Closet Cooking is now 4 years old!
I know that I say it every year but; I cannot believe that another year has already gone by! Time has just been flying by and I have been so busy lately that I almost missed it but luckily I noticed it on the calendar just in time.
This last year certainly has been filled with a lot of tasty new food! I have continued to enjoy exploring new foods, cuisines and cooking techniques while not forgetting about old favourites. Where ever do I get the time for all of these recipes?
Over this last year I have had the chance to meet a lot of great new friends both online and in the real world. I had a blast attending and meeting so many amazing people at the International Food Bloggers Conference this year and I am looking forward to attending more of such events in the future.
Closet Cooking has also seen some changes over the last year including moving from blogspot to it's own domain closetcooking.com which was wonderful to finally realize! I also managed to add some social media 'follow' buttons to the site and some social media 'share' buttons to the posts. I was even able to finally figure a way to add a recipe index which I had been wanting to do for a long time. More recently I have been working on improving my recipe format including adding cooking times and using the hrecipe format.
Year four also saw Closet Cooking move into the modern age by getting on both Twitter and Facebook! It was a long time in coming and although I am still figuring out how to use them, I am glad to be on them as it has bee a lot of fun.
One thing that I like about a blog birthday is that I am reminded to take the time to go back and look over the past year to remember where I am coming from and what I have done. I went through all of my post from year three and I will leave you with some of my favourites:
Closet Cooking's year starts off in spring which is perfectly in time to enjoy the fresh bounty and this Asparagus and Baby Artichoke Quinoa Salad is an amazing way to do it.
Asparagus is one of my favourite foods and you just know that I am head over heals for it in the form of this Asparagus Grilled Cheese Sandwich!
This year saw me experiment a bit with my food photography and this Yogurt Panna Cotta with Strawberry Jelly is definitely one that I remember fondly. In it, I played with shallow depth of focus, light and composition.
This was the year that I discovered the banh mi and my first experience with a banh mi was with Vietnamese Caramel Shrimp Banh Mi which is an amazing blend of flavours and textures that just daces in your mouth!
Blueberry season is still pretty far away but I can still dream about these Blueberry Maple Pecan Cinnamon Buns impatiently while I wait.
I had never even thought about a savoury cheesecake before this Gorgonzola Cheesecake but now I am undeniably hooked. It's amazing how baking cheese brings out its flavour and those crispy bits along the outside are the best parts!
Lets not forget about snacking! This Greek 7 Layer Dip, a Greek take on the classic 7 Layer Dip not only tastes great but it is pretty healthy to boot!
Next up were these Jiaozi (Chinese Dumplings) which in addition to being addictively good, are surprisingly easy to make at home once you get the hang of it and I even made my own wrappers!
More recently I tried a new chocolate cheesecake with Guinness in it and this Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake was was definitely the best cheesecake that I have had in a long while!
As you all know, I am a huge fan of grilled cheese sandwiches and this Jalapeño Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich has to be my crowning achievement with respect to grilled cheese sandwiches so far! The the heat of the tender roasted jalapenos is tempered by the gooey melted cream cheese and the stringy jack and cheddar and the crumbled tortilla chips add a bit of crunch.
Similar Posts:
Closet Cooking's Birthday: 2010
Closet Cooking's Birthday: 2009
Closet Cooking's Birthday: 2008
