Culinary Bucket List

We frequently talk about all the cool food-related things we’d love to do some day… but we never thought to write them down! Here’s to hoping that writing out this list will encourage us to actually accomplish some of these things! {You have to have a list before you can cross things off of it…}

  1. Eat at a Michelin 1, 2, and 3 star restaurant.
    • We’ve now been to one starred Metamorfosi (now closed) and All’Oro, both in Rome, Italy.
    • Added our first American star at Xiquet, in Washington, DC.
    • And our first three star at Smyth, in Chicago!
  2. Host a formal dinner party.
  3. Make soup dumplings from scratch.
  4. Prepare an entire Thanksgiving feast.
  5. Stop buying pasta. Make it from scratch.
  6. Shuck our own oysters.
  7. Conquer my great-grandmother’s famous Sour Beef recipe.
  8. Figure out how the Italians’ make pasta cacio e pepe a million times better than we can. Also, master that twirling the pasta at the table trick.
    • Still haven’t quite figured out the twirling of the pasta, but the recipe is pretty good – Cacio e Pepe
  9. Host a vertical wine tasting with friends.
  10. Grow our own herbs and actually use them.
  11. Make ice cream at home.
  12. Eat a lobster roll in Maine.
  13. Bake homemade donuts.
  14. Bake homemade bagels.
  15. Bake homemade soft pretzels.
  16. Bake challah.
    • Not as hard as I thought! Challah
  17. And naan.
  18. Sample street food everywhere we go around the world! (Also, go everywhere around the world!)
    • Simit & roasted chestnuts in Istanbul
    • Pizza al taglio in Rome
  19.  Flambé something.
  20. Perfectly sear scallops.
  21. Roast a goose.
  22. And a duck.
  23. Have a signature dish:
  24. Make churros.
  25. Hand roll dolmas.
  26. Hand roll sushi.
  27. Make the trifecta of Chinese soups: Wonton, Hot & Sour, and Egg Drop.
  28. Celebrate world-wide holidays with traditional foods.
    • On St. Patrick’s Day 2018, we made our version of a traditional Irish dish – Our Dublin Coddle
  29. Also, celebrate random food-related holidays.
    • October is National Apple Month and National Dessert Month – check and check with this perfect-for-fall Apple Cinnamon Galette
  30. Make our own sausage at home.
  31. Embrace baking.
  32. Make traditional Turkish manti.
  33. Copy Selim’s dad’s spaetzle.
  34. Become such frequent patrons of a restaurant that staff greets us by name.
    • Does takeout count? We became pandemic life takeout regulars at Billy Pie.
  35. Make baklava from scratch.
  36. Continue to make and share family recipes.
  37. Join a local farm and/or frequent the local farmers’ markets and create dishes based on what’s local & seasonal.
  38. Stop avoiding recipes out of fear of failure.
    • Still a little terrified of deep frying things, but Shrimp Beignets were a success too!
  39. Cook with new-to-us ingredients!
    • We love Aleppo pepper, but it was once new to us – Muhammara
    & Chaat Masala Smashed Potatoes – chaat masala

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