Patrick Stedem

On a whim, I purchased a rutabaga due to its rather unique appearance and comely price. It’s a vegetable I’d heard little about and tasted less. Now that I’ve cooked and devoured the root, I know why. Preparation is both dangerous and lengthy. It requires peeling, but a traditional peeler is of little use. Instead, the easiest method is to slice into halves or quarters and cut off the unseemly outer layer. The initial slicing is where the danger comes in, as it is akin to cutting into a squash or similar. The flavor of the end product is pleasing, and a change of pace from other roots. However, the annoyance of preparation removes it from consideration for routine appearance on my dinner plate.

In a final analysis, the hearty outer layer of the rutabaga is both its blessing and its curse, and that’s a lesson for us all.

To begin my review of 2011, I’ll look at how I performed in regard to my resolutions. I had five resolutions for 2011: 1. run more 2. do more pushups, situps and squats 3. read one hour a day 4. floss and 5. cook at home more often.

1. Run More

While from a technical standpoint I ran more than last year, I in no way achieved the amount of running I desired. When I started working nine hour days and the weather cooled down and it was dark leaving work, it was too easy to just say “whatevs.” There’s no excuse though, because I have a free gym membership for indoor running. I am weak and pathetic.

Rating: FAIL

2. More Pushups, Situps and Squats

I did increase the number of pushups, situps and squats done in each workout and I kept up with doing them routinely. I, however, did not come close to reaching the promised land of the hundredpushups, twohundredsitups and twohundredsquats programs.

Rating: MARGINAL SUCCESS!!

3. Read One Hour a Day

Wow. This souffle never even rose enough to collapse. I forgot I’d even set this resolution. Maybe this year?

Rating: SPECTACULAR FAILURE

4. Floss

Easily the greatest success of my 2011 resolutions, and potentially the greatest success of my entire life. While I don’t necessarily floss every single night, I do the vast majority of the time. It’s become a habit, and it’s to the point that the dental hygienist complimented my dental hygiene. My success owes a debt of gratitude to this Pop Economics entry. My greatest failure was not applying the same “keep doing it, even if only in an insignificant amount” way of pushing towards forming a habit to reading and running.

Rating: ABSOLUTE SUCCESS

5. Cook at Home More

This is a win, but with further room for improvement. I’ve shifted from only cooking humongous, weeklong quantities once a month and eating out the rest of the time to making single dinner portions. I’ve developed a ravishing love affair with the baked sweet potato and experimented with different vegetables I’d never eaten before, let alone cooked. I’ve shed quite a bit of weight, though I think that had more to do with changing, and being more conscious of, what I eat.

This is not to say that there have not been trials and tribulations. There have been abject failures (e.g. pecan and cheddar cheese balls, cooking a piece of fish so improperly it resulted in a sort of boney fishmash), and I have growing trepidation I will injure myself through haphazard knife usage, salmonella (or salamander as my paternal grandfather once referred to it) poisoning or not cleaning my oven of, now charred, sweet potato drippings.

Rating: SUCCESS

My first try at this whole green smoothie thing, even though the resulting smoothie is far from green in color. It was a resounding success. My blender impressed me by ripping through the orange like a chestburster alien would through, well, a chest. I followed the recipe here, and I left out the optional flaxseeds (I had my doubts without their inclusion).

After more trips to grocery stores than I care to remember, I have all the required ingredients needed for my Thanksgiving cooking. I’m especially excited about the DIY Irish Cream.

Making this for breakfast has already made Memorial Day a win, and there’s still burgers to be made later!