This year was cray cray. In a Miley-Cyrus-on-the-VMAs-kind-of-way.

In a getting-proposed-to-after-the-worst-marathon-of-your-life-thereby-making-it-the-best-marathon-of-your-life-kind-of-way.

In a one-of-my-lab-experiments-might-have-actually-worked-kind-of-way.

Exactly. Cray cray.

I just want to take a moment to thank you all for helping to make this one of the best years to date for Eats Well With Others. I was presented with a ton of great opportunities over the past 365 days, from winning a recipe contest at Eat.Write.Retreat, to taking part in a super fun freelance photography project for the McCormick Spice website, to making the switch from Blogger to WordPress and getting a fabulous redesign with the help of the girls from Wooden Spoons Kitchen, and so much more. When I created this little space on the internet five years ago, I couldn’t have imagined that it would even be a fraction of what it is today, or what a huge part of my life it would be and even now I still feel (and hope!) that it’s only the beginning. I’m excited to see what great things 2014 will bring and I hope that you’ll be following along with me as I do. It just won’t be as fun without you there and I seriously couldn’t have done any of this without you. Happy New Year! Let’s make it a good one.

I always like to kick off the new year by showcasing my favorite recipes of the past year, so this year I decided to pick a favorite sweet and a savory recipe from each month. In chronological order, here they are!

vegetable eggs benedict

Vegetable Eggs Benedict – Eggs were predicted to be super cool in 2013 (and will continue to be totally rad in 2014…you heard it here first) so we learned how to poach them! And benedict them, veggie style.

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Bucatini is tossed with a richly flavorful sauce of roasted garlic, tomatoes, and butter, to make a meal that is easy enough for a weeknight but dressed up enough for a weekend.
bucatini with butter-roasted tomato sauce

We are so totally giving up butter in, like, a few (unreasonably) short hours.

I know it. You know it. Our motivational life planners that we bought on December 29th know it.

Which basically means we need to shovel it in AMAP ASAP (as much as possible, as soon as possible…for those who don’t speak “random acronym”).

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Cuddle up with this warm, hearty vegetarian pho is the Vietnamese version of chicken-less noodle soup!
vegetarian pho

Failure to pre-read: the number one cause of recipe failure since 1999/infinity/beyond.

I don’t know what it is about cracking open a cookbook or pulling up a web page to just skim through it the day before you plan on tackling it.

But it is basically the most insufferable task of all time.

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The ultra smooth caramel chocolate ganache, fluffy whipped cream filling, and rich chocolate cake make this a dessert to write home about.
salted caramel ding dong cake

I was always more of a Hostess cupcake girl.

But with two rich chocolate cake layers covered in salted caramel ganache and stuffed with a vanilla bean filling? I could be a Ding Dong convert. Easy.

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Roasted winter veggies get tossed with a spicy sriracha vinaigrette…get your taste buds excited!
roasted butternut squash, brussels sprout and cauliflower salad with sriracha vinaigrette

I got it into my head on the way home from The.Boy’s parents’ house last night while I was mid car-sleep dream that I should use either “ninja-style” or “kung-fu-style” in my post today.

Something like “I kicked those nonstop ALL THE SUGAR cravings to the curb, NINJA-STYLE with this salad.”

It sounded good until we got home and I unpacked the leftovers that The.Boy’s mom had packed us and I uncovered a WHOLE TRAY of baklava. That I, apparently, in a sugar-induced stupor, had REQUESTED.

So instead of kicking the sugar cravings anywhere, I invited them into my home and said “Welcome. Namaste.”

Awesome.

 

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Are the throes of Christmas Eve preparations getting to you? Then here’s a little mindless entertainment and/or eye candy to distract you for a bit.

Back by popular demand here are the top 10 reader favorite recipes of 2013!! Later on this week/early next week I’ll also be recapping my favorites as well as The.Boy’s favorites. So stay tuned, don’t stress too much, and Merry Christmas!!

Let’s go in reverse order, shall we? Build up some momentum.

chocolate pudding pie from Eats Well With Others

10. Chocolate pudding pie is a Thanksgiving tradition in my family, and this homemade version puts the pudding-from-a-box version to shame. Big time.

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