Reflections on 2010

Yet again another New Year’s Eve rolls around. The weather forecasters tell us it will be 40 C today and we are beginning to feel the heat. The haggis is ready for nachos and we are still swimming in sweet food leftover from Christmas. We have plum pudding, gingerbread, panforte and Hersheys kisses. So today I made truffles and E bought mini yule logs! You can’t accuse us of lacking in festive spirit! (And since starting this post, my mum has brought some of her Christmas cake.)

New Year’s Eve for many is a triumph of hope over experience but I have got to the stage in life where I am quite happy to stay at home with E and Sylvia, watch the Edinburgh Tattoo on the telly, eat haggis and compile lists. My computer has been making life difficult for me but if you read this post you will know I have triumphed over technology to reflect on 2010.

2010: a Year of Change:

It has been an intense year requiring a lot of adjustment. Some change has been delightful. Sylvia has grown from a little baby sitting on the rug eating mush, to a running, climbing whirlwind who charges around with dolly in the pram, demands bikkies and cake, and feels she should be sitting on a chair not a highchair. Returning to work after a year of maternity leave was challenging with a wee one at home and constant change at work.

There have been other changes too. E’s mother and my grandmother died this year within months of each other. Friends and family have left Melbourne. We got digital tv. E has a new job. We have a new car. The backyard continues to fill up with Sylvia’s playthings – cubby hut, tricycle, sandpit, balls and a noisy plastic lawn mower. We sought highchairs and portacots on holidays in Sydney and Port Fairy, hardly went out to cafes and the cinema but spent more time in parks, and learnt a whole new language from Sylvia.

I have barely had time to look at the new cookbooks of the year but amidst all the busy times I have managed to continue blogging (hurrah - who needs sleep!) so here are some lists of highlights of 2010 – a best of, and a blogging round up.

The Best of 2010:

• Best book: Room by Emma Donoghue
• Best film: Wild Target (with honorable mention to Animal Kingdom)
• Best television show: The Silence
• Favourite talk show host: Jon Faine
• Best gig: Leonard Cohen at Hanging Rock (admittedly it was my only gig of the year)
  

Best of Blogging in 2010:

Favourite foods:

• Favourite healthy food: Rice paper rolls
  
• Favourite cake of the year: Honey, yoghurt and chocolate cake (with an honorable mention to Nutella blondies)
• Favourite gluten free cookies: Cinnamon stars and Peanut butter choc chip cookies
• Favourite kiddie foods – muesli bars, gingerbread men, low sugar muffins, and decorated cupcakes. (NB: my Christmas in July cupcakes couple with my nut roasts to cause a spike in blog stats at Christmas)

The best of eating out:

• Most visited café: Half Moon – for the excellent falafel
• Favourite quirky café: Court Jester
• Best child-friendly café: Each Peach
• Best purchased chocolate cake: Isabellas Cafe (Portland, Victoria)
• Favourite food shopping destination: Queen Vic Market

Notable posts:

• Firsts: Romanescu broccoli, hominy, no knead bread, microwave dulce de leche, rhubarb in a savoury soup, plum jam, and makng my first ice cream
  
• Getting it right: Vegan pates, Nigel’s brownies, Vegan lasagne, Condensed milk chocolate chip cookies
  
• Childhood food revisited: Afghans, matrimonial slice, fish and chips, lemon slice , rice pudding, bread and butter pudding
  
• Novelty birthday cakes: airplane, camera, pram, Viking cat and butterfly
• Blog Housekeeping: New lists included Index of favourites, List of pizza toppings, and List of salad dressings and a List of gift ideas. Started including "Previously on GGG": links to posts at the same time in previous years on all my recipe posts.
  
• Focus on: Gluten free advice, History of plums, Queen Victoria Market, Quinces

Event highlights:

• I sold my soul and accepted my first blog freebie. It was a pass to Taste of Melbourne, which only caters for vegetarians if you have a sweet tooth.
  
• Every bit as interesting and overwhelming was Eat Drink Blog – Australia’s first blogging conference.
• Best of all were the vegan bloggers potlucks that I was fortunate enough to go to this year. It was so much fun to taste some of the food that appears on these blogs.
  

Happy New Year!

This is my 732nd post. I have been blogging long enough to feel overwhelmed at all the recipes I have posted and yet I have plenty more good food that I hope to share, plus some more reflective posts. I continue to find blogging a wonder of connection and discovery, a portal to good food and food friendship and a way of keeping my horizons broad.

Thanks to everyone who had shared food with me, entertained me, made me laugh, supported me in the hard times and brought some happiness into my life. Particular thanks to E, Sylvia and my family. May your 2011 be filled with good food, good company and good times!