The Best of the Year!

Tomorrow, my blog turns two! I thought I would recap the highlights of this past year - in recipes, of course! So, in no particular order here are some of my favorite things that I made in this last year of blogging!

Last spring, I was all about royal icing! I made so many sugar cookies and experimented with royal icing decorating! I quickly learned how tedious decorating cookies is but I had so much fun learning! These figure skates and the pineapples are my very favorites!

Last mother's day, I turned my traditional key lime pie into bars and they were pretty fabulous, if I do say so myself! I love that these bars delivered the exact same flavor as a key lime pie but totally removed the fuss of cutting a pie!

Last year, on my birthday I made this Brownie Bottom Cookie Dough Cheesecake and it was to die for! Think a fudge brownie bottom with a decadent cheesecake on top all topped off with edible raw cookie dough! I mean, yes please, right?

Also in this past year, I discovered this recipe for Vegan Butter Chickpeas and it became a fast favorite in my house! We still have this recipe almost every week and I don't think we'll stop making it anytime soon!

The fall was a whirlwind of the most perfect desserts! We celebrated all of the fall birthdays in my family with these spectacular carrot cake cupcakes topped with a little cinnamon cream cheese frosting! The Bean frosted these cupcakes all by herself. It was the first time I let her loose with a piping bag and I think she did a great job!

Another delicious Fall recipe - these cinnamon sugar pumpkin muffins! I made these when I was student teaching and they were the best snack to have everyday!

Are you craving some Fall yet? I definitely am! This was another one of my favorite recipes from the Fall - Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles!

Okay, I promise this is my last Fall recipe, but I just couldn't pick one! This October Salad is a copycat of my favorite Mandy's salad and I my family ate this so often in the Fall!

One of my all time favorite things to do is make homemade pesto. Last year, I made 8 batches and we still have some in our freezer! Pesto will always be one of my favorite things and it just doesn't get any better than homemade!

Last summer, I made a lemon meringue pie for my Uncle Darryl on his birthday. He said it was the very best lemon meringue pie he had ever had in his life. I have to admit, I don't love lemon meringue pie, so I didn't even try this recipe! But apparently, it was pretty darn good! If you are looking for a great lemon meringue pie recipe, look no further!

At Christmas time, I made these gingerbread biscotti as a bit of a switch up from our traditional biscotti (we make regular almond biscotti every single year!) and I am so happy with how they turned out!

Also at Christmas time, I tried my hand at making macaroons. I made peppermint macarons and rolled the sides in crushed candy canes - these were a big win! I haven't had much luck with making macarons since but the beginner's luck resulted in this deliciously festive treat!

In the new year, I made these Browned Butter Pecan Cookies and guess what? They were darn good! This was an easy peasy recipe that was undetectably gluten free (score!).

I made these heart shaped hand pies for Valentine's day and I am so happy to report that they tasted even better than they looked! Yes, they are darling to display but they're strawberry rhubarb filling really steals the show!

Around February, I cut gluten, dairy, eggs, sugar... and my recipe window narrowed! I was discouraged in terms of food for a while, but I have discovered so many good recipes since! This Basil Alfredo Spaghetti Squash makes the most delicious recipe and is could not be easier to put together!

Prior to eliminating so many foods, I made these spectacular Blueberry Muffins. I had never tried Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins, but these delivered. These are by far, the best blueberry muffins recipe I have ever tried!

And then since going gluten free, dairy free, egg free etc. I adjusted the Jordan Marsh blueberry muffin recipe to remove all of the allergens! And they were so good!

Another great allergen friendly treat - Snicker's Pie! I brag on this recipe all of the time but it really is that good! I know I will make this recipe over and over again in the future!

It was so fun to go through my old posts and pick out some of my favorite recipes! This is just the beginning of the bloggaversary celebrations! Stay tuned for a fun celebration post tomorrow!