New Year's Day 2010

So here we are in 2010. Another decade down the hatch!

I did my Recap Of The Decade back on the eve of my birthday this year, so I won't go through that again. Besides, I don't feel like today is a day for looking backward. I'm looking forward, to a great many projects and aspirations I have for this year. It seems like everyone around me had a bad 2009 and is looking forward to a creative 2010, so maybe this will be a positive year for us all. I, for one, intend to try my best to make it one.

Got off to the right start on that front today, by having blackeye peas for luck and greens for wealth in the coming year. I braised the mustard greens with garlic and cider vinegar in broth and crushed red pepper; the blackeye peas were slow-cooked with toasted sesame oil, balsamic, and some spices; on the side we had my honey cornbread and a mix of balsamic roasted fresh root vegetables - potato, carrot, parsnip, turnip, sunchoke, rutabaga, garlic cloves, and onion. Now we're all stuffed and tired - it's been a big day. Keith's banana waffles for breakfast, walk to the dog park to play and frolic with Patch, exploring the nether regions of 82nd Avenue (haha), playing with the chickens, then this slow-food dinner...

Now Elizabeth and Patch are snoozing hard in front of the fire, music is playing from the next room, Keith is sitting quietly down the sofa and thinking quietly or listening to the music, and I'm drowsily posting here while relishing the beginning of a new year in a warm, snug, firelit house with a bellyful of my favorite foods. Really, if the whole year is as good as today has been, we'll do very well.