Planning Ahead
Happy New Year! I am back from my "blogging break" and feeling refreshed. I'm glad I decided to give myself a vacation from blogging for a couple of weeks; I really needed it. These past few weeks gave me time to clear some mental clutter and get some R&R. As much as I love the holidays and look forward to them every year, by the time they are over, I'm relieved and ready to start fresh. I love the clean slate of a new year; how we can start over, but also make the return back to the normalcy of our daily lives.
I've never been big on making new year's resolutions, but last year I decided to write my first list of "personal goals" and although I didn't accomplish all of them, I did a pretty good job of checking most of them off the list. I made a new list of personal goals for this year as well. I figured that it would be just as helpful if I also wrote a list of my blogging goals for this year. There were things I intended to do last year that I never accomplished because I never put together a list, so I felt like I meandered along with my blogging all of last year with no clear focus or intention. I don't plan on repeating that mistake, so I'm sharing my first-ever list of blogging goals with you for my first post of 2011. Here goes!
Publish posts regularly.
This has been my biggest challenge so far since I started my blog. Over the holidays, I came across a wonderful article written by Dianne Jacob of Will Write for Food, entitled "5 Ways to Write Posts on a Schedule". Her tips and suggestions were specific and just what I needed to help me with this challenge. A print-out of her article now sits on my desk where I can read it often and make sure I keep myself on track. My goal is to now publish at least one post per week, which will be 3-4 posts per month.
Feature more Italian recipes.
Although the focus of Flavia's Flavors is not exclusively on Italian food, I definitely need to do a better job of featuring more authentic and traditional Italian dishes. Italian food is the food of my heritage after all, and there are so many wonderful recipes out there to share!
Use my cookbooks more often.
I have So. Many. Cookbooks. And I hardly crack them open! I have bought each one of them thoughtfully and with the best of intentions, but I end up making the same things over again and not venturing into my cookbooks for something new to try. I plan on making this an ongoing commitment because it's a great way to learn new kitchen skills and cooking techniques...and eat some delicious food in the process!
Introduce variety.
Over the past couple of years that I have been reading food blogs, I noticed that many of them have fun and interesting "features" as part of their content. They are posts that appear on a fairly regular basis--some weekly, some monthly. I love how they add variety and interest to the blog, while still staying on the topic of food and cooking. Last year, I gave some thought to what I could do to add some variety to my own blog and I am happy to announce that I have not one but two new features that I am adding to Flavia's Flavors! The first is called Flavia's Favorites--this will be a montly post on my favorite food, cooking or kitchen-related items. The second feature is called Flavia's Fundamentals--these posts will be basic recipes/cooking techniques that are indespensable for every home cook. I'm not setting a specific posting schedule for this feature only because the recipes I post each week may or may not be a "fundamentals" recipe--one month may have just one "fundamentals" recipe and another month may have four of them, so I'm leaving the posting schedule fluid. But I will be sure to include "Flavia's Fundamentals" in both the recipe title and in the tags.
Do a better job of not wasting food.
Over the holidays, I sat down to check Facebook and saw a new post announcement by Lidia Bastianich entitled "Commit With Me This New Year". It was a sincere and thoughtfully written blog post about how she is making a conscious effort both personally and professionally to not waste food. She is also taking her message to the media and in her public teaching appearances. So far, she's doing an excellent job--her most recent posts of the new year have focused on how to put your leftovers to delicious use (a skill Italians do very well!). I am ashamed at how I sometimes waste food because I don't plan ahead properly or get over-ambitious with the recipes I want to make. And we all tend to neglect the leftovers in the fridge from time to time. I joined Lidia's Community Table on her website, and am going to be more aware of making sure I do not let the food I buy and make go to waste. As an extension to this committment, I have also applied to volunteer at a local food pantry in my community. I am still waiting to hear back from them, but I will keep you posted on any new developments.
Wow! It looks like I have my work cut out for me this year! But I am looking forward to making Flavia's Flavors better each year for you, my readers. I welcome any suggestions you may have about recipes or fundamentals you would like to see featured here, so please feel free to leave a comment or send me an email.
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Great job getting your goals in order. I love the features that you are adding. Not to add more to your plate, but how about some "go to" recipes as part of or in addition to the features: go to pasta dish/menu for date night, impressing the boss, in-laws, potluck crowd? I'm sure you'd have some delicious ideas!
It will be nice to read you more often, I always look forward to reading a new post. And totally agree with working on wasting less. Ciao!
Good for you, Flavia! Having goals that are accessible and not too lofty is a great way to start. I know how difficult it can be to stay on schedule, but don't beat yourself up if you get a little sidetracked. We all know you're not sitting around watching soaps all day... but maybe you are eating delicious bon bons? Just kidding- but if you are, I hope you'll share the recipe :) If you get sidetracked, I'll nudge you a little if you do the same for me! We helped each other last year, so let's do it again.
Congrats on your goals! I'm really looking forward to Flavia's Fundamentals!