A Look Back at 2010

Like so many of you, in the last week or so I have been reflecting on the year past and thinking about goals for the new year. I just spent the morning reading back through my blog entries from the past year. It's so nice to have this as a record and reminder of the year gone by. One of the funnier things is that on January 1, 2010, I wrote that I was very sorry to not have told you that I would be away from the blog for so long and had expected to post during the holidays, etc, etc… it seems I don't change much, as I wanted to write the same thing today! So I am warning you — and perhaps more importantly, me — that this year, 2011, I won't be posting during the week before Christmas or New Years! While I'm still working out my other goals moving forward, I thought today we could take a look back.

Over the course of 2010, I shared 57 recipes here on the blog. I would like to create a recipe index this year, but in the meantime I thought I would list my ten favorites from 2010 in the order they appeared throughout the year. The bacon, cheddar and chive biscuits were, hands down, the most popular post I made last year — I wonder what it will be this year!

• Peanut Sauce and Ginger Marinade

• Icebox Cupcakes

• Ceylon Cinnamon Rolls

• Steamed Pork Dumplings

• Bacon, cheddar and chive biscuits

• Chicken Enchiladas Verdes

• Asparagus Pie

• John's Chesapeake Fried Chicken

• Cuban-Style Pork

• Free-form Apple Tart
 

 

I tried many new flavors in 2010, too, in a feature called "Now I Can  Say I Tried It." Kumquats were my favorite new find and I have been anxiously scouring the grocery these days on the lookout since they are in season now. Perhaps this year I'll expand this feature beyond food and include new activities I would like to try, like cross-country skiing or kayaking by moonlight.

• Persimmons

• Ugli Fruit

• Fiddleheads

• Lychees

• Kumquats

You may have noticed in the right-hand column, the list of books I'm currently reading. My three favorites from 2010 are:

The Toss of a Lemon by Padma Viswanathan
This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader by Joan Dye Gussow
Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home by Kim Sunee

So that's about it for today. Thank you so much for reading along with me. I hope you all had a happy, festive launch into this new year and I look forward to another year of cooking, craft shows and more. I always welcome your comments, suggestions and feedback. Happy New Year, readers!