My Year in Food 2013

After a few delays and many a power outage, I FINALLY bring to you my 2013 Year in Food!

Just like the song says, 'Another year over and a new one's just begun'. Like many years, 2013 had its ups and downs, but I can honestly say, overall, it was a good year. Not only did I get a new job and travel to Ottawa for training (my first time there), I also traveled to Toronto for my birthday to see a couple of amazing concerts (Beyonce & Jay-Z/JT - also my first time there), and my husband and I finally bought some camping gear and spent several days camping in Gros Morne (also my first time there!) To cap it all off, we spent a nice long Christmas vacation with both of our families, in two separate parts of the province. I have so much to be thankful for this year!

With that said, 2013 started off a little rough for my family, as we were forced to say goodbye to my Nan. Although I attribute my cooking skills to my mom, I like to think I've inherited a little bit of my Nan's cooking abilities as well. I have so many memories of Nan's food, and even though I wasn't a big fan of 'cooked dinner' as a kid, I did love her boiled puddings - in particular her 'plain pudding' - and of course her desserts! It was rare to visit on a Sunday, without an apple pie, or sponge cake - or both - for dessert! She grew the best veggies, made the best rhubarb jam and you couldn't find better bread - something she taught me to make back in the summer of 2012.

So as 2014 is upon us, I have a couple of things I want to make happen - I would like to prepare more of the snacks and breads I eat, I would like to cook without a recipe more often, I of course want to continue trying new foods and I definitely want to give my Nan's bread recipe another go! I am very excited for the food adventures to come in 2014, but without further delay, let's look back at what deliciousness 2013 had in store :) ...you can see 2012 here!

Happy 1 Year Blog Anniversary to Me!! :)

source of photo can be found here.

Yesterday I celebrated the 1 year anniversary of my very first blog post! It's pretty hard to believe a year has whipped by already! To date I've had over 20,000 views on over 100 posts, and I've created a mini blog community on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram! I have to say, it's been a great year of food and I'm absolutely loving the blogging world! So thank-you to all my followers and fans who make this fun to do! :)

Cheers, to many more years of My Food Infatuation!

Baked Sausage

Lately, I feel I've been posting a lot of recipes that yield 'ugly food'. It tastes damn good, but can leave a lot to be desired for the eyes. Unfortunately, not all of us have a food stylist stowed away in our kitchen, and sometimes, it's just really hard to make certain foods (such as lumpy, cracker-crusted sausages) appealing! Most chefs might argue that a meal is a feast for the eyes and the mouth, but who really cares about the eyes when your stomach is growling and your mouth is salivating?! In any case, I guess what I'm trying to say is, these sausages are delicious, despite their appearance.

Cod au Gratin

Sorry it ain't prettier!

I've been going a little heavy on the sweets lately, both in life and on the blog. Soooo, it being the New Year and all, and time for a detox of sorts, I decided it best (for all of our sakes) that I post some savory dishes! At first, I considered Stewed Chicken with Dumplings, but thought better of it, knowing you're probably all still gagging at the thought of turkey or any of its relatives. Instead, I’ve opted to post a fish dish. 

Typically, my cod dishes tend to go one of two ways - fried with scrunchions and drawn butter, or mashed up in some fish and brewis. But a few weeks back, I found myself craving Cod au Gratin. Now, in all honesty, I had never made the dish myself and had not had it in several years, but I’m proud to say it came out tasting just as delicious and creamy as I remember from home.

My Year in Food 2012

2012 reminded me once again that sooo much can happen in one year. It was an interesting year to say the least, and although it wasn’t my best year to date, I’m okay with that, because 2013 just stopped in to take the title.

One great thing that came to fruition in 2012 was my blog. I’ve wanted to have one for a while and finally made it happen. So since I’m celebrating my first New Year's as a blogger, I thought it would be fun (if not for you, at least for me lol) to recap my year in…. you guessed it, food!

Let me first start by saying, this blog & my online presence through Instagram, Twitter & Pinterest (follow me!) has really helped me to broaden my food horizons. For too long I’ve been eating the same old things and shying away from experiencing new flavours and new dishes, and while those old favourites are favourites for a reason, I’ve realized the potential of greatness in new dishes as well. And not to go all philosophical on you or anything, but the same thing can be said for life – sometimes you just need to break out of the routine and try something different, life’s too short and too incredible to do the same thing (or eat the same food) every day!

On that note here are my 2012 Food Highlights!

Apricot Raisin Cake

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, which means I will be handing one of these cakes over to each of my Nans. Apricot cake just happens to be their favourite Christmas cake and for the past couple of years it has been my Christmas gift to them. Not only is this cake moist and delicious, but it's comprised of simple ingredients. I found this recipe on Rock Recipes which is a blog by a fellow Newfoundlander. I would highly recommend this site to anyone! Some amazing recipes on there.

Entry numero uno

Entry numero uno

I don't know about you but I take more pictures of my food than some people take of their own children. Clearly I have issues...but moving past that, I've decided I need an outlet to display my obsession. Surely there are others out there like me, those who might be interested in what I have to say...at the very least someone in the market for a new recipe?!

This blog will feature everything under the moon about food - recipes, reviews, articles and then some. The one thing you will learn is I love everything there is to love about food, with the exception of its calories...

So I hope you enjoy my blog, after all, cornering unsuspecting family and friends to show/tell of my kitchen adventures was starting to get awkward ;)