N ~ New Year's Goals

    A while back (as in way back in January) I had posted a list of all the things I wanted to  accomplish this year, and I am so happy I composed that list because it has served to be such a source of motivation for me. I have tried my very best so far and hope to complete them all yet before the end of the year.

   I am making this post because I want to show you all an update on all of my goals. And just in case you haven't seen my list before, fret not, for I am sharing it below.

          New Year's Goals

• learn to temper chocolate  ~ I still have not attempted this, I have read up a lot on it recently, but the thought of actually trying it scares me. Honestly I don't know why, no matter how it turns out, I'll end up with chocolate to eat!

• have a proper high tea party ~ My sister Diane and I actually did this a while back and it was such fun, in fact just looking back on it makes me want to have another one quite soon.

• complete my crochet afghan ~ I had been working on my afghan during scary movies, because obviously I'm genius when it comes to finding excuses for being too busy to watch a scary part. I had to stop crocheting though because I ended up running out of yarn, perhaps this week we have to pick up some more on our shopping trip.

• start my own kitchen notebook (like Rachel Khoo) ~ Yay! I actually did start my own kitchen notebook and I love it. Now if I could only sketch and paint as well as she can....

• blog much more frequently ~ If the A-Z challenge counts as it all, then I'd say I can check this off my list, if not, then I shall simply have to post a lot more frequently.

• have excessive berry-ings ~ Our berry bushes are obviously not anywhere near ready for the picking so to speak, so I can't really let you know how it all went till I'm actually in berry season.

• read 52 books ~ This is probably my favorite goal, so far I have only read fourteen books, I know I have a lot of reading to do, so I shall simply just have to hold my head high and charge into our book cupboards. Not literally though, that would be quite painful.

• finish writing my book ~ One word, Oy! My book is not going so well, my villain is terribly charming, and the good guy is terribly horrid, whatever shall I do?! I'm starting to understand why so many authors just kill off all their characters.

• make a proper pâte à choux ~ I have already accomplished this, I had so much fun with it too. I wanted to make it truly proper, so I beat at the dough with a wooden spoon till it was thick and glossy. I honestly have no idea why pastry chefs don't have huge biceps, my arms felt like they could fall off by the time I was done.

• make a proper pastry cream  ~ This was also accomplished, I had made the pâte à choux into eclairs and filled them with pastry cream, and it was delicious.

• broaden my french baking knowledge in general ~ Cough. I'm not doing so well in this area, but if reading a baking blog that's written strictly in all French counts, then by all means I'll take it. (Let's just ignore the fact I couldn't understand half of what was actually being said.)

• break my bad habits (wouldn't you just love to know what they are) ~ This is actually hilarious now that I look at it, because I have absolutely no idea what the bad habits were that I had wanted to break.  

• have a real picnic ~ I have not had a real picnic yet, but this upcoming week Diane and I are going to have a picnic romp on the cliff beside our waterfall to celebrate her Birthday.

• become fluent in French ~ If any word could accurately describe all the torture I have gone through in studying French, then no one would even need to ask how my studies are going. But since I have no such word you shall just have to understand that right now I'm listening to a French song and if I was asked to interpret it I would tell you these are the lyrics " You left me yesterday, the end of the season, blah blah blah blah, and now all is finished." I'm sure you get the picture.