Closing Out a Delicious 2014

mini bacon chocolate ice cream sandwich

I’ve been writing my year-end recaps the last few years (here’s 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013). Last year as I looked back at my Year of Gratitude, I said, I just know that 2014 will be delicious. And it was!

This has been a very memorable year for me. I spent a lot of quality time with my family and friends. I took 6 months off from the “real world” to be a full time student. I started a new job that I love. I ran, practiced yoga, got injured, and tried to be an adult about it. I wrote a couple of freelance articles and pitched a few more. And I ate so much mouth-watering food, attended dozens of cool events, and baked to my heart’s content. It was a sweet year.

I’m recapping some of my favorite moments (and recipes)  per quarter. I didn’t blog about everything, and I am very grateful that I have so many to choose from.

Jan, Feb, March – I did a lot of travelling during the first three months of the year. I went to Kyoto, Tokyo, Hudson Valley, and Seattle.

nijo

mt fuji

salmon nigiri uni
beekman inn cheesecake stuffed strawberries

seattle pike place

grilled cheese with orange marmalade

I also made this melty cheesy salty sweet Grilled Cheese with Orange Marmalade.

April, May, June – These few months were very fun. I finally got my masters degree at Harvard (and Aretha Franklin sang during our graduation), my family visited me in Boston, and I went to New York (twice!)

aretha franklin family red line
maja blanca maharlika boozy brunch NYC sotto 13

That’s maja blanca (corn and coconut pudding) from Maharlika, a Filipino restaurant in NYC, and our table during a boozy brunch with my girlfriends.

mini goat cheese cheesecake

Oh and I whipped up these irresistible Mini No Bake Goat Cheese Cheesecake with Roasted Cherries.

July, August, September – This quarter I started working for Genuine Interactive, a super cool ad agency in the South End. I went to the Newport Mansions Wine and Food Festival, taught a Food Blogging Class, and made a bunch of delicious desserts like the Bacon Chocolate Shortbread Ice Cream Sandwiches pictured on top…

genuine lobby

newport mansions

milky way bites brownies

… and these fudgy dark chocolate Milky Way Brownies.

October, November, December – the last three months of the year just flew by. I attended Taste of Perkins, I went to New York again, then I blinked and it was the holidays! I had some fun parties and spent the holidays with friends.

taste of perkins onstage

amtrak essentials veuve cliquot

Above: my Amtrak essentials, and champagne and Christmas gift exchange with friends. Below: my girlfriends and me at Laura’s annual FancyFest party.

fancyfest

garlic shrimp spaghetti

There was also a lot of spaghetti twirling during these last few months: Garlic Shrimp Spaghetti.

I have the usual resolutions for 2015 (stop looking at my phone when I get into bed so I don’t get sucked into another hour of social media creeping, never skip a Monday morning workout again, eat more veggies, start saving more) which I really hope I don’t break, but the big one – THE BIG ONE – is that this coming year, I’m going to try to stop stressing about things I cannot control. I’ve always been sort of a control freak, planning everything, writing down countless lists, only doing things that I know I can fully plan for. But I know that’s not always possible. So I’m just going to be a little more relaxed about things :) But I’m still going to plan out out detailed itineraries and jot down daily to-do lists…

Thank you for reading my blog and sharing this little corner of the Internet with me. Thank you for indulging me and my ramblings in different emotional states. Thank you for liking my food and my stories. You guys make the big wide world seem smaller and warmer and happier. THANK YOU from the bottom of my chocolate-covered heart.

I wish you all a love-filled 2015!

   

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