Happy Holidays and New Years!

Wow, for the 2 or so years since I have had this blog I have never let it go so long between posting. I owe the community a bit of an apology as, despite my good intentions, I missed out on Menu For Hope and this month's Daring Blogger challenge. I was working some crazy hours for the first half of December and than it was off for a relaxing week in Mexico. I am only just getting back to normal.

Since today is New Year's Eve I suppose it is time for a bit of reflection. I am not a big believer in New Year's resolutions but I think I am going to try and not get so stressed out this year. I need to learn to let things go and separate my work from my personal life - at least I will try.

This year has also been a pretty large one here at Daily Unadventures In Cooking. For one thing I outed myself this year and now I have family and friends reading it. I also managed to post 159 times averaging out to about a post every 2 or 3 days. I also feel like I learned some thing this year and made lots of foodie friends which is what it is all about. That said I thought I would recap my favorites of the year, so here goes:

In January I made my second attempt at homemade Pierogis - this time using Helen from Beyond Salmon's recipe. They were absolutely fantastic and I ate them for months afterward whenever I needed a real treat, I really must get around to doing that again. A close second was the Mint-Cilantro Curry from Vij's cookbook.

Rereading the posts from February there were a lot of great recipes, Ina Garten's Indonesian Chicken - so great for a make ahead meal, my homemade Jamaican Patties and my Roasted Red Pepper Linguine with Prawns. However the revolution for me was in a simple Pistachio Pasta, I have made this several times since and it really demonstrates how wonderful simple food can be. Plus it has created a new obsession with pistachios.
March and April saw way less posting. The Lamb Shanks with White Wine and Tomatoes was one of the first recipes I ever made that I considered to be a true success and that made me want to cook more - so it wins hands down for March. The Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onion does deserve an honorable mention though as I feel I learned something from that recipe. In April I have to choose the Creamy Linguine with Mushrooms, Ham and Peas as it has helped combat my lifelong animosity for cooked peas.


In May I was in an Italian mood and my favorite was when I went to the effort of making Marcella's Minestrone recipe, another simple favorite was Linguine with Savoy Cabbage.


It seems as though my Italian mood carried into June and my favorite were a couple of cream based pasta dishes of my own creation - Fusilli with Zucchini Mint and Cream and Rigatoni with Leeks and Cannelini Beans. I think Leeks may just be my favorite ingredient of 2007. Honorable mention goes to Rachael Rays quick Soba bowl, which is instant comfort and wholesomeness.

In July I finally started doing something new and I made Lemon and Thyme Artichokes, definitely a new skill and Vanilla Frozen Yogourt. The Yogourt stands out because of how simple and good it was.


August saw several original uses for summer squash but I think my favorite recipe came from the use of fermented black beans - Salmon with Black Bean Sauce.


In September I hosted Weekend Herb Blogging and went to China, but I still managed to cook occasionally. My favorite was probably a Cashew and Carrot Soup.



In October I made several yummy risotto's; one from Jamie's Italy and my own creation was a Zucchini and Lemon.


In November I think my favorite was a simple Kale and Sausage soup, also the first time I cooked Kale.


And well, as I haven't posted anything yet this month I guess I can't have a favorite :(

Happy New Year everyone.

Katerina