Whoop whoop! This little blog turns 2 today! This is also my 200th post (pure coincidence, I swear)! It’s been another super fun year of blogging, and I’m just as obsessed now as when I first started. I thought we would do a run down similar to last year with most viewed posts, then my favourites, and then see how I did on my Year 2 goals.

Top 5 Most Viewed Posts:

1. Mini Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Filling and Dark Chocolate Frosting – Leianne’s Birthday treats from last February. Salted caramel’s not going anywhere.
2. Butterbeer & Halloween Treats – I had a huge spike in page views at the end of October with people searching for Halloween treats.
3. Matthew’s 2nd Birthday Cake – I’m not on Pinterest because I feel I don’t need another colossal time suck in my life, but a few people have pinned my nephew’s school bus cake, which is kind of neat.
4. Lemon Meringue Cookies – Aww yeah, a gluten-free treat in the Top 5!
5. Pink Princess Cupcakes & Magic Wand Cookies – Another baking project that ended up on Pinterest. Alexis has asked me to make more magic wand cookies for her daughter’s first birthday in a few weeks. I can’t wait 🙂

My Favourite 5 Posts from the last year:

1. Butterscotch Pecan Meringue Torte – My birthday cake! Hands down this is my favourite thing I made this year.
2. Cinnamon Rolls – Conquering my fear of yeast (more on this below).
3. Slowcooker Shredded Buffalo Chicken – of all the things I cooked this year, this is my favourite, and I’ve made it multiple times. It’s delicious on its own, folded into tacos, or stuffed into quesadillas. Couldn’t be easier.
4. Strawberry Rhubarb Tart with Brown Butter Crumble – Just thinking of this right now makes me wistful for summer, farmer’s markets and fresh berries *sigh*. Bonus points for an amazing no-roll crust!
5. Cherry Cheesecake in a Jar – Homemade cherry topping? Vanilla Bean Cheesecake? Crunchy graham cracker crust? All in a super cute little JAR? Yes please!

I also just realized how much fun I’ve had over the last year cooking for my friends and entertaining at my new dining room table! Tea & Tiaras! Cinco de Mayo! Friendsgiving! Champagne & Cookies!

Now let’s re-visit the goals I made for Year 2:

– Invest in a DLSR, actually read the instruction manual, possibly take some classes, and work on my food photography.

Verdict: Complete! (sort-of) I made the big bold move to a Canon T3 back in the Fall, and you’ll notice my pictures got bigger (and hopefully better) around my Arroz Con Pollo post. True to form, I never read the instruction manual, and have just been learning through trial and error. The classes haven’t happened; that goal will carry over to Year 3.

– Tatiana has suggested a “What’s Boiling” sub-page, as apparently I have a lot of food-related rage issues to work through (Galen Weston, flat bagels, Bay Street restaurants, etc) and she says I can’t fool people who don’t know me into thinking I just bake cupcakes with sunshine and rainbows (was anyone ever under that impression? haha).

Verdict: Fail. Galen Weston still drives me crazy, as does the new Bulk Barn at Yonge & College running out of Valentine’s sprinkles the week before Valentine’s Day. Perhaps I should re-consider adding this page to channel my food-related rage issues?

– Stop being afraid of yeast, and finally make some bread and bread products like soft pretzels and cinnamon buns.

Verdict: SUCCESSSSSS! Yes! Even though I had a few meltdowns along the way, I feel like I’m on my way to being a confident user of yeast! This year I triumphed over pizza dough and cinnamon buns, and almost got there with the soft pretzels. This is staying on the list for Year 3.

– One word: UBE!

Verdict: Inconclusive. I freaked out about a month ago when I saw purple yams at my grocery store! I was so stoked to make some ube cupcakes, until I started to peel my purple yam and discovered it was WHITE INSIDE. I’m still not sure what it was. I’m kind of over this project, unless someone hand delivers me ube (coughMalixiscough).

Okay! Goals for Year 3:

New:

– HOMEMADE MARSHMALLOWS! My dream last summer was to have a S’mores party where we roasted homemade marshmallows on my condo balcony and then proceeded inside to a buffet of homemade graham crackers and a variety of toppings (milk chocolate, peanut butter, nutella, dulce de leche, etc). This WILL happen summer 2012.

– Homemade ice cream. My co-worker got me an ice cream maker last summer and I never used it. This is another summer 2012 mission.

Umm…I’m stumped right now…(all I can think about are marshmallows)…but I will add to this.

Carry-over:

– Take a photography class (at minimum the one for Canon DSLRs at Henry’s)

– Continue working with yeast! Actually make some bread 🙂

Also: should I blog Top Chef Canada Season 2? I’m currently on the fence.

Finally, a big huge thank you to everyone for reading and commenting. It makes me so happy. Special shout outs:

– Tatiana for actually baking something off Planet Byn and posting it on her own blog (it was the Banana Coffee Cake)! That made my day!

– Nicole for correcting me every time I left something out of the directions, and for forcing me to add the yield to each recipe. 

– My #1 commenter Kristine, for giving me shit in the comments every time I made something she wanted and didn’t invite her over! 

– Danielle for our weekly google video chat sessions where we talk baking and blogs. Watch out for our future Podcast: Sugary Goop!

– Thanks to my family, friends and co-workers for eating all the treats that come out of my little kitchen and never complaining that I’m making them fat/impacting their cholesterol levels 🙂 I love you.

xoxo

Byn