There is a routine now to commemorating a year’s end on the internet: a flurry of hyperspecific in-out lists, prescient trend forecasts, final photo dumps, the Reels and TikToks that turn the most memorable moments into split-second blips of romantic montages set to the zeitgeistiest tunes.
Resolution-making is still very much in, whether you do it the old-school way — on the first page of a new notebook for a new year — or hastily thumb them out in the Notes app of your phone. I like to do mine in this newsletter. Last year, a reader told me about her friend’s approach, which informed a handful of resolutions I presented to you all. “I’m heavily leaning into the idea that resolutions can be silly side quests that just exist to wedge more joy into my life,” she wrote. I hoped we’d all find more labors of love, treat ourselves and live a little luxuriously in our kitchens in 2024.
I can’t say I personally excelled at any of those resolutions. 2024 was a doozy! But in my search for self-improvement — and silly side quests — we’re back with more.
Dare to prepare: A big batch of beans (in the oven, on the stove or in the slow cooker) to eat throughout the week in breakfast burritos, over lunchtime rice bowls and tucked into loaded sweet potatoes for dinner is a strong start to a meal-prep habit.
But I’m also aspiring to look ahead to the days you can’t exactly plan for: when you’re too sick to cook. I see 2025 as the year I stock the freezer with stocks and soups galore, preferably spiked with soothing ginger and turmeric. Gentle soups, like Andy Baraghani’s golden potato and greens soup and Naz Deravian’s white bean, rice and dill soup, and soups with a kick, like Naz’s dal adas (spicy red lentil tamarind soup) and David Tanis’s spicy carrot-ginger soup.
Golden Potato and Greens Soup
Waste less: Back in the fall, I did a fridge clean-out that left me feeling ashamed. Sauces and spreads from, gasp, 2018 that I somehow moved entire states with, long after they expired. Celery limp with slimy residue. Wholly unrecognizable leftovers. We’ve all been there … right? No more! We’re making smarter, better uses of odds and ends before they reach their oddest end.
Before the greens go bad, they’re going into Jeff Gordinier’s green juice. Leftover tomato paste is going into Lidey Heuck’s newish (and already five-star) caramelized tomato and shallot soup, another contender for the freezer. That last bit of ketchup, chile paste, sweet relish? It’s going into Melissa Clark’s Thousand Island dressing, which is going into chickpea salad or egg salad or potato salad. Nubs of sturdy carrots, zucchini and squash are getting shredded for vegetable pancakes. And every wilting tender herb, and its stems, are getting sauced.
Whimsy more: I can think of no greater silly side quest than the themed dinner. And I don’t necessarily mean a fussy dinner party — though I love those unconditionally. I mean calling up a few pals and declaring it:
To a delicious 2025! Thanks for reading, and see you next week.
Caramelized Tomato and Shallot Soup
Tortitas de Espinaca (Spinach Fritters)
Radicchio Salad With Walnuts and Pears
One More Thing!
I’d once again love to hear your resolutions for the new year. Send your 2025 kitchen goals to [email protected], and I’ll include a few next week for those still in need of a little inspiration.
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