A New Look and 900 Post Round-Up

Welcome to the new look for the website!

In honor of this being the 900^th post, it seemed like it was time for a site update.

Can you believe 900? And next February it will be 10 years that I’ve been writing this.

Wow!

In honor of all the year-end roundups, I finally decided that this should be a “lifetime” roundup, so here goes:

1. First post: What I’ve Been Cooking: Short Ribs, Horseradish Mashed Potatoes. Is it a good thing if you’re still cooking some old favorites 10 years later? I think so and these short ribs are my go-to for short ribs—still the best!
2. Most commented on: On my site it’s a post about beets, otherwise known as What’s Your Most Hated Vegetable? Because we all have opinions on vegetables, don’t we? When I used to post on Huffington Post, the all-time winner (and number 2 on the site) was 10 Things NOT to do at a Farmers’ Market with over 700 comments.
3. Thing that profoundly changed how I cook, the year-long Charcutepalooza challenge. It was a year of learning how to make bacon, smoked meats, pates, sausages etc. and while I haven’t made a lot of the stuff in a long time (hello merguez), until we moved and I gave up my smoker I made bacon regularly. And doing the challenge got me making my own yogurt, mayo, granola, Thai sweet chili sauce and more, all of which I make regularly (and recipes can be found on the web site).
4. Products I’m still using: GIR gear. I’ve gotten to test out most of their products pre-launch (and their use of Kickstarter to build a business is genius). I use their mini spatula constantly and the silicone lids have cut my use of plastic wrap to almost nothing. Even if they didn’t come in a multitude of colors, I’d still love them, but having a plethora of bright red tools is an added bonus.
5. Appliance I’m still using: My Cuisinart. I’ve had it since college and it’s still going strong. That and my copy of The Art of French Cooking have been with me since then and I still use both of them.
6. Utensil I don’t use much but would never give up: My mandoline. It was the first gift I got from Frank and 22 years later, I’m still amazed at what a cool gift it was. Why don’t I use it much? Laziness. My knife skills are pretty good and it’s much faster to wipe a knife than clean a mandoline, but that doesn’t mean I don’t treasure it.
7. Speaking of treasuring: It’s time to give huge thanks to my friend Lisa who has been editing this blog (and more) for a number of years now. It’s been a huge help to have another set of eyes on this and feedback on posts I’ve been frustrated with. Many, many thanks!
8. It’s not all about food: Sometimes you just need to vent about places you love, politics, losing a faithful friend.
9. And sometimes it is: To round it up, 9 of my favorite recipes the ones I cook from all the time. Albondigas, pasta Puttanesca, pork chops with cornichons, Indian chicken, tabouli, granola, quick pickles, lamb shanks and everyone’s favorite chocolate dessert.