Au revoir 2011!

This has certainly been an eventful year for us – my sister got married, had a gorgeous baby boy, and we are going to have a baby of our own next year! As I sit writing this currently sipping tea in Vienna fantasizing about what pastry delicacy I am going to enjoy today (or maybe just a steaming luscious hot chocolate  and whipped cream?), it’s pretty cool to reflect on how fortunate I have been in 2011.   I’ve been able to travel a bit this year and see some amazing sights – Germany, Spain, France,  Italy and the Alps of Switzerland!

I’ve met some amazing people this year, some of whom I’ve only recently gotten the pleasure to know, and others who I feel like I’ve known forever and finally was able to meet in person.  The Gluten Free Ratio Rally started this year as well, and each month continues to inspire me at the amazing talent in the blogosphere as well as the potential for fabulous gluten free recipes.  I’ve become ever more passionate with photography, and hope that continues to grow as well.

This blog has seen some changes, some evolution, and also some new features.  I have kept a running list of Food Blog Conferences and Events for well over a year now- which I keep as consistently updated as I can.  If you have information of conferences, tutorials, workshops, etc. related to food and/or food photography, please let me know to help keep this as complete and up to date as possible.  I also have a static page linking to various Photography Tips and Tutorials that I have come across on the interwebs, as well as my own blogging series which I have titled Amateur’s Food Photography – for tips and tricks that I, the amateur, have learned over my time ever fascinated with food photography.

But enough about ramblings of my life and blog this  year, let’s look at some food! Below are my eleven favorite posts and recipes from 2011, in no particular order – Hope you have also had a great year, and wish you all the best for 2012

Mountaintop Rösti with Ham, Potatoes and Fried Egg

This naturally gluten free dish was inspired by our trip to Zermatt to see the Matthorn, where we sat at 3100m elevation enjoying rösti, one of the most popular foods in Switzerland – comfort food at its finest, best after hiking or skiing outside on a chilly breezy day.

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One of my favorite things about New England in the Fall is waking up early while it’s still dark, sipping my hot tea, and watching the dim blue of nighttime fade into twilight and eventually watch the trees glow in yellow golden hue of the morning sunrise.  Even in mid-november, there is still some color on a few trees and bushes (those that are still standing after Alfred), and even some fruit left hanging in the orchards.

This precious time spent home has been rejuvenating.  Seeing all of my favorite places, people and food, enjoying independent little cafés with both internet and hot tea (something I desperately miss in Europe), and so many little details that just remind me how much I missed home.

It seems appropriate to be home at Thanksgiving, more so than Christmas even.  Thanksgiving seems to be one of the few holidays that has yet to succumb to the cheapened commercialization that so often plagues many of the holidays of today.  Because at its roots, Thanksgiving is about one thing that can never be put into a plastic box and sold for $5.99 – celebration with friends and family at a table, sharing food, laughter, and memories.

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Lately, the weather has looked like a mean Winter blizzard outside.  The landscape takes on a rather colorless hue as the permanent gray sets in.

And if you do go outside during a rare event of blue sky & sunshine, you are likely to look like this, hair flying every which way even if you attempt to bundle up w/ a scarf and a hat (well, at least my husband has the scarf bit down, still working on the whole wearing a hat thing):

Ice can even freeze sideways:

The wind negates any warmth the sun brings.  I’m almost debating turning on the heat in my usually stifling apt.

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2010, what an eventful year it has been.  We moved halfway across the world, met fabulous new people, saw beautiful sights, cooked a lot of gluten free food, and of course photographed it all for you  We’ve had happy times and sad times, good news and bad news, and at the end of the day are still here, together, hopefully a little wiser, and able to be in close contact with our family and friends an ocean away.  I hope you all have had a good year, and here is to hoping the best for 2011!

To end 2010, I am sharing my top ten list.  This order isn’t based on any statistics, number of comments, any measurable metric.  It’s a completely subjective list of the posts that meant the most to me that I think you will enjoy.  So without further ado, je vous présente the list!

10.

A Pasta to Remember Summer By – A simple and easy to throw together bowl of the last of Summer’s bounty, along with a few stories of one of our first hikes into the Swiss Alps.

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We celebrated Christmas a week early.  Now that we have gotten in the holiday spirit thanks to our fun trip strolling through the Marché de Noël, it seems my husband and I are all about Christmas this year.  I love the idea of embracing new traditions for ourselves, and so this weekend to accommodate our schedules a bit better, we had our full on Christmas feast. A veritable 3 course dinner just for the two of us – because what better Christmas present could I give my husband than a great meal made with love, and the two of us just enjoying each other’s company on these unseasonably cold and blustery Winter days?

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I didn’t decorate our home for Christmas this year.  No wreaths, no tree, not even Christmas lights.  Nothing.  I just haven’t really felt in the mood.  Truth be told, it’s been rather hard for me or my husband to get “in the holiday spirit” lately.

Next week will be the first Christmas my husband and I have spent together without getting to see any family.  It’s not how we originally planned it, but it is what it is.  I’ve spent holidays thousands of miles apart from my family before, while I was in grad school off doing field work for my research – but those times I knew when I’d be back home, and the situation was very temporary.  We’ve really become rather accustomed to our lives here over the past year, but by far the suckiest part is not having our family around.  And just because I’ve spent Christmas away from family before doesn’t mean it gets any easier the next time (or the time after that).

