2010....A Year to Resolve Resolutions?

So I decided that this New Year, I actually want to have a resolution. Normally I just resolve to not to resolve....but this year I want to actually force myself to do something to better myself.

There are several things I would like to accomplish/resolve for 2010, but being realistic, I know that I will more than likely not change too much, therefore, I think learning something new about something I enjoy will be the best course of action.

I am thinking about "mastering" a cuisine every month. I will work each month to perfect certain recipes & styles of the chosen cooking "genre". Once the month is up, I will invite a few friends over to showcase that month's best recipe.

I am having a tricky time deciding which types of food I should choose. I know I am defiantly going to have a Hispanic month, a few European months (I really want to try my hand at French cooking....and maybe German), and a few Asian months (I really want to master Thai cooking and Chinese...and maybe a few others), but I am torn as to what else I should do. Do any of you have suggestions or recipes you recommend?? I am even toying with the idea of working on certain types of cooking for a month or 2 (for example, one month will be devoted to desserts, another to appetizers).

I will keep you posted on whats to come, the recipes I decide, etc. Each month I will do an update on how things are going and how successful the "mastered" dinner goes with the friends. The end goal of this is to have an easily documented recipe "book" to give to my Mom--she asked for something like this for this Christmas, but I didn't really have the time to truly make her a good one with yummy things in it!

So give me your thoughts!!