New Year's Resolutions 2013

I could have done the old, "join a gym", "quit smoking", "lose 100st" resolutions but everyone knows once January's over the gyms become empty, you quit smoking only for 4 days when you had that winter cold, and who wants salad when it's cold outside?

I've decided to be less restrictive with my resolutions this year, and more productive. They shouldn't be that hard to achieve either (fingers crossed):

1: Get a new Hobby.
2: Learn to cook/bake.
3: Read more.
4: Don't procrastinate.
5: Be a more optimistic person.

Ok, here it goes.

1: Get a new hobby.
Don't laugh but I've taken up knitting, and it's great! I'm still slow and it took me a while to get going but I'm getting there.
Me and Mum bought Knit & Stitch magazine and should end up with a patchwork throw at the end of it.
It was quite frustrating at first, and my fingers killed for the first few days but now when I'm watching the telly I knit!
Another plus is because my mind is concentrating on something I'm not smoking as much - Double Win!

2: Learn to cook/bake

Last year I bought myself a Hummingbird Bakery cook book and only made one thing out of it. Last week I opened it up and started again. The Hazelnut Praline muffins were drool worthy. Each one had a gooey bit of Nutella in the middle, safe to say that most of them got eaten before they'd even cooled. My next attempt, a Rhubarb and Almond Loaf Cake didn't go so well. I overfilled my loaf tin so when I checked on it my cake looked like something off "The Blob". If it wasn't for the fantastic smell I would have cried. After an hour in the oven it still wasn't cooked through, I was baffled. Until Mum pointed out I had two loaf tins stuck together *sad face*. In all fairness though, despite the mess up, this tasted even better than the muffins and was also gone in a matter of hours. "Pop it in a bowl with some custard and no one will know it was a disaster" - Mum.

I'll comment on my other resolutions another day but I think they're pretty self explanatory. I'm off to attempt the second recipe again.

Wish me Luck!