To cure our holiday funk, last weekend we took advantage of one of those rare sunny weekend days en Suisse (seriously it’s rained/snowed almost every weekend straight for like forever lately) and decided to tour around the Marché de Noël in Montreux.  I’ve heard tales about the fabulous Christmas markets in Europe but this was our first experience amongst all of the hustle and bustle that is a traditional holiday past-time here

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It is finally  Autumn.  The air spirals out of chilly noses in the mornings wisping into swirls of steam as children hurriedly rush to school.  I’ve got my mug on my desk always filled with tea and a bit of honey, and there is that renewed sense of energy that everyone gets when the lazy days of Summer are over.  The leaves are yellow and orange, one last burst of colorful energy, desperately trying to hang on to the unforgiving branches of the trees.  We are in the last few days of glistening in the sunshine before the long gray Winter decides to take up residence for a while on the edge of our little lac, nestled up against the already snow-covered Alps.

And I am officially becoming homesick again.  Growing up in New England, Autumn was my most treasured time of year.  The leaves changing turned our bright green cheery forests into a firestorm of color, glowing sunny yellow and fire-engine reds down onto the ground below us.  Living in the hills of New England in the Fall is akin to living inside a kaleidoscope, and all it takes is the slightest twist of the wind to shower down the rainbow of colors around you, turning dying leaves into sparkling ephemeral jewels floating in the air as if in a fairy land.

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Flour-based cookies seem to be my gluten free nemesis.  I’ve never gotten sugar cookies right, and my chocolate chip ones just turn into a flat melty mess unless I bake them in a bowl to become a mini cookie cake - sometimes, one has to get creative and work with the failures

But these I am determined to convert, and convert with resounding success.  I started working on the recepe development to adapt a family recipe for peanut butter cookies.  It’s been, well, let’s just say it’s been educational.

It took six.  Six batches.  Yes, it took six different trials of baking cookies – mixing together dough, carefully rolling out each rounded cookie, smashing them down with a fork oh so gently, slipping into the oven and saying a little prayer to the gluten free gods.  And with each new batch, the disappointment intensified.  I tried different flours, different ratios, different cooking times.  And I ended up with a giant bowl  full of all the crumbled memories of peanut butter cookie failures, each begging me not to end their fleeting existence with a trip to the rubbish bin (don’t worry, they didn’t, the ended up on top of ice cream instead).  But, by the time I got through to batch #6, I had cookies.  Rich, softish peanut buttery goodness, gluten free.  And the disappointments from all the previous failures turned into pure joy  They are not quite as awesome as my dad’s grandmother’s famous cookies (well, famous in our family), but they are close.  Oh they are so close.

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I’m not sharing a recipe with you today.  I’m sharing an idea, and that idea is cashew butter.  Ok, so it’s not an idea, it’s an ingredient.  I’m not sharing with you a recipe because this is one I want to adapt to be gluten free first.  This is my dad’s grandmother’s peanut butter cookie recipe, and it’s totally glutenicious.  I’m pretty sure that’s one of the main reasons why these are so delectably soft compared to traditional flourless peanut butter cookies, and I want to be able to present to you the same quality of awesomeness that comes with the original recipe.

The last time I made similar cookies (Almond Butter Cookies) I got lucky when I added in flour and they happened to work.  This time I don’t want to get lucky.  I want to get it right and know exactly why it works.  And when I do I will share with you her secret family recipe, GF style

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Last week I discovered something awesome – there is a farmer’s market I can access during my lunch hour at work!  I  cannot describe to you with words the satisfaction of my lunch (and by lunch I mean snack that lasted all afternoon) that day….fresh baked bread on which I spread chèvre d’olive, and an entire quart of gorgeously fresh Swiss strawberries.  I was ecstatic to find such awesome fruit, and allowed myself to enjoy every minute of it.

No, the pic up top is not from last week, but from a farmer’s market trip back in grad school – my mom was staying with me during my crazy tendinitis incident, and this particular Saturday that June I was able to hobble around enough to enjoy the local farmer’s market.  These strawberries were from that trip, almost 2 years ago.  They lasted maybe 10 minutes after this photo was taken, we devoured them like candy – because that’s exactly what they were, candy – sweet, natural, red juice dripping down your face leaving you to ponder exactly how anyone could want to eat anything else in the world, all your cares melting dissolving away as you take bite after succulent bite.

While I didn’t photograph the gorgeous strawberries I had last week, their incredible sweetness reminded me of that trip the farmer’s market with my mom, and reminded me that I wanted to share with you all my love if this little red fruit.  If you like strawberries (and really, who doesn’t?), now is the time to indulge and create every strawberry dish you can!  I am all about using fruits in season because at the peak of their season fruits are at their most flavorful.  This is the height of strawberry time – June is the month for strawberries, at least for me en Suisse and for many areas Stateside where I’ve lived.

Right now, it’s worth taking advantage of this time to enjoy them as best you can! I find that their flavor is actually quite versatile – there are so many more things you can do besides just make strawberry shortcake (though that is tasty too…), and also in some savory recipes too!  I use them all the time, even if it’s just something simple such as garnishing my breakfast or elegant dessert – they can be incorporated into so many dishes.  I decided that now, mid-June, was the perfect time to collect my strawberry ideas together and share them with you in one easy to find location.

So this weekend, I charge you all with going out and enjoying some fresh local strawberries – be creative, play!  You may just find that some of the best candy can’t be packaged in a bar, but rather is a delightful gift from Mother Nature herself

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