20+ Top Posts & Recipes of 2020

At the beginning of a new year, I always like to look back over the past year and reflect on what happened, what made that year special, what new adventures or flavors did I explore? With the pandemic, 2020 was tough on many fronts for so many people, but it was also the year of unexpected surprises: the year that many people turned to making their own bread at hoe, growing a garden (even if it was in buckets on the patio), and then canned the goodness to preserve the harvest. 2020 was the year we saw stores sell out of toilet paper, bread flour and yeast and yes, canning supplies were short in supply too. It was a year of strife, of struggle to connect with loved ones.

I count myself very lucky (and very grateful) that I stayed both healthy and employed throughout 2020. One of our team members was furloughed for several months and the rest of us took a cut in pay for most of the year, but somehow we managed to sail through 2020 and get a lot of good things done in my day job (blogging is a hobby for me, so no, this is not my day job). I know 2020 was not so kind to many, many others and my heart goes out to them. Many people lost loved ones to the pandemic and others continue to struggle. Here on this little food blog, I send out love, good wishes and recipes and I hope that this little effort helps in some small way.

Top 12 Most Popular Posts in 2020

It’s always interesting to see which posts and recipes people gravitate towards and 2020 went in some interesting, unexpected directions. I guess people were really missing burgers and sandwiches because my brioche buns (both the bread machine and sourdough version) were the top recipes on my blog for many months, followed closely by my bread machine Hawaiian rolls. My recipe for copycat Red Robin Seasoning got lots of love this year too. My cozy Irish seafood chowder was popular too, along with the basil chive cucumber and corn salad (shout out to my friend Ann from Fountain Avenue Kitchen for introducing me to that goodness!) … And then my copycat Ragu pasta sauce, zucchini ravioli and crisp & spicy pickled green beans. Plus my 3-part series on recipes to lower your cholesterol.

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Here are the links to the posts/recipes:

1. Sourdough Brioche Buns
2. Bread Machine Brioche Buns
3. Basil Chive Cucumber and Corn Salad
4. Irish Seafood Chowder
5. 30 Recipes for Lowering Cholesterol
6. 52 More Recipes for Lowering Cholesterol
7. Bread Machine Hawaiian Rolls
8. Easy Tips for Lowering Cholesterol + 63 More Recipes
9. Red Robin Copycat Seasoning #2
10. Copycat Ragu Pasta Sauce
11. Zucchini Ravioli
12. Crisp & Spicy Pickled Green Beans

My Personal Journey in 2020

For myself in 2020, I learned and grew a lot (in more ways than one) this year too. I realized, at a very deep level, what was most important to me (family, especially my kids, my parents and siblings) and that I would sacrifice everything else (friends, yoga, outings, music, festivals) to keep them safe. At the beginning of COVID, I gave up all of my social activities and channeled my energy into building a garden. I picked the sunniest spot in my back yard and built a raised bed (mostly by myself, with a little help from my kids), first transplanting all the healthy sod to other areas of my yard. Admittedly, there was a little fear inside, but somehow I convinced myself to go do it and I did it!

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Mom and dad gave me plants they started from seed, which I supplemented with a few I started myself on my back porch. I put up fences to keep the deer, bunnies and other critters from raiding my garden.

I seriously grew to love the tough manual labor of the garden. It felt SO good to be outside in the sunshine, making good things happen …. and then after months of work, it was done and all that was left was to water it and keep out the pests. I did have some invaders that caused some damage, but overall, it was a beautiful, thriving garden that gave me so much: not just food, but exercise, a purpose, the simple pleasure of watching my plant babies grow and thrive, and a quiet place to visit and sit and just BE.

My #1 Personal Top Favorite Recipe

There were new recipes, but honestly (and strangely) weren’t my focus much of the year. Even though I was stuck at home just about all the time, somehow I didn’t have the energy to cook. Simple, comforting foods were my go-to’s most of the time.

With the fresh garden tomatoes, I became almost obsessed with Everything Bagel Triscuit Tuna Melts. So quick and satisfying and delicious. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I ate these little bites, almost every day, sometimes multiple times per day … I told my son I would quit when the fresh garden tomatoes were done, but then the green tomatoes from the garden started ripening and I made them again whenever I had a good ripe tomato and I’m still making them here in January 2021 with freshly ripened tomatoes from the garden. I make four of them for a before-bedtime snack and my body (and my cholesterol ratio) has improved! Hurrah for heart healthy scrumptious snacks. I know all the exercise played a big factor, but I’m pretty sure these little yummies played in the equation too. They make me SO freaking happy, especially when I can use tomatoes I grew from my own garden.

Zucchini Recipes from the Garden

Zucchini is always one of my favorite summertime garden goodies! While my zucchini plants struggled later in the season, I still got several nice zucchini from the garden and my mom and dad shared some of their zucchini with me too. With the fresh garden zucchini, I made some delightfully easy things, both sweet and savory:

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• Zucchini Apple Bread
• Basil Au Gratin Zucchini Bites
• Zucchini Chickpea Salad
• Zucchini Chickpea Fritters
• Magic Greek Zucchini Casserole
• Skillet Zucchini & Tomatoes
• Honey Oat Zucchini Bread
• Scallops & Zucchini in Garlic Tomato Sauce
• Turkey Zucchini-ladas made with the Cashew Enchilada Sauce featuring tomatoes and peppers from my garden!

Mushroom Hunting for Chanterelles

I had a precious chance in the midst of this pandemic to go mushroom hunting for chanterelles with my dad and my sister in August. It was a long day with a lot of driving, but we got LOTS (40 lb.!) of mushrooms and had a great time. My sister talked me into getting an air fryer sometime around then, so my chanterelles got air fried and (after months of not eating out) this was seriously my #1 top favorite way to eat them.

Also my chanterelles made me a nice mushroom lentil stew. PLUS I made a chanterelle version of my vodka sauce for my sis (because she LOVES my vodka sauce) … and a few other recipes I never wrote down or blogged, but such was 2020 …

Also on that trip, my sister gave me some fresh fennel from her garden. The fennel bulb wasn’t big enough to use like people typically do, but there were so many brilliantly scented fennel fronds. I discovered the pretty frilly green tops on fennel are great for sooo many things like pesto and salad dressing … and shrimp. I’m so enamored with fennel fronds and definitely wanting some fennel in my garden next year because I know the fennel bulbs as well as the seeds are a treasure.

Other Favorite Culinary Excursions

There were several more scrumptious creations this year:

• Philly Cheesesteak French Dips
• Sherried Sea Scallops with Mushrooms, Peas and Peppers
• a Yum Yum Kani Crab Salad
• buttery Belgian waffles for a vertical waffle maker
• Irish Whiskey roasted salmon
• the much-debated Buffalo Chickpea Pizza (a vegetarian version of buffalo chicken pizza which I really really loved)
• Peach Cobbler for Two
• Cauliflower Polenta
• Harvest Spaghetti Pie

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I finished off the year with a wonderful new infusion … honey apple whiskey, which I made from the sweet honeycrisp apples that I helped my dad harvest from his tree. Oooh man, I am not a whiskey drinker, but I seriously love a little sip of this stuff. In fact, I love it so much, I have made several batches for all of my friends and my family too.

Cheers to the new year, my foodie friends! I hope 2021 is much kinder to all of us.