Little Pail List

Our tradition for New Year's Eve includes writing in this "time" book.  We get one page each per year and on that page we list at least five things we want to do in the following year - not resolutions, more of a small scale bucket list - a little pail list.  Then the next New Year's Eve, we review the prior year list and draw smiley, frown-y, or straight-face faces by each entry, depending on what we did or didn't do.

On my list this year (besides "going to an auction" - hey, I said little pail list), I wrote "create five new menu items and perfect them".  Now by "create", I mean find the right recipe and make it myself.  And by "perfect", I mean make it so that (1) it tastes good and (2) I feel so comfortable making it that it becomes a go-to choice for me.

And it's April.  And I thought I better get going on this if I want that smiley face at the end of the year.  So, I've been making lasagne - something I love but have never been able to master.  This week I finally made one that tastes really good.  I think I have one out of five.  Can't be happy with just one.  Feeling a little cocky, I roasted seven pheasants (yeah, still trying to clean out the freezer!) the other day, mixed them with crushed juniper berries and fresh thyme, and was going to make pheasant pasties for dinner tonight.

Well,...I'm running around like a crazy lady today trying to get everything ready for all of our weekend activities so that tomorrow I can sit and watch ball games for six hours (yep, six!).  Other than the predicted forty-six degree high for tomorrow, I'm excited.  I have the stadium blankets in the back of the car, extra sweatshirts packed, hand warmers ready, and, of course, plenty of Muppet band-aids!  I'm not packing sandwiches 'cause part of the fun is buying nachos and hot-dogs at the concession stand.

And I'm thinking, I don't have time to make pheasant pasties tonight!  So, I put the pheasant in the freezer (I'll do it next week) and set out a container of home-made split pea soup, bought a baguette, and we're ready for the weekend!  (Except for that book club meeting tomorrow night that I'm not at all  quite ready for!)