“Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past.”

Henry Ward Beecher, minister

It’s time once again for the wrap-up of the leftover photos from last month, Beecher’s admonition notwithstanding. Let’s see, what do we have here…

With few restaurants open on January 1st, Henry and I hit the sidewalks of Village Recoleta, where, actually, most places were bustling with business. Deciding to try something new, we plunked down at a table at A’Nonna Angulina, where they offer up various combinations of all you can eat pizza, pasta, and/or salads. Let’s just say we won’t be repeating that experience.

The Disco supermarket near me is offering up 1 kg cylinders of their acceptable white cheddar that is normally only seen in thin wedges. It’s no English Farmhouse, but it at least gets into the ballpark.

Even for $2.65 I can’t quite bring myself to sample the Lambrusco in a can that’s dotting the shelves in Barrio Chino all of the sudden. I’m not sure which scares me more, the can or the price.

Working on a healthier version of the salt and fat laden revuelto gramajo using herb-roasted pork loin, and onions and potatoes cooked down in vegetable stock and a touch of olive oil. It’s really quite good and I used it in last weekend’s column in the BA Herald. I’m going to play with it a little bit more before springing it on one of our dinners, or perhaps some brunch guests.

I’m reading through the biography of Bernard Loiseau, The Perfectionist, the French chef who hit the international news a few years back after committing suicide after losing his three-star Michelin status. There was a description of an interesting way of making the “perfect” fried egg, just barely set in warm butter – it’s actually almost like poaching it in butter rather than frying it. But damn it’s good.

I am informed by a site that keeps track of such things, Twopcharts, that today is my three year anniversary of tweeting via my Casa SaltShaker account (there’s a whopping lot of information on that site about people’s twitter accounts – just in case you thought all those offhand thoughts you’ve tweeted were thankfully lost to all time). It really doesn’t seem that long! My first tweet was: “Testing a recipe for braised rabbit with peppers, rosemary and bacon” – pictured above, coniglio peperonata – it was for a class that I was teaching that week. I only had one follower at that point, a friend who I used to work with in New York at Veritas restaurant.