Week 1 - And So It Begins...

I'm the type that starts considering a New Year's resolution about a day before the event.  Which gives me no time to truly contemplate the resolution, so chances of success are usually slim, at best.

This past holiday was no different.  Two days before the dawn of 2012, an idea popped into my head that no doubt had been placed there by previous book readings and movie watchings.  "Perhaps this year I will cook my way through every recipe posted on my favorite food blog."  That shouldn't be too difficult.  To confirm the level of zeal this would require, I went straight to the source.

Smitten Kitchen is a food blog written by Deb Perelman, a woman whose wit and humor draw me in equally as much as her gorgeous food photos.  I've been following her site for a year or two now, and I'm no short of obsessed.  Deb and I, though we have never met, are on a first-name basis in this household.  So I emailed her to find out how many recipes she thought were on her site.  Get this - she responded.  Those of you unfamiliar with the food blogging world may see this as insignificant, at best.  But here in this house...well let's just say I was a little giddy.  Anyway, count came in around 700 recipes.  Add the 100ish she will post this year, and I'm looking at 800 recipes, give or take.  Tapping into my now rarely-used math skills, that lands me at 15-16 recipes each week.  And with that, I was out.

I have a husband, two kids, an untrained dog (entirely our fault), and a quaint little house I attempt to keep semi-clean.  This just was not possible.  And so, I made the painful move of emailing Deb and informing her that, despite her excitement towards the idea, I would be backing out before I even began.  

Then the thoughts started whirling.  I could not drop the idea.  I kept thinking of it over and over, recalculating and re-reading recipe after recipe.  In the 2 days before the new year ensued, it ate away at my every thought.  Until finally I gave in.  

I decided to test the plan out for one week.  One week, cooking at least 15 recipes, and doing so within our skimpy-for-organic-eaters budget.  The first week has come to a close.  I am 25 recipes closer than I was 7 days ago.  I'm in this for the long haul.

And so now I turn here.  A resolution of this magnitude is hardly worth it without some sort of record.  So I will be here at the end of each week, owning up to what I have or have not cooked.  Armed with pictures (when I remember to take them, and not slightly as professional as Deb's), I will recount how the week went cooking through the Smitten Kitchen.

Many have asked me what I am hoping to get out of this.  Turn this blog into a book?  No, certainly not that verbally talented.  A movie deal?  Ugh, I hate unoriginal movie plots and this has definitely been done before.  No no, I'm just seeking a culinary challenge.  Something that pushes me hard (sometimes to the point where I scour my kitchen for enough ingredients to make a Deb dish because it's 3 o'clock and I haven't cooked yet that day.  Yes, I've already done this).  And to look back and say, "God allowed me to do that?"  Yes, that would be quite awesome 51 weeks from now.

Alright, let's get rolling.  Amidst my rambling, did you see where I said I made 25 recipes this week?  Here's the lineup using their official Smitten Kitchen titles, for easy searching on her site:

1/1:
- Pear Cranberry and Gingersnap Crumble

1/2:
- Edna Mae's Sour Cream Pancakes
- Spaghetti with Cheese and Black Pepper
- Zucchini, Ham, and Ricotta Fritters
- Big Crumb Coffee Cake
- Black Bean Confetti Salad
- Meatball Sliders

1/3:
- Shakshuka
- Dark Chocolate Tart with Gingersnap Crust
- Beef Chili + Sour Cream and Cheddar Biscuits (2)
- Monkey Bread with Cream Cheese Glaze

1/4:
- How to Poach an Egg, Smitten Kitchen-Style
- Really Simple Homemade Pizza
- Lemony Zucchini Goat Cheese Pizza

1/5:
- Apple Pancakes
- Tortilla de Patatas
- Classic Grilled Cheese + Cream of Tomato Soup (2)
- Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Coffee Cake

1/6:
- Pizza with Red and Yellow Peppers
- White and Dark Heart Brownies (2)
- Apple Sharlotka

1/7:
- Crispy Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Due to first-post excess verbiage above, I won't go into much detail about this week except to say that it was a delicious week.  Special feature goes to that little number up top.  It's called Shakshuka and was the most delicious breakfast I've had in a long while, if ever.  Try it, then invite me over to share.