brother is managing his diabetes okay and I am walking again. It was a sweet gesture and I think the intentions were good. It is just challenging to prepare for family functions. 

It has been a long time since I was in a room with other Sikhs reading prayers out loud.  My mother handed me a prayer book that was written in English and Punjabi. It had the translations and I kept losing my place because I wanted to read the translation as well as the actual text.  Maybe I will take some time to read the translations.  The room I am sleeping in is down the hall from the prayer room.  As a fun fact, most Sikh households have a prayer room in which the holy book is kept.  At least one member of the household does morning and evening prayer.   This was the room in which we had our family prayer tonight.  I did feel comforted and part of something good as  I was reciting prayers tonight.  Afterwards, my relatives did not bug me too much about getting married or losing weight. I just got positive comments about how good I looked without the boot.  

1. I have made 21 recipes. My new year's resolution is officially legal.

2.  It was fun to cook with my dad and brother.  My dad showed me a new gadget he used to chop vegetables which made the task go much faster.

3. We played Taboo and Buzz Word which was so fun and funny. I was on the winning team both times. It turns out that my mother and I make a pretty good team.

4. I have been playing phone tag with a friend from high school and I think that we are getting close to making contact and ACTUALLY seeing each other.

5.  Since I have limited mobility, I decided to throw my clothes downstairs and then put them in the washing machine.  It was great fun to throw my clothes over the stairs.  I imagined that I was a movie star in a dramatic break up with a bad fellow.