challenge #1...food

it is well known among my friends and family that i enjoy cooking and baking.  of course, the real reason for this passion is because i love to eat!  i haven't met a food yet that i won't at least try once, i exercise for the express purpose of being able to eat what i want, and i've definitely planned more than one vacation around where and what i'm going to eat...ridiculous i know, but i have a sneaking suspicion that i'm not alone in this...

so, with the holidays just recently over, i was pleasantly surprised by my family with some great "foodie" gifts.  my newest pride and joy is my amazing kitchen aid mixer!  i have wanted one of these babies for the past few years, and my parents were so kind to give me one for christmas.  i love it!

isn't she a beaut?

another of my favorite gifts was the essential new york times cookbook.  i don't think i've ever had a cookbook like this one before.  the editor, amanda hesser, collected a vast amount of recipes that have been published in the new york times, some dating back to the late 1800s.  what i love about this cookbook is that hesser has included for each recipe some kind of background story; the history of recipe, how it came to be published in the times.  it's one of those cookbooks that is going to end up on your bedside table, not just in your kitchen.  so, sylvia challenged me to cook something using my christmas gifts.  i'm slightly intimidated...these are recipes that have made it into the new york times.  it's not going to be a recipe you find on the back of a can.  but i'm thinking this will be a good opportunity to expand my skill set.  so here's my plan:

1. i'm going to choose a recipe that has a technique or ingredient that i've never used before
2. i've got to use my kitchen aid to complete my recipe (i know, twisting my arm on this one...)
3. here's the extra fun part...i'm having a progressive dinner on saturday, for my birthday.  my creation is going to be for that dinner, so that hopefully lots of people get to enjoy it!

i'll keep you posted!
-m