I’ve been feeling in a bit of a food rut lately. Much as I love sesame noodles, Thai takeout, and Christmas cookies, I was getting kind of bored. Cooking has always been enjoyable for me, but recently I was feeling uninspired and sluggish, reluctant to post anything here because I didn’t have anything good to post. Last weekend, however, I decided things needed to change. Freed from the flurry of holiday parties and December business, January seemed like a good opportunity to start fresh and get back into cooking — real cooking, not just throwing on some pasta when I get home from work like I’m tempted to do most nights. 
While it’s still cold, I want to make more hearty soups, more winter salads, more creative and inexpensive meals. I want to make pickles and take more time to read and play games, and watch less TV (even though this is the supposed Golden Age of television — and it’s easy to believe with Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, Mad Men — I could go on). I want to enjoy my beautiful new-ish neighborhood more, and make the most of these winter daylight hours.
Inadvertently, this has become a bit of a resolution post, and I was never a big one for resolutions. Any resolutions to exercise more or eat healthier usually don’t seem to last very long, but these I think I can do. And so, I’ll begin this year with a simple (but very impressive) recipe for the perfect winter comfort food: braised short ribs that melt in your mouth, and the creamiest polenta with just the right amount of salt. We enjoyed with a cabernet sauvignon, some candles, and a kale salad (have to try to be somewhat healthy at least), and A. told me it was his favorite one yet.
