resolutions

To ring in this new year, our friend Kathleen introduced us to a great tradition, the details of which I probably only partially paid attention to. What I remember of it is that you write all of your resolutions on a small scrap of paper, burn it over your glass of champagne and gulp down the wine, ashes and all. I think it began in some Eastern European country where the locals likely initiated the tradition in order to keep warm. When you have nothing left to throw on the fire, what is there? Your hopes and dreams for the next year! Set 'em alight! I'm not going to get too caught up in the potentially awkward symbolism of burning your promises - let's all just focus on the part of the custom where you ingest and internalize your wishes. And - bonus! - we didn't accidentally set fire to anything else (sorry Marty and Chuck - this could have been your chance to replace the carpet at the beach).

A and I both took a particularly long time writing out our resolutions because this year we made ourselves sit down and actually think about what we wanted to accomplish over the next 365 days. Inevitably, we got long-winded. What resulted probably says more about our respective personalities than about our goals:

P's resolutions:
-preserve more foods
-improve my baking
-read more often (and more of the books I've been putting off)
-commute more by bike
-experiment more with letterpress
-learn about new food cultures
-use our cookbooks more
-expand our gardening
-explore more of the city

A's resolutions:
-jar tomatoes and sauce
-bake bread once every two weeks
-read at least two nights a week
-have more plants and tend to them better
-volunteer with Slow Food
-buy a chord book & tuner and pick up the guitar again
-go climbing once a month
-blog post once every two weeks

Looking over our two lists, we resolved to do many of the same things, but the differences in approach are revealing. Whereas I would craft broad directives (read more), A would set tangible benchmarks (read two nights a week). Sure, mine may be a little vague or subjective, but let's face it; they're easier to claim success at. Still, whenever we'd ask friends about their resolutions, we kept noticing how similar ours actually were. Instead of our task-oriented ideas, others would mentioned lifestyle or character-changing goals like "living more healthfully" or "taking a more relaxed approach to life." In every instance, A and I wrote about specific activities that could propel our lives in a new direction, while most of our friends declared resolutions that were more end goals of how they'd like to see themselves. Funny. I guess A and I aren't much into building character.

So, to make sure that we had full bellies prior to starting all of our projects (seriously, canning and baking really work up an appetite), we decided to start off the year with a great, warming, Southern, and luck-filled new year's day dinner - hoppin' john, collards, and skillet cornbread.

We turned to the Lee Bros. again for inspiration and were not disappointed. Baking the cornbread in a skillet gives it a great crusty exterior that matches the coarse-ground bite of the cornmeal. The leftover stock from our "bog" played beautifully in the hoppin' john alongside the fresh-soaked black-eyed peas and the smoky richness of the ham hock. Cooking your black-eyed peas from scratch will get you over any aversion you may have had to the canned variety (isn't it true of most foods?). Originally, we'd planned to make our collards based on a recipe from Russell Street BBQ - the broth-y, stewed variety with plenty of onions and garlic. But given the winning streak we'd been on with the recipes from the Lee Bros. (4 for 4!), we decided to take a few hints from both sources and make our own tangy, spicy version. We left out the ham (trust me, there was more than enough to go around from the hoppin' john) and it didn't suffer at all - done with a homemade vegetable broth it would be a satisfying vegetarian side.
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New Year's Day Collards
(adapted from Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook & Russell Street BBQ)

2 tablespoons olive oil (or 1/4 pound slab bacon)
1 cup sweet onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 large bunches collard greens, stemmed, washed and cut into 1/4 inch strips
2 cups good (homemade) chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil in a 6-quart pot or render the bacon (3-5 minutes) over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent and soft.

2. Lower the heat to medium and toss the garlic with the onions a few times until fragrant.

3. Add 2 handfuls of collards at a time, turning them in the fat and onions for a couple of minutes until they wilt; just steam them in the small amount of water that clings to them, but don't let them brown [make sure to constantly stir them]. Add more collards, 2 handfuls at a time, and turn them until they wilt, until all the collards are wilted in the pan.

4. Add the chicken broth and red pepper flakes. Turn the heat to medium-high and cook until the broth comes to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the greens have turned dark, about five minutes.

5. Add the vinegar and sugar to the greens, toss to distribute, and cook, uncovered, about 5 minutes more to let the cooking liquid reduce and concentrate.

6. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot with cornbread.
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