Final Recipe #21: Pan-fried Fish with Lemon Caper Sauce
They Draw & Cook
107 Recipes Illustrated by Artists from Around the World
by Nate Padavick & Salli Swindell
Made on January 1, 2019
I completed my 2018 Cookbook Challenge!
At the beginning of 2018, I made seven New Year Resolutions including “Invite the neighbors over for a party” (check!), “Maintain my weight loss” (check!), “Sew a quilt” (fail!), and our favorite: “Make 21 recipes from 21 cookbooks” (CHECK!).
When I originally mentioned my resolutions on Facebook, my brother Ron had a wonderful suggestion-- “Hey Anne, you should document each of your recipes in a blog! That would be really interesting.”
At that moment, I should have considered:
I have never written a blog.
I am not great at writing.
Writing a blog post literally takes longer than making a recipe - including doing the dishes.
My brother is a Public Relations executive- of course he thinks that is a good idea.
Because I failed to consider any one of those four points, I jumped in. I also neglected to see into my future...that my free weekends would become consumed with spending hundreds of hours designing three pro bono design projects (one of which continues until July 31, 2019). I also did a lot of travel- two trips to NYC, one to DisneyWorld, one to Tucson, and one to Sweden. Can’t complain about any of that...unless you are still wishing I had sewn that quilt.
So, despite filling my weekends with design work, I remained committed to my self-imposed Cookbook challenge. Gosh darn it, I was going to see it through...how could I let my readers down? All 8 of them? You know who you are because you are reading this right now.
I wish I had something profound to say at this momentous accomplishment...like “I am now a much better cook!”, or “I have decided to make 30 new recipes in 2019!” Or even “My use of proper punctuation has improved!”. But, alas, none of those statements are true. What is true is this: “I am proud of myself”. I am proud that I did not quit. I am proud that I went ahead and showed my less-than-impressive results. I am proud that I learned some new things...including how to make Späetzle and a kick-ass Egg Foo Yung. I am also happy that my mother found my endeavors entertaining and my friends were supportive.
Without further ado, this is my last recipe...Pan-fried Fish with Lemon Caper Sauce. I loved this unique cookbook full of artist-created recipe pages. Each spread is completely unique. I rarely make fish so I thought it would be good practice. Plus, it gave me an excuse to buy capers.
I have taken a few photos of some of the other spreads/recipes from the cookbook:
The recipe called for the juice of a whole lemon...which was too much. Next time, I would only use a tablespoon or two. I chose tilapia for my fish.
For 2019, I have written some new resolutions. I will continue to maintain my weight. I will invite the neighbors over for another party. I will continue to cook new things. I will learn how to use my new air fryer and Instant Pot. However, I will not blog (at least until after July 31). I will not sew a quilt.
I will also say “Thank you” to you for reading my posts. Mom, Ron, Zoé, Craig, Andrea, Abygai, Kathy, Janice, Tina, Kelly, Carly, Yumi, Lynne...I appreciate your support and encouragement. Those tiny little “thumbs up” symbols went a long way to motivate me to make another recipe.
Happy New Year and best wishes for a terrific 2019.
