A new recipe adds a new ingredient to the list

One of the cool things about trying out new recipes is sometimes I will end up using a new ingredient without really realizing it. One recipe I found this weekend adds another new ingredient I've tried (Resolution No. 6.) I was trying to find healthy appetizer recipes for a food column on Super Bowl snacks when I came across a recipe for Chinese chicken lettuce wraps. The recipe was chock full of vegetables and white chicken meat so it seemed perfect for what I wanted.

The one ingredient on the list I hadn't worked with before was hoisin sauce, which Rachael Ray's recipe described as a kind of Chinese barbecue sauce (though my Chinese friend said hoisin actually means fish.) I knew where to find it in the Asian food section at the grocery and I thought it was probably a bit of a familiar flavor since I am sure I have had it in Asian dressings or other foods before. But I had never cooked with it myself.

The recipe called for stir frying the chicken and vegetables, adding the hoisin in at the very last minute. The sauce has a sweet taste to it, but is thicker than teriyaki sauce. that flavor paired perfectly with the chicken, veggies, the orange zest, garlic and chicken in the mix.

For other options for super bowl appetizers, see Well-seasoned Cuisine at the Weekend Pinnacle's Web site Friday.

Cinequest is coming

For anyone in the Bay Area who is a big movie fan Cinequest is a must. The annual film festival runs Feb. 23 to March 7 this year and all the venues are in downtown San Jose, making it easy to hit a few movies in one day.

I've been to Cinequest quite a few times (and even wrote about it for the paper) usually taking in a shorts program and feature film. I've also attended quite a few of the Maverick Spirit Award events, where a filmmaker is honored for pretty much being super cool. The Maverick Spirit events I've attended have honored Lili Taylor, William H. Macy and Edward James Olmos. I am totally psyched about this year's honoree, Benjamin Bratt, and will be buying tickets as soon as I figure out who wants to go with me.

One of my favorite things about the film festival is that I get a chance to see some short films, which are hard to come by most of time (although I guess maybe YouTube has kind of made them more accessible.) The Cinequest staff organize the shorts into like categories so there is usually a comedy shorts viewing, among others. A couple year's ago one of the films was by Ed Helms and he played a Zombie-American fighting against discrimination. It was pretty funny and there is a hint of his turn in "The Hangover" in that performance.

One year I saw a shorts program that was entitled "Mind Benders." It was basically short films with unexpected endings. This year some of the shorts programs included "Through the Eyes of a Child" and "More Than You Bargained For."

The festival also has a variety of feature films and even has workshops for aspiring filmmakers. The worst thing about the festival is trying to decide which events to go and in the past some of the events have been a bit disorganized - it is run largely by volunteers after all and movie fans can get a bit rabid when they are fitting for front row seats to see someone like Edward James Olmos or William H. Macy.

I will probably stick to a few events this year, but I haven't looked over the program well enough to know which ones I will select. Check back in February for an update.

Swiss chard hits the spot

After my bad experience with quinoa a few weeks ago, I thought the best way to move on with Resolution No. 6 was to pick out some new ingredient to make up for it.

I've been craving a nice, hearty pasta dish, but I've also been on kind of a healthy eating kick so I thought I would look through a low-fat pasta cookbook I have. Before you diss it, two of my favorite dishes are from this cookbook. I love the baked ziti recipe which uses tomato sauce and nonfat milk instead of a bechamel sauce as well as a pesto made with basil, garlic, chicken broth and cream cheese and just a touch of olive oil.

This week I chose an orecchiette pasta dish that mixes sundried tomatoes, bell peppers and the ingredient I've never used before, Swiss chard. It was easy enough to find Swiss chard in the grocery store, unlike the kohlrabi I tired to use a few weeks ago. It is a big leafy green vegetable with a thick stem up the middle. For this meal, we cut out the stem/vein from the middle, then thinly chopped the rest of it. The chard was added to a saute pan with the tomatoes, bell peppers and garlic. It wilts down like spinach so a lot was needed to fill out the dish. But on the plus, a cup of Swiss chard has only 7 calories so eat up.

