Best of the year 2014

On this last day of the year all the memories that made this year good and bad come flooding back. The year started on a sad note. We had to put down our beloved 11 year old cat, Blossom. Blogging provided an outlet, something to keep the mind occupied.

Early last year in my first months of blogging I joined several groups of bloggers. One group called the Blogging Marathon opened the door to friendship and camaraderie. I have virtually met a great group of women and they are a great source of motivation. With this group, last September, I posted 132 recipes in one month with a meal a day from 26 different countries.

I participate in other groups like the Sourdough bakers, Bundt Bakers, Kneading Bakers, Daring Bakers etc. Yes, most of them are related to baking. In fact my most popular post this year was baked gulab jamoons. It got 4000 hits in a day. The next on the list were the baked versions of Diwali sweets and savories.

With blogging my photography skills have come a long way and my prop collection has grown too. I have learnt so much about my camera and so much from looking at beautiful pictures clicked by my blogger friends. The tips shared by them are always treasured and tucked away.

I hosted my first ever blog event for food photography on the first anniversary of this blog. I was so thrilled to see eight entries.

If I were to name one new thing I learnt this past year, it would be my homemade yeast starter. I had eaten artisan bread before but had never heard of a starter. A Facebook group Artisan Bread Bakers changed all that. I now have a thriving starter and frequently bake artisan breads with it.

One year, 428 posts and 132,000 page views later blogging has become a habit. Both for me and for my family. No one in my family is really interested in the blog and I doubt they even remember the URL of the blog but they have never complained about my experiments. In fact, they love to have something new and exciting every few days. It has been an enjoyable experience as we have enthusiastically traveled the world with food.

I end 2014 on a happy note and I wish all my readers a very happy and joyous 2015.

Linking this post to Valli's Best of year 2014 event.