When I was in high school, one of the girls on my sister’s tennis team and her family were murdered in their home a few days before Christmas. They were tied up and shot, doused with gasoline and set on fire by an ex-convict.

Because the crime was random, I struggled to make sense of it. It left me with a feeling that at any time, any one of us could be a victim, a fear that grew more pronounced when I moved to New York City for graduate school. There I knew students mugged while walking to school. My body, already on high alert, was triggered by the sights and sounds of disarray, like the stench of urine on the subways and graffiti on its walls.

Since moving to Minnesota, I’ve felt at peace. Here, when I gaze out my window, I see green grass and trimmed trees. Neighbors pop in on one another, and often we leave our doors unlocked. But now, with a Level 2 sex offender moving into our neighborhood, I realize you can’t control your environment; you can only control who you are in it. And I haven’t found internal peace yet. Because there is one question that still weighs on me: Why?

Do you feel safe where you are?

Tonight we grilled steak for dinner and made tomato kabobs:

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vineagar
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon thyme

Mix together ingredients and marinate cherry tomatoes for at least 30 minutes. Place tomatoes on skewers, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill for 4-6 minutes.

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What I love about a new year is it’s full of promise. It’s a chance to let go of the past — after all, who cares what you did last year — and reinvent yourself. Today.

You can let go of your fears.  You can let go of your failures.  You can start to believe you can cook.  Better than Bon Appetit.

You see where I’m going with this?

‘Cause she does.

Tonight, I tried out an appetizer recipe from Bon Appetit for our Turn the Tub Around viewing party at Hot Mama.

(Despite the photograph, I swear I did not stop halfway through the shoot to eat some butter straight from the bucket.  Not that I’m above that. It’s just our tub was empty. I know. I checked.)

Only I didn’t have sesame seeds, but found Panko bread crumbs in my pantry. Nor did I have pancetta, what I’ve come to think of as fancy, overpriced bacon (not that I’ve ever bought it; is it expensive?).

And so rather than following their Pancetta-and-Seasame-Coated Turnip recipe, I came up with my own:  Panko-and-Bacon-Coated Turnips:

• 16 slices bacon
• 2 large turnips
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup panko
• vegetable oil

Looks yummy, right? Well, it was. But Bon Appetit knows two things I do not:

First, there is a reason you use a deep-fry thermometer. Although, I must say, our fire alarm works just as well, if you hold your hands over your ears. And second, thinly-sliced pancetta sticks to the turnips, unlike my fat slabs of Lorentz bacon, which unraveled.

We ended up with Panko-and-Bacon-Coated Turnip Kabobs. Which were clumsy, but surprisingly tasty.

Next time, I’d still use Panko.  Only I’d invest in pancetta, too.

Directions: Wrap a slab of bacon around each turnip chunk. Then, dip in egg. Coat with Panko. Deep fry in vegetable oil until Panko lightly browns, about one minute. Then bake at 350 for 7 minutes.