The meal was filling and the chard had a somewhat peppery taste to it. It is definitely a vegetable I will try to incorporate into more meals.

Photo by Melissa Flores
Swiss chard is cooked up in a pasta dish that mixes bell peppers, sundried tomatoes and chicken.

A view from the boondocks

After six days of rain - and not the light showers we usually experience in Central California - the storm broke for a few moments on my way to work at my office in Hollister. My drive from Gilroy takes me east on Hwy. 25 - the Bolsa as it's known to locals - and the clouds cleared just enough to offer up an awesome sight.

It's the same drive I've been doing five days a week for more than four years so most of the time I stop noticing the sights along the road. But there are times when the beauty of it draws me in - like early spring when the red-winged black birds start displaying their bright patches on fence posts and the wild mustard grows to seven feet tall.

Friday was one of those days when the sights were good enough to make me stop. I pulled off on Briggs Road, just before entering into Hollister to enjoy the view of the Diablo mountains dusted with snow. Snow is rare in this area, and when it lands on the hills, it doesn't last long or come to low. But it was just a perfect photo op that morning so I stopped my car, got out my camera and got some mud on my boots.

It's a reminder of why I like working in the boondocks - the view is amazing.

Sacrifice sleeping in - in the name of a good workout

Of all my resolutions, the one I hope to keep the most is No. 14, and so far at least so good. But in some ways with my goal to keep up the gym routine, I feel like I am fighting against my nature.

I've never been a very athletic person. Part of that might be my lack of coordination - let's just say I'm not even coordinated enough to follow the steps of rhythmic kung-fu on Wii Fit Plus. I disliked PE in school, after all, who likes being the last one to cross the finish line on the mile run. And the one sport I attempted in high school made me probably the only person in history to sustain an injury on a badminton court that required a stitch across the bridge of my nose. So it kind of came as a surprise to me in college when I discovered I kind of liked going out at night for a jog around campus. It helped with stress, I could go at my own pace and there was no one around to accidentally hit me across the nose with a racket.

When I graduated from college, I took my first job at San Jose State University, where as a staff member I could get an insanely cheap membership to the student union fitness center. My supervisor was cool enough to let me eat my lunch at my desk so that I could spend my lunch hour at the gym.

It was kind of a pain to lug a gym bag around with me each day, as I found it necessary to shower before returning to the office, and it meant I didn't blow dry my hair or use much make-up in those days. But I soon fell into a routine of running one to miles a day and weight training - five days a week. I finally felt like I was accomplishing something athletic as I could start lifting heavier weights and run at a little faster pace. I had muscles I never knew existed.

But in some ways when it comes to fitness I am a little bit like an alcoholic - I fall off the wagon from time to time, and when I do, it is really hard to get back on it even if I know it's good for me. For me, the fall off the wagon is often precipitated by a major life change, like going away to school or getting a promotion at work. I don't really have a good excuse except that sometimes I get a little....tired.

My most recent lapse started as a few days when I had a cold, and then a few weeks when the weather was bad, and the a few months when work got overwhelming with layoffs, which I survived, but which grew my work load exponentially. Soon it was nearly six months and I hadn't been to the gym.So a few months ago, I decided to start out slow. Instead of aiming for two-hour workouts six or seven days a week, I opted for Thursday-Sunday workouts. I figured I could handle four days a week. I do a weight training circuit with 10 minute cardio in between two days, and a cardio and ab workout the other days. I even gave up sleeping in on the weekends to go to the gym at 6:30 a.m. because I know the later it gets in the day, the less likely I am to actually go. I've managed my goal of four days a week for nearly three months now, with an extra day thrown in here or there. The result is that I am less stressed out at work, I fall asleep more easily at night and I'm just feeling a whole lot better. I am determined to keep it up - even if a major life change comes my way.

No thanks, Qui-NO-a

I continued my work on Resolution No. 6 this week with another new ingredient I'd never used before. I decided to try quinoa, which is not really a grain, but is often used in place of grains for people with wheat and gluten allergies.

