2012 Plan: Reviewed

Back in January, I made a plan for self-improvement. While my documentation of progress has been patchy at best - a review of everything once, one books update and several mentioned of the socks challenge - I have achieved the four main aims (though did not manage the four smaller aims - another time maybe).

1. Knit 12 pairs of socks

Done!

Row 1: Blue Vanillas, Thistle Vanillas, Wanidas
Row 2: Red Vanillas, Potamus, Cubists
Row 3: Blue Vanillas II, Rainbow Slant, Mischeif Managed
Row 4: Jazzy Jaywalkers, Helter Skelter, Long Way Round

I freely admit that now, I am addicted to knitting socks. They fit into my life neatly, keeping me entertained on both my commute and my monthly schlep up to Scotland. They can be shoved in a handbag and carried around to fill odd moments of waiting. I tend to have one easier pattern and one more difficult on the go, so that I can pick up whichever I am in the mood for. Given  my recent Socktopus love, it looks like I'll be carrying on with this sock knitting thing for a while yet!

 2. Cook 12 new dinners 

These were:
1. Aubergine Parmagiana, from Jamie's Italy
2. Microwave Risotto, from 100 Veggie Dishes - it's even on the cover of this edition!
3. Pizza from the Great British Bake Off: How to Bake Book
4. Prawn Pasta (Jamie's Italy)
5. Aubergine Pasta (Jamie's Italy)
6. Squash Gnocchi (100 Veggie Dishes)
7. Moussaka, from a book I cannot find anywhere called the Vegetarian Cookbook
8. Vegan Moussaka, adapted from (7) by topping with mashed potato
9. Fish Pie, from a mixture of internet recipies
10. Walnut and Sage Risotto, from the 30-minute Vegetarian
11. Paella (Vegetarian Cookbook)
12. Mushroom and Lentil Pies, adapted from the Seasoned Vegetarian

I enjoyed making all of these things, and some of them will definitely get added to the repertoire. Though it was often more expensive than I thought it would be, I'm hoping that I'm building up a good store cupboard and so it will be cheaper in the future. Some were quick and some took a fair while, but all but one (that's the pizza) were cooked after I'd got in from work. The microwave risotto is probably my favourite, as it is just so much easier than doing risotto in a pan - though it wouldn't scale up very well.

 3. Watch 12 new classic films

1. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
2. Mr Smith Goes to Washington
3. Annie Hall
4. The Apartment
5. The Odd Couple
6. 3.10 to Yuma (1957)
7. The Third Man
8. Dial M for Murder
9. 2001: A Space Odyssey
10. High Noon
11. E.T.
12. Taking of Pelham 123 (1974)

Obviously, all great movies and I very much enjoyed them all. As there are many different types of film there, it's difficult to compare them, but I think for my favourite of the bunch it's between The Apartment and The Third Man - though the former is funny and the second is a film-noir mystery, I I enjoyed them in different ways.

4. Read 12 new classic novels

1. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
4. Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford
5. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
6. Hound of the Baskervilles, The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle
7. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
8. Women in Love by D.H.Lawrence
9. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
10. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
11. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
12. Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

I have tried to select a favourite from these, but it is incredibly difficult; they are all brilliant books in their own way. If I had to pick, it's probably between the Great Gatsby and A Tale of Two Cities, but it probably depends more on mood and memory for it to be a fair measure!

Overall, I have really enjoyed challenging myself to this. As with every year, this one has had its ups and downs, and having some constants through that has made it all seem more manageable. My life has always involved lots of long train rides (they got longer in May when my fiancee moved further away, adding on 2h40m each direction), and the sock knitting and novel reading fitted in well with that. The dinners and films was a lot more stop/start - there was the odd month where I did like three of each and the odd month where and nothing for either - and I think I would have enjoyed those two challenges more if I had spread them out over the year, but enjoyable nonetheless. I would totally do it all again - if I every have a 'quiet year' again....

