Firsts!

Hey there 2010, how you doing?

Well, the new year has come and been around a bit and since I'm not sure my resolutions are in line enough to share here, I thought I would tell you about some of my firsts in 2010.

First new recipe: This week marked the return of Tuesdays in the Kitchen with Emily as Ann has dubbed my cooking adventures with an attempt at caramel pudding. Now, don't be misled by "attempt", it turned out to be amazing and wonderful pudding, it just isn't all that caramel-ly. To make caramel, you have to intentionally burn sugar, but not too much, and I got nervous and jumped the gun and pulled it off the heat before it really caramelized. Oh well! It's not at all like pudding in a little pack with the foil on top, it is much thicker and more than anything reminds me of a dessert I was obsessed with while I was in Costa Rica. Some quick googling just confirmed they are basically the same: a corn starch pudding. I am trying to restrain myself from going to the fridge to get the last serving right now.

First book read: Wounded Warriors: Those for Whom the War Never Ends, by Mike Sager. The book caught my eye in the new nonfiction of the Harold Washington but ended up being nothing like what I expected it to be. In fact, when I started reading the introduction and looking at the table of contents I was halfway convinced the cover was wrong or something (dumb, i know). It is a collection of stories from journalist Mike Sager and only one of them is actually about veterans. All of the stories are gritty and poignant and extremely eloquent. I especially loved the one in which Sager switches from the typical journalistic style and goes on a first person narrated search for Marlon Brando.

First steps towards my new year's resolutions: One of those nebulous resolutions is to get back to volunteering on a fairly regular basis. Tonight I went to my first training session to become a tax preparer for the Center for Economic Progress. Last year I had a ton of trouble with my taxes so this is a way for me to learn more about how to file etc and also to help others who need help with all of the forms and made up words and phrases. Turns out that even with an instructor, taxes are still pretty crazy, but I am excited nonetheless.

First new relative: Everybody give a nice warm welcome to the world to my new cousin, AJ (Anderson James)!

First blog post: this one! Did anyone not see that coming?

Happy new year everyone!