Today is the second anniversary of My Mixing Bowl, which started back on July 22, 2012 with a post about garlic scape pesto. Over the past year, I've added 87 posts with new recipes, restaurant reviews, travel tips, and musings about Peeps.
- Thanks to our CSA, I discovered leeks (excellent in Spinach and Leek Bean Soup and Spring Farro) and tomatillos. Some new favorite recipes using familiar vegetables include Halushki, Tomato Arugula Salad with Quinoa, and Savory Roasted Sweet Potatoes.
- During the winter, I dusted off my slow cooker and made lots of vegetarian soup to cope with the cold weather: Slow Cooker Minestrone, Black Bean Soup with Cilantro and Lime, Chipotle Chili with Chocolate, and Thai Butternut Squash Soup (I actually developed a bit of a soup obsession, possibly because it was the coldest winter since 1978-79. My favorite non-slow cooker soups are Hot-Sweet-Sour Soup with Tofu and Pineapple and Lablabi.)
- The recipe that got the most mileage over the past year is my Fruit and Nut Oatmeal Bars--I make a batch every week and bring them to work for healthy snacking.
- My tastiest baking effort was Pretzel Rolls (I can easily eat half a batch in one sitting), while Key Lime Mini Cupcakes were the cutest.
- Hands down, the best thing I learned this year was how to make lefse.
- We ate at too many amazing restaurants for me to pick a favorite. Stand outs include Victor's 1959 Cafe, Zeitgeist Arts Cafe (in Duluth), and Moscow on the Hill.
- I dipped my toes into travel writing with posts about our trip to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks and a series of posts about our Baltic cruise.
- My favorite post of the year is my list of the six recipes that sum up my life until now.
Thank you to everyone who's been following along with my culinary journey. And although I didn't get around to making a birthday cake for my blog, I did make some anniversary garlic scape pesto.
Share your thoughts
Dear Stacy,
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ANNIVERSARY!!!!
I love your posts and I think you could get paid to do reviews of restaurants, or for a column in a newspaper! Is a CSA a food co-0p?
Adrienne
Thank you so much!
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. We purchase a share of a local farmer's crop before the growing season starts, and then get a portion of the harvest of vegetables and fruit once a week for the 17-week growing season (usually from mid-June to late October). The contents of our CSA box are different each week, and since the farmer chooses the produce it's a great way to taste things we might not otherwise try.
Congratulations on your blog's second anniversary. You're a wonderful writer and I'm glad you've found a creative outlet. Since I am hardly an adventurous cook I've enjoyed reading about your food journey! The travel writing has been a lot of fun. I loved your take on your Baltic cruise and look forward to reading about future adventures.
Thank you! I'm happy that you've enjoyed following along on my food journey and travels, the Baltic cruise posts were a lot of fun to write.