Hiii! It’s been a while, I know. Before we jump into new recipes, I just wanted to take a moment to look back at 2016 and your favorite recipes. Overall, I think 2016 was a pretty good year and looking back at recipes always kills me because I wish I could just cook all of them again tomorrow.
Obviously I can’t do all of them in a day or even a week. But I think apart from the really sweet stuff most are on rotation in our home, as much as any given season allows.
So, what were your favorites? I did something a little different this year (here’s last year’s list) and combined Instagram and blog statistics to come up with a unified favorites post. I picked 9, although there were many more, but I feel these are the most wanted ones.
Best of 2016 – Recipes
- Whipped mascarpone peach tart
- Strawberry challah bread pudding
- Vanilla pineapple layer cake
- Strawberry ricotta apricot mini cakes
- Vegan olive oil banana bread
- Creamy beet hummus
- Lip-shaped sugar cookies
- Peach ricotta pastries
- Italian lime pudding (gelo)
I wish I could just point out all the rest as well, but that’d be too much. However here’s a list of ten more recipes, mostly from the recent months that you may have missed or forgotten about:
- Nutella-stuffed chocolate banana bread muffins
- Sun-dried tomato herb skillet rolls
- Citrus pistachio spice cake with cranberry compote
- Slovenian apple pie
- Guacamole cabbage bean tacos
- Best puff pastry apple hand pies
- Chocolate chip creamy pear oatmeal
- Fried egg cabbage couscous bowl
- Nectarine coconut overnight oats
- Hearty vegetable barley soup
Best of 2016 – Other stuff
I got my photos printed in TWO magazines this year! The first magazine that featured me was Willow & Sage, which included my DIY, the second was Artful Blogging, which printed a 4-page spread of my photos accompanied with an article I wrote. I’m very proud of that.
Another thing that happened in 2016 was that I finally started my Gilmore girls Recipe project. I am so happy I finally did and while the project has been paused over the holidays, I do plan on continuing this in 2017.
Planning for 2017
Now that we have 2016 somewhat covered, I want to quickly touch on 2017. There are 3 things I want to focus on, as far as the blog goes:
- Post more – While I did post as much as I could in 2016, I wish to do a bit more in 2017.
- Finish the GG recipe project – This is a big deal and I wonder if getting all the way to the season 7 finale is possible, but I will do my best.
- Cook more Slovene food – a pretty straightforward goal, right? I want to dig into old books and my family’s recipe notebook and pull out old Slovene recipes and make them my own + of course share them here.
As far as personal goals go, I want to spend more time outside and I also want to read more. That’s really the opposite of goal #1, because I prefer to read in a quiet environment. But what both goals have in common is that they do not include a computer. Definitely need to spend less time working on this thing.
Anyone interested in my planners? Personally, I love to see what other people use to organize their lives with. The type or brand of planner, notebook vs binder, daily vs monthly, weekly spreads, bullet journals, … all that stuff. And the most important – does the week start with a Monday or Sunday? I mean, I never understood the Sunday thing, but I know many people prefer that. Do share your favorites, if you have them.
Here’s what I’m using this year:
- (personal) Moleskine 2017 Weekly – I know I said I wanted something different this year, but I’m a creature of habit and the last time I had something other than a Moleskine was about 8 years ago. Which is ages ago… so I’m sticking with this. I love the large weekly one because it has enough space for me to write down everything that needs to be done, along with important notes related to those tasks.
- (work) Filofax Clipbook in white – This is my first time using a clipbook and I love it so much! It’s my new favorite thing. I packed it with 2017 weekly and monthly inserts along with extra pages for notes. This way I have enough room for all my work plans and notes separate from other to-dos.
- Kikki K 365 days journal – This obviously isn’t a planner but I thought I’d include it anyway. It’s a beautiful journal with 365 pages to write something down every day. I’ve been using this since December and I use it to record our days. Nothing too detailed, but it’s nice to write down what we did, especially around special days or holidays because I tend to forget stuff and I think it’ll be nice to read through this years from now.
So… dear 2017, it’s GAME ON.
Happy New Year, everyone! (Even if I’m like 2 weeks late, oops.)
xo