Somehow in my head I assumed quinoa was a bit like couscous, which I love cooked up in chicken broth with toasted pine nuts and honey. I found a recipe for herbed quinoa from the Food Network Web site and I was all set to go. The quinoa, which I bought in bulk in the organic section of a local grocery store, was added to boiling chicken broth and lemon juice, and then covered with the heat off for 15 minutes.

While the quinoa was cooking, I made up the dressing of lemon juice and zest, thyme, basil, parsley and olive oil to mix into the quinoa when it finished cooking.

To go along with the side, I marinaded some chicken breast in lemon juice and thyme, and grilled them up with a little olive oil.

When the quinoa was done, it was fluffy and tasted okay to me. I sat down to eat my plate of chicken, quinoa and string beans. And things were going just fine, though the texture of the quinoa became a little less palatable as it cooled. I was halfway through my meal when I took a forkful of the quinoa into my mouth - and suddenly it started coming up instead of going down, if you know what I mean.

Needless to say, after that I lost my appetite and I think I probably won't eat quinoa again. I even work up with a little bit of a rash on my face today, which may be completely unrelated, but which I will blame on the quinoa.

I tried to find some information online about allergies to quinoa and there didn't seem to be much, but according to wikipedia, which we all know is a great source of information, quinoa seeds can have a coating on them that is mildly toxic if it is not washed properly. I assume my quinoa was washed before I purchased it, especially since no one else in my family got sick, but perhaps that was the reason I couldn't keep it down.

At any rate, I am ready to move on to the next new ingredient - and this time I will do a little better research on how to wash it.

Win some, lose some with Golden Globe predictions

Back when the Golden Globe nominations were announced, I made a few picks for my choices and best guesses of who would win in some categories. I was right on with some of my picks, way off on others, and there was at least one big shocker of the evening.

Since I wrote about my picks, I've actually seen a few more of the nominees, including "Avatar," "Invictus" and "Up in the Air." I feel all three of those films deserved the nominations they received, but as dramas in the same category they couldn't all win.

All three of those movies were nominated in the best motion picture - drama category, along with three other films. I thoroughly enjoyed all three of the films for different reasons. "Invictus" got me because it really is a story about inspiration and I spent a semester in South Africa. Morgan Freeman was great as Nelson Mandela at a time when the country was in a major transition. "Avatar" got me because it was just brilliant technology and looked like nothing I'd ever seen before. "Up in the Air" was just full of brilliant dialogue and acting. I connected with the story on a personal level.


Tonight, the Hollywood Foreign Press went with brilliant technology over a great story. "Avatar" won and I think it was deserved.


I picked Sandra Bullock to win for best performance by an actress in a motion picture - drama. She took the category. I haven't seen any of the other performances nominated, but Bullock pulled off the best acting I've seen from her to date in "The Blind Side."


I saw three of the movies in which actors were nominated for best actor motion picture - drama, including Morgan Freeman in "Invictus," George Clooney in "Up in the air," and Tobey Maguire in "Brothers. Freeman embodied Mandela and Clooney was able to portray heartbreak in just a look as Ryan Bingham. Maguire had the weakest performance of the three. The winner, however, was Jeff Bridges, as a washed up singer/songwriter in "Crazy Heart."


The biggest shocker of the night was the winner for best motion picture - musical or comedy. I saw three of the nominees, "It's Complicated," "Julie and Julia," and "Nine. I thought for sure "Nine," being an artsy musical, would take the category. At the least, I thought it would be "Julie and Julia" or "It's Complicated," with Meryl Streep at the helm. I had just finished saying, "The Hangover will never win," when the envelope was opened and "The Hangover" won. I thought the movie was hilarious, but I'm not sure it was better than all the other movies in the category.


For best performance by an actress in a motion picture - musical or comedy, I saw three of the movies, including both of the vehicles for which Meryl Streep was nominated. Though I'd only seen two of the movies at the time, I thought Meryl Streep would win for "Julie and Julia," or Marion Cotillard would win for "Nine," which I haven't seen yet. Streep deserves it for taking on Julia Child's persona onscreen.


I still haven't seen any of the movies for which best actors in a musical or comedy were nominated. I thought Daniel Day Lewis would get it for "Nine," but Robert Downy Jr. took it for "Sherlock Holmes."