Resolutions 2012 - Update The First

Some weeks ago I told you about my sort-of resolutions for 2012. As I try to fulfill them, it becomes clear to me that I am taking to some more readily than others. Two months in, I thought I would give you a week update on the four main ones:

1. Knit 12 pairs of socks

I did talk about my slight sock addiction last week. I do seem to be chaining it with them - the second one pair is done, the next is on the needles. I'm thinking this is probably the one I am taking to best of all. Overall, I am 3 down (one with no photo though, sorry), and a fourth on the needles.

2. Cook 12 new dinners

I have done two of these, and both are things I would make again. The first was pizza from scratch, with help from the boyf. The results were good enough, though mine was - as you can see - thick crust and thin middle.  Clearly I need more practice at the pulling it to the right shape. The recipe was from the Great British Bake-Off book  - and though I didn't see much of the programme, I decided I should get the book when it was recommended to me about a billion times (plus it was on sale and I had a token, also both signs). And I recommend it to you too; it has inspired me in ways I never thought would happen. Maybe more on that story another day.

The other one I made was microwave Leek & Mushroom risotto, from the Good Food 101 Vegetarian Recipes book. So happy I found this, as I love risotto but cannot be faffed stirring it. But this way, you sling it all in the microwave, and it does all the timing for you (though actually it's more complicated than that - you put in the leeks with a little oil for a bit, then add rice and stock and whizz again, then add mushrooms...). The first time I made it, I followed the recipe exactly and it was great, but the second time I cut out the butter (for calorific reasons) and subbed the stock (as I'd run out) from water, and it was not so good. Excellent recipe though, and I will make it again - obviously following it this time!

3. Read 12 new classic novels

I have also taken to reading again, as you can see by my so-far-this-year pile:

Even though it is not the most enormous pile, I am quite proud of it so far; it's probably bigger than all the books I read last year, and definitely higher quality. Mansfield Park was great, but I am a bit of an Austen fan - however, I did need something to get me back into classics. The Great Gatsby I heartily recommend, brilliant book. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was a bit grim in parts but it was compelling nonetheless. The other two I also enjoyed and would recommend - I was trying out reading a not-quite-so-classic novel between the classics, and I'm not sure it's sustainable but it's working well for me so far.


4. Watch 12 classic films

And there I was, thinking this would be the easy one; smallest time commitment, and very little planning needed. 'Oh, I only need to find one evening a month, how hard can that be?'. My dad also has a huge selection of classic films, so I just need to ask him for any that aren't on long term loan to me. However, this has not yet come to fruition. I have watched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and that is it. It was an enjoyable evening, don't get me wrong, and everyone should watch that film at some point, but the only films I really watch these days tend to be a) so familiar that I knit, wander off, etc or b) in the cinema, where it is dark and there is nothing else to look at. I should really just suck it up and do it, and I will try for next time.

New Year's Resolutions 2012

I know, I know, it's almost the end of January; there has just been too much else going on in Jennyland to start telling you about my plan for self-improvement. I'm a great believer that goals should be quantifiable. There are actually 12 of them, too, but I'm only going to tell you about the ones I might mention in the future.

1. Knit 12 pairs of socks

2. Cook 12 new dinners

3. Watch 12 new classic films

4. Read 12 new classic novels

Well, there are also some things I want to do that don't fit in to the great 12 in 2012 thing, and the crafty ones are:

• Crochet the blanket
• Learn intarsia
• Make a hedgehog
• Make a tea cosy

Hope I get it all done! I guess I still have a whole 11 months, though really not sure that is long enough for me to learn to crochet - there has been lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth by me on that score! I want to make a hedgehog as a pincushion and because it's cute, and I do need a tea cosy, been drinking tepid tea for about a year now.

And because I think it is a valiant effort, here is what I got up to while 'working from home' yesterday.

Three kinds of soup, plus pasta sauce and my non-chili non-meat Chili con Carne, and somehow they did all fit in the freezer.