A month in review, a year in review: part 1

Well, hello there, I believe we have some catching up to do around here! A whole month worth of catching up in fact. They should lock me up and charge me with neglect for ignoring my blog-baby this way. I mean, I didn't even wish her a happy first birthday a few weeks ago!

Shameful.

Well, that's not entirely true. I had a 1-year-of-blogging celebration with one of my favorite things in the world: brunch. And a tasty brunch it was: tofu 'n' greens quiche with millet crust, sage and garlic sweet potato homefries, roasted asparagus, and fresh berries. I recommend this quiche, which is a combination of the crust from Ricki's quiche and the fillings from Lindsay's quiche - perfection!

Looking back on this year o' blogging I am pleased to realize that I have accomplished even more than I had hoped to. I always loved cooking, but being self taught I had limitations. The first year of this blog is largely a documentation of many firsts in my kitchen. Some of my favorite firsts were exploring Indian cuisine (and traveling to India!), making vegan cheese, simmering from-scratch soup (and subsequently many many more soups), discovering my obsession with butternut squash, and cooking with a pressure cooker.

One year later my kitchen is a totally different place. The most unexpected side effect of blogging was my decision to go vegan in January of this year. If you would have asked me a year ago if I ever thought that I would become vegan, I would have said no way. One day it just clicked, and I can no longer make sense of eating any other way. My new cruelty-free diet is so fulfilling and brings me so much happiness!

Looking to the year ahead, you can expect to see a few changes around here. First off, to reflect the big changes in my kitchen the blog title and url will likely be changing as well. I am still thinking this through, but don't worry, you will be the first to know if I decide to make the move. I have been doing a lot of cookbook cooking lately which I feel is worth sharing, so I plan to start including some cookbook reviews from time to time. Other than that, this site will continue to be a place for vegan recipes, and the documentation of many more "firsts" of mine.

I owe a big thanks to all of my fellow food bloggers for the daily inspiration. I have so enjoyed reading all of your lovely blogs and cooking your wonderful recipes. Thanks also to all of my readers, I am so honored that you choose to spend time with me in my kitchen. I should mention that any readers out there that have your own food blog but never chimed in to say hello here, please do, because I would love to read your blog too!

I will be back with part 2 tonight to catch you up on all of the goings-on of the very eventful month I spent away from blogging!