When it came to animated films, I thought "Up" would win and I am glad it did. When I wrote about the nominees, I said it made me laugh and it made me cry. But more than that, it made a few men I know do the same thing and I think that's proof enough that it deserved the win.


So when I picked U2 for best song, I kind of knew they probably wouldn't win. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I've heard the song "The Weary Kind" in trailers for the movie "Crazy Heart." It's catchy and recognizable and seems totally suitable for the movie.


I really wanted "Dexter" to win for best television series -drama. The season that recently ended was the best won yet. The writers out do themselves every year and I can't believe they made me like a serial killer. The Golden Globe, however, went to "Mad Men," which I have never seen. Still, Michael C. Hall and John Lithgow, took home Globes for their performances last season so at least they were recognized for the crazy work they do.


I watch four of the five TV shows nominated for best musical or comedy so I was a little torn when I chose my top pick. Of "30 Rock," "Glee," "Modern Family" and "The Office," I went with "Modern Family" because it is new and fresh. I also estimated that it made me laugh harder this season than any other show. "Glee" won and I really like that show, too, so it's not so bad. For


For best performance by an actress in a TV comedy or musical, I really wanted to see Tina Fey win for "30 Rock" or Lea Michele on "Glee." But I can understand why Toni Collette got the nod for "United States of Tara." After all, as a woman with multiple personality disorder, she is really play four characters, not just one.


For my final prediction, it seems like the Hollywood Foreign Press agreed with me that Alec Baldwin just gets better as Jack on "30 Rock" each season. He's in perfect form for this season as a man who has reconnected with his unavailable high school crush.


The rest of the winners are online.

The 'Babies' are coming

My trip to the movies today was worth it just for one of the previews from an upcoming Focus Feature film. The preview started out with two African babies sitting on the floor of a hut. The babies, who look to be around a year old, are playing with what pass for toys in their culture. One baby tries to take a toy from the other. The baby who wants to keep the toy smacks the other baby. Soon the babies are crying. The sequence went on for way too long and left me guessing what this movie might be about. I thought maybe it was a remake of "The Gods Must Be Crazy," or the opening to a romantic comedy that is showing how males and females can't get along from the start.

But it turns out the movie is just about babies. In fact, it is called "Babies." It looks to be a documentary of sorts that follows four babies from birth to their first steps - one is from Namibia, one from Tokyo, one from Mongolia and one from Hattie. In addition to the fighting babies, there was a cat using a baby's foot as a play toy and a goat drinking out of a baby's bath water. Hilarious.

The trailer, at least, was filmed almost from the point of view of the babies as though the cameramen were crawling along with them. While the feature I went to see was somewhat lacking in laughs, the Babies trailer had me laughing so hard I had tears coming down my face. And after the movie, when I thought about the trailer I started laughing again. I am not sure how two hours of babies will play out into a feature film, but I might see it just to see those three scenes again.

One-tenth of Resolution No. 1 done

I stayed up way too late last night working on one of my resolutions. I finished reading the first of 10 books I want to make it through this year (Resolution No. 1.) It was a book I got for Christmas by one of my favorite authors, Nick Hornby, "Juliet, Naked."

I started it on the weekend, but of course, I didn't finish it. I spent the week trying to get to bed early so I would have a little more time to read before bed. I even took the book with me to work and read during my lunch hour on Monday.

It wasn't Hornby's best work, but it was a decent read. My favorite Hornby books have both been made into novels, "High Fidelity" and "About a Boy." Those two books just had fuller characters than "Juliet, Naked," but perhaps what made them more enjoyable was the happy ending at the end. The latest book is about three people in the middle of middle age - or nearly past it - who suddenly realize they have wasted 15 years of their lives. Duncan and Annie are an English couple who have never gotten married and just sort of fell into their relationship. Duncan is obsessed with a reclusive former musician from America and it puts a strain on his relationship with Annie. The musician manages to contact Annie, in the middle of his own brittle relationship. The sad thing is that although all three people seem to realize what a waste the last years have been, none of them end up doing anything to change it.

