Best of 2015

2015 was a hectic year of many roadtrips, moving to Houston, welcoming a new niece to the world, and of course, cupcake consumption. I'm looking forward to new adventures in 2016, which will be recorded each day with pictures in the Day One journaling app (my New Year's resolution). 

Best Meal: To be honest, this was a tricky one to figure out this year since not one meal really stood out like last year's meal at Gunshow in Atlanta. But then I thought of the most delicious brunch I had in Buffalo at Martin Cooks. My friend Matt and I had front row seats to the action in the kitchen in the open kitchen seating and I thoroughly enjoyed a steak and eggs breakfast. Perfectly cooked steak combined deliciously with eggs and a green salad.

Best New Food Adventure: I had introduced myself to regional and ethnic favorites this past fall. When I visited my friend Stacey in San Antonio, I was dying to try a San Antonio favorite: puffy tacos. The famous Henry's Puffy Tacos didn't disappoint and I thoroughly enjoyed the thick, chewy yet crispy taco shell that is the famed puffy taco. 

The second encounter with a new food was after watching this Eater video featuring pupusas. Pupusas are an El Salvadorian traditional dish: a thick corn tortilla stuffed with a filling of cheese, beans and meat and accompanied by pickled cabbage and hot sauce. A little reminiscent of the puffy taco, it was a tasty pancake-like dish that was a perfect snack while playing bingo. Thanks, Erin for picking some up from El Papaturro!

Best New Eatery: I'm was happy I discovered the new gourmet market in St. Petersburg months before I moved but am sad that I no longer live near the eatery to keep sampling all their delicious foods, especially the nori wraps. Thanks, Locale Market, for all your culinary delights.

Best Drink: The bloody mary I had at The Noble in Milwaukee only because of its very hefty garnish. It was quite an adventure sampling that drink. 

Best New Cooking Adventure: I have been a fan of the savory pies ever since I traveled to New Zealand 8 years ago and tasted my first meat pie. With the influence of The Great British Baking Show, I had fun creating some meat pies in my kitchen.

Best New Baked Recipe: Even though it took over 4 hours of hands-on work to make these festive treats, I still think the effort and the results were well worth it to make Italian Rainbow Cookies for the holiday season.

Best Cupcake: There were a few cupcakes that ranged in the nearly OMG YUM realm but the standouts of my year of cupcaking were the mini cupcakes from Sweet by Holly in Orlando. They were perfectly delicious treats that were full of flavor.

2015 in numbers: 
15,000+ miles driven
66 blog posts
25 cupcakes eaten
13 states driven through
9 inches chopped off my hair to be donated to Pantene
5 complete tv shows binged on (but about 7 more series but those were where only 1 season was available)
4 cities lived in
3 times I brought mismatched shoes to a concert (that's 3 too many)
1 new niece bringing the total to 3!
1 car accident (my first ever but luckily only as a passenger and we were all safe)