It's that time again when we all re-evaluate the year gone by and look to the next. With some help from the
eGullet Society, we at Food Bytes have come up with our own culinary resolutions.

Andree Lau:

In 2009, I will eat more fruits and vegetables.

I will make more dinners at home.

I will find a way to make white fish exciting.

I will learn how to bake chewy cookies.

I will try quinoa and durian.

I will read Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper by Fuchsia Dunlop.

Jessica Wong:

In 2009, I will eat more vegetarian meals.

I will make cost-conscious, home-cooked meals.

I will find a local butcher in my new neighbourhood.

I will learn how to match wines with dinner and to keep a smaller pantry.

I will teach a good friend how to prepare a rib-eye steak to medium doneness.

I will read books about eating more sustainably. And Ina Garten's new cookbook.

Tara Kimura:

Have you ever read a feature where the person interviewed sincerely made you want to be a better person? Well, a recent New York Times profile on dynamo Jean Scardina has made me want to be a better baker. At 79, Scardina bakes 6,000 cookies - including chocolate shortbread, molasses crinkles, squares and pinwheels - to give to friends over the holidays. She is often up until 3 a.m. rolling and cutting and baking. After reading the article, I felt like a true amateur, with my humble double single batch of caramel corn that I make to give away to friends at Christmas. So in 2009, I resolve to be a better baker.

I will expand my baking repertoire to include some of Scardina's stalwarts such as Pfeffernusse and Yugoslavian Christmas cookies.

I will learn how to properly pronounce Pfeffernusse.

I will schedule my day more effectively to increase my yield.

I will start a recipe spreadsheet like Scardina to organize multiple yields and shopping lists.

I will learn the many wondrous joys of being generous.

Amber Hildebrandt:

In 2009, I will eat at a kaiseki restaurant.

I will make homemade pasta and ice cream.

I will learn how to do sous vide.

I will try to get an allotment garden and feed off of the vegetables I grow.

I will read Bottomfeeders from top to bottom and memorize all sustainable fish I can eat.