It was engaging enough, however, that I couldn't put it down last night as I got down to the last 50 pages. It's one of the reasons I don't read more books - I stick to magazines. And thanks to Hornby, I am not an extra two weeks behind on my "New Yorkers." I'll get back to those before I start the next novel in a couple weeks.

Stop and smell the (pricey) roses

I'm beginning to think I don't believe in marriage. Or more specifically, I am not sure I believe in weddings.

I've been immersed in wedding planning as maid of honor for my cousin who has plans for May nuptials. And every step along the way I am shocked with how much everything costs.

The latest stop along the way included a visit to a local flower shop. I can't claim to be an expert on flowers since I rarely send them to other people and have rarely received them myself (although I am still wondering who sent me the mystery bouquet of roses and stargazer lilies when I worked at SJSU.) But it seems to me that a small bouquet of flowers with which to walk down the aisle really shouldn't go for nearly $300. And then there are the bouquets for the bridesmaids, boutonnieres for the groomsmen and corsages for the mothers and honored guests. It all adds up to way more than I would ever want to spend on flowers.

That doesn't even count the venue, food and drinks, invitations, the wedding dress, the cake and a whole bunch of other costs.

As my friend put it, weddings can cost as much as a really good car or a down payment on a condo. If I had that kind money I'd put it to good use by paying down my student loans. But I guess I don't have to worry about any of this for a while since I haven't made any progress yet on Resolution No. 9.

The root of the problem - Resolution No. 6

This morning when I sat down to work on a shopping list for the week's menus (after a nice trip to the gym and yoga - Resolution No. 14), I thought I would start to tackle some of Resolution No. 6.

I chatted with a friend the other day who gave me some suggestions for ingredients he thought I should use. Of course, some of them were clearly just meant to poke fun at my picky eating habits - like black squid ink, which I will never eat willingly. He also nixed my idea to use saffron or other herbs and seasonings as ingredients. He said they didn't count.

But there were a few items he mentioned that were already on my tentative list, such as quinoa.

I found a quinoa recipe I will use later this week, but a lazy Sunday afternoon seemed like the perfect time to roast up some root vegetables I've never tried before. The first on my list was kohlrabi, but unfortunately I couldn't find it anywhere in my grocery store. Perhaps it was listed under another name - like how fennel is sometimes called anise. I realized that using some out of the ordinary ingredients may require a little bit of shopping around.

Luckily, Nob Hill had all the other root vegetables I wanted. The medley included veggies I've used plenty of times such as onions, carrots, parsnips and turnips. The ones I haven't cooked before included celery root and beets, red and golden. I've eaten beets plenty of times, but usually just out of a can on top of a salad.

Despite some time spent washing and peeling the vegetables, the prep time was pretty quick. I bought a mandolin slicer before the holidays and it worked out well to slice up the round vegetables into 1/4" thick slices. The vegetables were tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, with sprigs of rosemary, thyme and sage thrown on top.

The vegetables were served with a pot roast. The celery root has a slight celery flavor and came out of the oven with a smooth texture. The red beets had an earthy flavor and the golden beets were sweet.

One ingredient down, four to go. So far this resolution has been tasty.

Photo by Melissa Flores

Roasted root vegetables include carrots, parsnips, red and golden beets, onion and celery root.

28 days more to wait

Netflix and Warner Bros. came to an agreement early this week that highlights the change in the way viewers are seeing movies. The studio agreed to release more of its video catalogue to Netflix streaming option (which can be accessed using Xboxes, Roku players and on laptops) if the mail movie giant would agreed to delay release of Warner Bros. films until they have been on sale for 28 days. Read more about it here.

My family has always been avid movie collectors and we have probably 300 movies on DVD or video (parsed down from more than hundreds more when we moved to our new place.) A lot of those movies are courtesy of my sister who bought a lot of movies from classic Audrey Hepburn flicks to anime to horror films. My dad has lots of Westerns and my mom has plenty of romantic comedies. The shelf I claim as my own has maybe 50 movies on it and they run the gamut from mainstream comedy to obscure indie films.

