The Lost Draft: Happy New Year!

2009 was a big learning year for me. I'm proud to say that I've spent a few moments reflecting on the top ten lessons that have made the largest impact on me.

1. Even on my worst days, my son will still make me laugh.

2. Being a stay-at-home mom is both rewarding and torment.

3. I sometimes feel bored, when really I still have a lot to do.

4. My living room won't stay clean no matter how hard I try.

5. I am not very good at keeping up on my blog.

6. A part-time job is sometimes a big night out.

7. We really need a babysitter in our area.

8. I really need to learn more about photography.

9. I'm in love with my dutch oven. What's better than one pot meals.

10. I'm easily inspired by movies and books. I recently watched "Julie and Julia", and all I want to do is try to cook my way through an entire cook book.

That being said, I decided to be a bit more realistic and aim to simply cook dinner more than once a week. I am also vowing to try out new recipes, and make use of my dutch oven. We got a whole bunch of snow this weekend, so I decided to aim for something that sticks to the ribs.

My searching lead me to a recipe for chicken and dumplings found on marthastewart.com. I decided to give it a go as it called for my beloved dutch oven.