Looking back at 2009
Just over six months ago, I started this blog. Since then, I've met a lot of very lovely people and eaten a lot of great food.
I thought I'd share with you a few favorites.
My favorite recipes of 2009...
Potato Salad: I made this on a whim from a combination of sources and now I've made it for a wedding and a work-related potluck. Everyone raves about it and I'm no longer allowed to bring anything but this dish to work potlucks!
Spiced Chicken with Barley: Another surprising find - the spice mixture in this recipe is unlike anything I'd made before and it's damn good. Another repeat in our menu.
Pork, Pineapple and Chile Salad: The theme today is "surprising" -- I loved the interplay of flavors and textures. Definitely one of the "wow!"'s on my table this year.
Caribbean Rice and Beans: It took us four days to make this recipe again. It's that good, I think.
German Chocolate Pie: Oh man, I fell in love with this pie. I made it into mini-pies and loved every bit. It's now my go-to sinful, rich dessert delight.. . . .
But, you, my readers had other ideas...
Top Three Most Viewed Recipes of 2009
Maizes Zupa (Latvian Bread Soup): This is such a great dessert, but it's hard to afford (and source) the bread for it here. One of my favorite recipes from Latvia.
Mujadarrah: Surprisingly popular, it's an excellent frugal yet tasty meal. Very good for those days you don't really feel like doing any work but want a heartily good dinner.
Speķa rauši (Latvian Bacon and Onion Rolls): One of the very first recipes I posted here and one of the two photos I have up on Photograzing. Definitely good - I love snacking on them.. . . .
Most Searched For Recipe of 2009
Maltās gaļas mērce: Surprisingly, or not since it's awfully good, this is what brings the most folks via various search engines.. . . .
Most Popular on Flickr
Caprese Salad: Talk about a runaway hit. This image got StumbledUpon and got quite a few hits in 24 hours. Damn good salad too -- and the sole reason I am planting tomatoes this spring.. . . .
That's it for last year! I'm definitely looking forward to having a lot more great food and conversations in the year to come.
Some things you can look forward to:
- I'm acquiring a copy of Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking
by Michael Ruhlman and participating with a group of friends in a challenge to make six ratios from it over the course of the year. Periodically, I'll be posting various experiments from it. If you want to play along, let me know!
- My mom gave us a bamboo steamer and her own set of challenges, so there will be more Chinese, Thai and Japanese meals on our table this year.
- I really want to try to make more use of the cookbooks I've collected. For example, there are a bunch of heritage American recipes in one of my older books that I've been dying to try out, so I may do one of those per month.