Sunday, January 7, 2024
Today is the first Sunday of the year. And I have big plans for this year.
I work really well within small timeframes, using frequent resets. For example, if I’m having a bad week, knowing I can start fresh the following Monday is very comforting to me. I’ve found this approach helps prevent me from falling into too much of a slump or rut. As a result, I’m able to begin each week with a fresh, positive mindset, focused on whatever I choose to concentrate on that week.
So I’m using today as not only a ‘Sunday reset’ but also to implement a new habit and tie up some loose ends before the week begins. Last week was a blur. I traveled back to Amsterdam after being home in Chicago for the holidays. After settling back into our apartment, I spent time planning out my goals and to-dos. Tomorrow feels like the true start of the new year for me, and I’m ready to begin all those ‘big plans’ I mentioned.
You know those tasks on your to-do list that you always put off and find excuses to avoid? My goal for this year was to start with as few of those tasks as possible. While I made significant progress, there are still a few tasks remaining. Some aren’t even difficult or time-consuming; I simply just don’t want to do them. Today, as I stood at my kitchen sink, looking out the window at the giant weed in my flower pot on the back porch—as I do everyday—I finally decided to go outside and pull it. It literally took me 30 seconds. But for months I’ve been telling myself that I would do it later. This is the type of mindset I’m out on this year. I’m in on productivity.
After completing that one simple, mindless task, I felt so empowered and motivated (as funny as that may sound). It motivated me to check off more items from my list. For the next hour or so, I busied myself around the house, cleaning and tackling other chores I had set for the day. Now, at 4:00 pm, my house is clean and reset for the week. I’ve just put the first recipe from this month’s featured country into the oven. Sitting here with a cup of tea, listening to jazzy piano lounge music, I feel happily accomplished and ready for a relaxing evening.
This year, I also want to focus on developing new habits. Pushing myself to do things I wouldn’t normally do or might have been too lazy to attempt in the past. This morning, Mickey and I got up early and went to church. It wasn’t so much about attending church as it was about the act of getting up and going. Especially on a dark, freezing cold Sunday morning. The effort of willing myself out of bed paid off, leaving me feeling proud and accomplished. It set a positive tone for the rest of the morning, filled with running errands and being productive outside the house. Sometimes, the hardest but most rewarding thing is taking that first step.
But now, onto the important part of my day – the food. We’ve chosen Ireland as our focus for this month. There are several reasons for this choice. Both Mickey and I are Irish. We recently spent ten lovely days in Ireland with Mickey’s family this past June. Many Irish dishes are perfect as cozy winter meals. And finally, we thought it would be the perfect cuisine to ease into this challenge with, considering the primary ingredient we need is potatoes.
To be honest, Irish food is not my favorite. It doesn’t usually top my list of preferred cuisines, partly because I find it lacks creativity. However, what I’m really looking forward to with this challenge is — hopefully — developing an unexpected appreciation for different countries’ cuisines. I’m not typically a fan of history. The only time you can get me to even consider history is when it involves travel. I’m hoping that this challenge will pique my interest about the history behind various foods and understand how and why they are prepared.
We began our culinary journey with a strong start: soda bread and traditional Irish stew. I do love soda bread, so I was actually quite excited about this. It was my first attempt at making it, and it certainly didn’t turn out exactly like the soda bread I’m familiar with, but delicious nonetheless. It tasted more like a biscuit than anything else. I can’t pinpoint exactly why, but if I had to guess, it’s that I used too much butter. Ironic. I’ll be attempting plenty more soda bread recipes until I perfect it, so stay tuned.
As for the stew… not bad, Ireland. My whole house smelled lovely as it was cooking and it tasted pretty good as well. My only complaint was that the broth was a bit oily, and it’s not something I’d want to eat every day. Mickey loved it. (Fortunately), the butcher did not have any lamb shoulder, so we used beef shoulder instead. I don’t really like lamb. Despite trying it several times, prepared in various ways, I always find it tastes too gamey. But I’m open to giving it another chance this month, so stay tuned for that as well.
Today’s experience, which is familiar to me, reinforces the idea that simply following a recipe doesn’t always lead to the expected outcome. The preparation process, choice of ingredients, equipment used, and portion sizes – all these factors significantly influence the final result. I’m excited about using this challenge as an opportunity to deepen my understanding of how to properly prepare various dishes for the best results.
We recently watched Julie & Julia, a movie recommended to us due to our current culinary ventures. It was a super cute movie and hit very close to my heart. The reason I mention it is because for weeks now, I’ve been working on perfecting my hollandaise sauce recipe. I frequently make eggs benedict, it’s one of the only ways I can justify eating eggs lol. All it took was a simple preparation tip from Julia Child, mentioned in the movie, and the next morning I had the perfect hollandaise sauce. The ingredients were the same; it was the method that changed. I feel like that must be a metaphor for life and the way we live it… I’ll touch on that a different day.
xo, mikaela