When we moved to the new house, we downsized the movie collection by donating movies we didn't think we would watch again or that we had lukewarm feelings for to the local library. The impetus for us was because we really didn't have the space. It also seemed like a good way to start saving some money since we spent an awful lot on new movies and pre-owned DVDs through the years. I still occasionally buy movies that I really want, like "The House Bunny."

It will be interesting to see if the month wait prompts any users to run out and buy DVDs. My guess is that people who really want to see a film will have already seen it in the theater and the extra four weeks wait won't make much of a difference. As any long-time Netflix user knows, it's nearly impossible to get a movie the week it comes out anyway.

The good news for viewers in all this is that they will be able to see more of the Warner Bros. catalogue on instant play.

Eight decades of best pictures

So I figured the first step in starting on my resolution to see all the Academy Award best picture winners for the last 80 years is getting the list together. I've seen some of the movies before, so I have a little bit of a head start on it.

The oldest picture winner I've seen is 1943's "Casablanca," with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, a classic love story that seems even more classic compared with all the bad romantic comedies I saw last year. The most recent movie I saw on the list is 2008's "Slumdog Millionaire." I thought the movie was well-done despite the penchant director Danny Boyle has for gross bathroom scenes. And the music was excellent. I've seen quite a few other movies (italicized below) from the musicals of the '60s such as "My Fair Lady" and "Sound of Music," to the serious fare of "Terms of Endearment" and "Schindler's List."

I can see why many of the winners took the best picture honor, but some just confuse me such as "Crash" in 2005 and "No Country For Old Men" in 2007.

As I check the movies off my list (which I am sure will take more than a year), I will report back here with thoughts.

For now here is the very long list I have left.
Wings (1928)
The Broadway Melody (1929)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Cimarron (1931)
Grand Hotel (1932)
Cavalcade (1933)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
You Can't Take It With You (1938)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Rebecca (1940)
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Mrs. Miniver (1942)
Casablanca (1943)
Going My Way (1944)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
Hamlet (1948)
All the King's Men (1949)
All About Eve (1950)
An American in Paris (1951)
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
From Here to Eternity (1953)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Marty (1955)
Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Gigi (1958)
Ben-Hur (1959)
The Apartment (1960)
West Side Story (1961)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Tom Jones (1963)
My Fair Lady (1964)
The Sound of Music (1965)
A Man for All Seasons (1966)
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Oliver! (1968)
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Patton (1970)
The French Connection (1971)
The Godfather (1972)
The Sting (1973)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Rocky (1976)
Annie Hall (1977)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Ordinary People (1980)
Chariots of Fire (1981)
Gandhi (1982)
Terms of Endearment (1983)
Amadeus (1984)
Out of Africa (1985)
Platoon (1986)
The Last Emperor (1987)
Rain Man (1988)
Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
Dances with Wolves (1990)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Unforgiven (1992)
Schindler's List (1993)
Forrest Gump (1994)
Braveheart (1995)
The English Patient (1996)
Titanic (1997)
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
American Beauty (1999)
Gladiator (2000)
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Chicago (2002)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Crash (2005)
The Departed (2006)
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Best picture of 2009?

The resolve continues to evolve

I've already got some feedback from some friends about my list of resolutions for 2010. I have a must-try restaurant added to my list (resolution #2,) though I'm told the going rate is $95 a person so maybe I can combine my resolution of going on a date (resolution #9) with that one and get someone else to pay for it. The same friend who suggested the very expensive Los Gatos restaurant (it's Los Gatos, of course it's expensive) also wants to suggest some new ingredients (resolution #6) for me to use in 2010. I am sure he just wants to drink me into eating seafood or something spicy, which has been a goal for about the last decade.

The only resolution I have actually gotten started on is No. 10 since the application for the fellowship for which I would like to apply is due Feb. 1. I wrote out rough drafts of two of the required essays and have coworkers reading them offer for advice. It's one of the benefits of working with a bunch of writers and journalist - they all have a critical eye and good grammar.

Though I did spend a lot of time ruminating about my list of resolutions before I posted it over the weekend, there are a few things I meant to add to the list that slipped my mind. So here is an addendum to the original listing.

