2009 Year in Review

So, wow, I baked a lot of stuff this year! Some things I honestly don't even remember. Thank goodness I have this blog to remind me what I did with my year. I learned a lot. About baking. I still have a lot more to learn. But, there were definitely some high points in my 2009 baking adventures. Here are my favorites (and before you ask, there was NO WAY I could have picked only one in each category--too many delicious things):

Pies:

• Black Bottom Strawberry
• Shoo-Fly
• Pumpkin-Chocolate Tart (it's essentially a pie, right?)

Cakes:

• Sweet and Salty Cake
• Key Lime Cheesecake
• Chocolate-Malt Stump de Noël

Cookies:

• Chocolate Crackle
• Ginger Snaps

Bread:

• Outside-In Focaccia
• Challah
• Rustic Potato Loaves

Other:

• Rolled Buttermilk Scones
• Fruit & Nut Oatmeal Muffins
• Gingerbread Bran Muffins

Most epic failure:

• Anadama Bread

Shout-outs:

• The BAKED boys. You and your cookbook rock my kitchen. Bring on book #2!
• Alton Brown. Every recipe of yours is made of win.
• Martha Stewart. For a jailbird, you're ridiculously reliable.
• Julia Child. I have a feeling my affection for you will only grow over the next several years.
• My little brother Bill. I cannot thank you enough for making the most beautiful pie boxes the world has ever seen. You are a genius.
  

Thanks for sharing:

• Priestess--if we lived near each other we would be an unstoppable baking/theatre force.
• Pie Queen--why do we both work, again? Can't we just spend all of our days in the kitchen?
• Mangled Dave--You are welcome in my kitchen anytime/all the time.
  
• Mama Vogel--I want to be you when I grow up.
• Smitten Kitchen--I wish I'd found out about your blog sooner. I am already a devotee.
  
• Coconut & Lime--I wish I could write all my own recipes. That's astounding.

And what can you expect for 2010? Well, I'm going to continue learning. Including learning from professionals. mr. gave me a cooking class at Les Madeleines for Christmas. I cannot wait to see what they're offering and choose something wonderful to learn about. Everything they make is amazing. I'm also hoping to take a real cake decorating class. I can make things taste delicious, but I'm not yet as good with making things LOOK delicious. I will probably be making more cookies and small portioned desserts this year. Among other things, I'm trying to lose some weight, and eating half a pie isn't really conducive to that. So, I need to make things that I can share. Unless it's a special occasion, and then I'm pulling out the stops! I have a new cake stand and mr. bought a fancy new camera, and I'm ready to take some beautiful pictures of some beautiful baked goods!

First up: I've tried once, but it wasn't a complete success, so I'm going to try again: Salted Chocolate Toffee Cookies.