Holiday Recap and Best Hits of 2010

December was a crazy month. Over 31 days, there was tons of cooking, baking, candy making, and cocktail shaking.

We ate….we drank…we laughed…and then we ate some more. Such little fatties we were. 🙂 But isn’t that what the holidays and celebrations are all about?

And I’ll tell ya friends….as I was compiling the mosaic above, I became “re-exhausted” just thinking about it! From left to right, some of my December kitchen adventures included:

1. Vietnamese inspired Banana Blossom Salad
2. Cutie-Pom Cocktails
3. Short Rib Ragu with Pappardelle
4. Lychee Panna Cotta with Guava Coulis
5. Lemongrass Mojito
6. Cook’s Illustrated Paella
7. Peppermint Crisps
8. 40 Garlic Cloves Chicken
9. Candy Cane “Kissed” Nutella Cookies
10. Asian Pear and Gorgonzola Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette
11. Doughnut Muffins
12. Pomegranate Margaritas
13. Raspberry Almond Linzer Cookies
14. Rosemary Garlic Hasselback Potatoes
15. Cosmopolitan Martinis
16. Peppermint Kissed Brownies
17. Green Appletinis
18. Shrimp Scampi
19. Gingerbread Cupcakes with Spiced Molasses Frosting
20. White Chocolate Peppermint Bark
21. Chocolate Raspberry Tart
22. Vietnamese inspired Shrimp Po’ Boys
23. Chocolate Lollipops
24. Porcini Mushroom Turkey

Yummy, yummy, yummy. And yes, because of it all, my relationship with “GYM” is scheduled to grow. I’m hoping to see “GYM” on a daily basis for the new few weeks. 🙂

And while we’re walking down memory lane, allow me to share our Top 10 Most Popular Posts of 2010…….

Drumroll please….

10. Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
9. Chocolate Toffee Cookies
8. Fresh Apple Cake
7. Peppermint Crisps = Confidence Boost
6. French Macarons…..The Holy Grail of Pastries
5. “Chocolate Malt” Cupcakes
4. Bún Thịt Nướng (Vietnamese Grilled Pork over Vermicelli Noodles)
3.  Alton Brown’s “Overnight Cinnamon Rolls”
2. Vanilla Bean Cupcakes filled with Dulce de Leche
1. Red Velvet Shortbread Cookies

Though I think my personal favorite posts were:

• Fresh Gnocchi with Mushroom Cream Sauce
• Roasted Garlic Dungeness Crab with Garlic Noodles
• Celebrating National Corndog Day
• Key Lime Pie with Macadamia-Graham Cracker Crust

I know…kind of random. But I had a TON of fun in the kitchen when making those dishes 🙂

We’ve had a great year of Foodventures. It’s been humbling (and funny) reviewing some of our kitchen disasters and very exciting to revisit our successes. My goals for 2011 include:

• Publishing more posts on Vietnamese cuisine,
• Improving on my photography,
• and Tweeking our page to be more user friendly.

Simple goals really but I hope you’ll stick with me in 2011 to see them actualized. And with that Dear Friends….Here’s to 2011!