16.) Enter (and complete) a 5K run/walk

Okay so some of my friends have lofty goals of running marathons, but I'd like to keep my goal a little bit more realistic since I am never going to have the time or motivation to train for something like that.

I've been volunteering for the last couple of years at a summer 5K walk/run and this year I think I'd like to participate in it rather than sitting on the sidelines. I used to run two miles a day back when I worked at San Jose State (and was in my early 20s) and this goal will help keep me motivated at the gym.

17.) Clean out the garage

My family moved into our house going on three years now...there are still boxes packed up in the garage from when we moved in. I am pretty sure at least 75 percent of the items in the garage (with the exception of Christmas decorations, photo albums and the extra refrigerator) can probably go straight to charity or the dumps. It's time to get this cleaned up.

18.) Have tulips or lilies in my garden

The best thing about the house I moved into three years ago is the eight hours of sunlight in the backyard for the vegetable garden. I've had basil and tomatoes that have thrived, but every time I plant flowers nothing much seems to happen.

For the last three years I have tried to plant tulips and/or lilies in the garden. I chilled the bulbs, planted them in winter and waited for spring each year. And waited and waited and waited. This year, I will have tulips and lilies in my garden, even if I have to buy transplants from the garden center.

19.) Make homemade pasta sauce (entirely from scratch)

Speaking of the home-grown tomatoes, this year I would really like to make homemade tomato sauce entirely from scratch. I wanted to do it last season, but our tomato crop was less abundant than usual due to the cold spring weather. And then it was really hot and I couldn't see putting the oven on for hours to roast tomatoes for the sauce. But perhaps I can come up with a way to roast the tomatoes on an outdoor grill to keep the heat out of the house. I already have plans to plant some Roma tomatoes, the perfect variety for a pasta sauce.

I am sure the list of resolutions will continue to evolve, and once again, advice and suggestions are welcome.

With great resolve

In this week's edition of the Weekend Pinnacle, we reviewed the happenings of San Benito County in 2009. My co-worker went through our online archive month by month to pick out the top stories of the year - and based on his news judgement there were a lot of them. A review of the year revealed a lot of budget cuts, a lot of furloughs and a lot of unemployment. But it also revealed some progress, such as the opening of the Hwy. 25 bypass, which has been a decade in the making, the first condors nesting in San Benito in 70 years and plenty of people who are doing good deeds.

On a personal level, 2009 had its rough spots, but I'd like to look at things with a glass half full attitude. I took a pay cut, but I still have a job in the news industry, something that seems to be more and more rare. I was healthy all year except for a little cold and allergies, as were most of my friends and family. Work got really hard when people were laid off, but I learned new skills and was able to adapt. All in all, I had a decent year.

Now that 2010 is started, I thought it was time to think about what I want from the next year. I don't usually make resolutions, but I was inspired by a blog I discovered a couple months ago where a woman posted her own bucket list and writes about accomplishing the items. Most of the things on her list are things that would never make my list, but it got me thinking about how to change things up in my life a little. So here is my list of things I'd like to do in 2009 - or at least start on. Feel free to offer input and anyone who wants to help is welcome to.

1.) Read at least 10 books

This might seem like an easy one since I am an avid reader, but I have a bad habit of reading "The New Yorker" cover to cover. It's not like reading "People" magazine, with all the pictures and such. I have a stack of "New Yorkers" on my nightstand about a foot deep and they keep piling up every time I take a break to read something else.

But I do enjoy reading a book once in a while - and I have a box full from Christmas, my birthday last July and possibly from the Christmas before that I'd like to tackle this year.

2.) Eat at five new restaurants

I am a creature of habit, and a picky eater, so when I do eat out I almost always go with the same, old stuff I know. My favorite restaurants tend to be hole-in-the-wall places in Hollister and Gilroy, or chain restaurants I know well.

So this year, I'd like to try a few new places and get out of my comfort zone - though that doesn't mean I will be trying any fish dishes or anything else too exotic. Anyone with restaurant suggestions around the Bay Area, please let me know and friends are welcome to dine out with me.

