Culinary Bucket List 2015

Happy New Year, friends!  Are you ready for another year of fabulous food and fun adventures? I’m sincerely looking forward to a glorious year.  I’ve been incredibly blessed to be home the last six months, helping with our new granddaughter and building my own business.  Time has flown so quickly.  It feels like just last week I was writing my Culinary Bucket List for 2014.

As with the previous years, I didn’t accomplish everything on my list, but I came pretty close.  No, I didn’t meet Alton Brown and he hasn’t signed my chicken timer. Yet. I’m still hopeful. (Universe? Alton. Me. Chicken Timer. Let’s make this happen!)

I did explore other cultures and cuisines last year. I became a Master Food Preserver and we ate more seafood!  We bought a tower garden and learned how to grow our own lettuce and herbs. All-in-all, I accomplished a majority of the 2014 list! That’s much better than what I didn’t get done on my Culinary Bucket List for 2013!

So what’s on the Culinary Bucket List for 2015? This year is short and sweet, but pretty neat! Check it out!

1) Create healthy, flavorful, easy weeknight meals! Getting in shape is a priority in our house and eating better goes hand in hand with those goals.

2) Use the cookbooks and cooking magazines in my kitchen!  I know! What a concept!  Do you have a shelf (or more) of cookbooks and cooking magazines you don’t use? Be honest! I do! There are at least 30 cookbooks I haven’t looked at in a long time. We won’t even discuss the stack of magazines with post-its or dog-eared recipes I keep telling myself I’ll make. Imagine how our favorite rotation of dinner dishes would expand if we actually used those cookbooks and magazines?  We bought then for a reason, right?  Time to put those reasons into action!

3) Become a certified BBQ judge for the Kansas City BBQ Society. Ok, Ok! In the interest of full disclosure, this is a cheater like last years Master Food Preserver Class! My husband and I are already registered KCBS members and we’re taking the judges class in March.  Still, how cool will it be to take road trips to judge BBQ events?!?  My summer should be very delicious!

4) Start doing cooking videos and documenting all my cooking adventures! Y’all want to see my face, right?  ;-)

5) Master a *really good* beer batter for Fish and Chips! For some reason this seems like a difficult project, but once I try it, it might not be so bad! Of course, I’ll have to make my own french fries and tartar sauce to go with it. If you have a great recipe, send it my way!

6) Finally, I’ve heard the third time is a charm, so Creme Brûlée is on the list, again. I’m going to do it this year! I am! I am! I hope! ;-)

Anything special on your Bucket List? What new things do you want to try in your kitchen? Leave a comment and let me know! Let’s do delicious things together this year!