If I had to pick one word to set as a theme for 2020 (as inspired by Jaye Rockett) it would be “Fresh”. I want a fresh start. Fresh and zing food after the Christmas cheese and chocolate. I’ve been away from this space for a while and, to be honest, I’ve not got an excuse. If anything I’ve had more time in the last six months than I’ve had for years, but yet sitting down in front of my laptop has felt like a really, really difficult thing to do. Stemming from having absolutely no idea what to do with this space I’ve become very demotivated.
I’ve toyed with starting again from scratch but I have too much love for many of the posts here to do that completely. I have no thought up a vague plan for this space – you may notice a few periods of outage over the next few months whilst I bring my dream to reality, but bare with me. I hope it will be worth it!
This space will still be predominately food, because food makes up such a massive part of my life. As a couple we’ve set ourselves the challenge to cook 100 new recipes in 2020, making sure we get more use out of the many, many cookbooks we own. Over the past two years we’ve stuck pretty diligently to one new recipe a week, so upping the target feels a fair move. I’ve ticked off three so far, so we’re off to a good start!
We’d also like to become more self-sufficient – as much as we can in a one-bed flat in London with no outside space whatsoever. Grow our own herbs, get proficient at making sourdough (we’ve had two failed starters now, so any tips welcome). We’d like to start using butchers, greengrocers, fishmongers a lot more, although this does contradict our goal of saving for a house purchase slightly! Less plastic, less food waste, more veg. Incidentally the Nectar card app analysed my spend in Sainsbury’s over 2019 and 48% was on fruit and veg, which I’m pretty chuffed with – the stats geek in me loves that app!
Another word I’d choose as one of my themes for the year would be “Hedonistic” – or to be engaged in the pursuit of pleasure and self-indulgence. Be that eating what I feel like, blogging when I want, what I want rather than sticking to a schedule. Going to restaurants that are pricier for the love of food, rather than “just” for a special events.
And in non-foodie news, I’d like to make more time for me and be more present. I’d like to record the every-day moments, and not the Instagram-edited highlights. I’d like to just sit and ‘be’ more. I’d like to discover who I am without the curtain of work life and study to define me. Maybe that’s a bit of both a fresh start and being more self-indulgent!
How are you approaching the new decade?