3.) Make homemade ravioli

I made egg pasta from scratch for the first time two years ago when I took a cooking class. I was surprised at how easy it was, but I've never tackled anything more than fettuccine or spaghetti. I bought my sister a pasta maker for her birthday last year and it has been used once. I'd like to put it to use more often and come up with a tasty ravioli filling sometime this year.

4.) Learn my aunt's gnocchi recipe

For anyone who doesn't know, gnocchi are a kind of Italian potato dumplings. My aunt and her daughter are the only ones in the family who know the recipe so I think it's time someone else learned, to carry on the family tradition.

5.) Take a trip somewhere other than Indiana
No offense to my very good friend from the Midwest, but the only vacation I've taken in the last two years has been to visit Indianapolis for some face time with her. I have another trip planned for May when she gets married, but I'd like to get out of town and somewhere else.

I'm not thinking a long tour of Europe or anything, even just a weekend trip out of town would be nice.

6.) Cook recipes with five ingredients I haven't used before

For the weekly food column I write, I am always trying out new recipes and last summer I challenged myself to find meals that used some of the ingredients at a local farmers' market. That's how I discovered leeks, fennel and bok choy, all delicious vegetables. I'd like to expand the family favorites with a few new ingredients.

7.) Watch all the Academy Award best picture winners

I've probably seen about a quarter of the movies already, including most of the winners for the last decade but I'd like to see some of the older films, too.

This is probably one goal I will not be able to achieve in one year, given there are more than 80 movies on the list.

8.) Write a short story

I've been kicking around the idea of writing a novel for a couple years now, but with work responsibilities I just never have to time to get down in word the ideas that are in my head. I thought a good way to kick start it might be to try writing a short story first and see where things go from there.

9.) Go on a date

This also might seem like an easy one but I'm not sure I've been on a real bonafide date in years. When I mentioned to my friends I hadn't dated in a while and I'd like to start I got two responses - the first was that they'd love to fix me up with someone but all the single men they know are single for a reason and the second was that they'd tried online dating and I should, too, because they met a lot of...interesting people. I'm not quite sure how I'll tackle this one, but perhaps I will ask my friends for some more advice.

10.) Apply for a fellowship

I've got a journalism fellowship already selected - the application is due Feb. 1. I printed the application requirements in October. Now to actually start working on it. My actually getting accepted to the fellowship program might be a long shot, but as my coworker keeps reminding me I really have nothing to lose.

11.) Quit farmville

I only started playing farmville because a couple of my friends were playing it. I nearly stopped playing it a while ago when I realized my farm was so big it was taking me 20 minutes to harvest, plow and plant my fields every time I logged in. But then a bunch more friends signed on and I felt kind of bad if I quite I would be helping them along with their farms. Perhaps I could just scale back on the times a week I log into farmville and slowly wean myself off it.

12.) Take a class

I don't really have a class in mind, but I'd like to use a class as a way to learn something new. I always look at the community classes offered at Gavilan College, but never actually since up for them. And there are weekend cooking classes offered through sources such as Sur La Table.

13.) Scan old photos of family and friends

I've got photo albums from college and high school, as well as the old family photos that are just sitting in the garage. I'd like to start scanning them and burning them onto cds where we will have copies in case anything ever happens to the albums. It would also be great to share the photos of family with my younger cousins who haven't seen them.

14.) Keep up the gym routine

I was going to the gym regularly for nearly a year when I got a little overwhelmed with work and honestly was just a bit too tired to get up and go. But I've gotten back to the gym for the last six weeks with a commitment of going four days a week. It means getting up at 6:30 a.m. on weekends and earlier on the weekdays I go. But it means I feel less stressed out at work, I eat better and I feel better so its worth it.

15.) Decide on what kind of car I want

I have plans to get a new care in 2010, but I am torn about what I want. I once said I would never get an SUV, but I really kind of like the Honda CR-V. The idealist in my thinks I should get a hybrid, but those are all expensive. In the end, I'll probably just buy whatever is the most affordable and gets decent gas mileage.

So here are a few things to start off the New Year. I may add more as time goes on, and I will certainly post updates on how things are going, especially when I complete one of the goals. As I said before, input, advice and dinner company are welcome.