Retrospective: 2013 in Review

So.
I can't believe that we're already here at the beginning of a new year, looking ahead to what is to come and looking back at what we did.  I've been watching the news this week with their little retrospectives of things that happened, and there are things that I would tell you were longer ago - or that I completely forgot about.  Frankly, I can't believe that we've finally arrived here.
Personally, 2013 has been a good year, but it had its challenges.  I changed schools, which I think is all for the good.  I turned 40.  We went to NYC for a week, which was amazing.  We renovated the kitchen and the pool and while neither of those things qualify as amazing the results do.  I love my new kitchen and the space and counters.
Speaking of the kitchen, I spent a great deal of cooking this year.  I'd like to spend even more time in 2014 doing the same.  According to the stats on my blog, I made 63 new recipes this year.  That's not completely true.  I have 9 recipes that I haven't blogged, and a few more that didn't make the cut.  The exciting thing about this is that even with the kitchen hiatus I made more than 1 new recipe per week.  I participated in 7 Pintertest Kitchens, and discovered a new favourite website, Budget Bytes.  I also blogged in the Pintester Movement once and saw a spike to over 1000 views that month with my Buffalo Chicken Lasagna. 
I also made 32 recipes in the Magazine Challenge.  With 10 issues, that's less than 6 per magazine but it's not too bad.  I made nothing out of one issue and 8 out of another.  I'm so glad I went back and visited these issues.  I'd only made 1 thing, Cornmeal Blueberry Muffins, out of 2005 up until now.  I can't say that anymore.  For the amount of money that was sunk into a subscription back in the day I'm glad I finally got around to using these magazines. 
Tomorrow, I'll give you some ideas of where we're headed in the coming year.  But I present to you now the Best and Worst of 2013 after the jump:

1.  Best Dessert:  Pistachio Raspberry Cakes.  These little gems were amazing and different.  They smelled wonderful when the nuts were ground in the food processor.  I loved the fresh raspberries too.
2.  Best Thing from Pinterest:  This is a bit of a toss up - I made a lot of great things I pinned.  One isn't posted yet because I was having issues posting pictures.  That's the Stuffed Crown Roast I made for Thanksgiving.  As for things that are up, Probably the best was the Black Bean Quesadillas.
3.  Most Questionable Thing from Pinterest:  The Crockpot Chicken and Stuffing that I didn't even take pictures of.  It was as okay as undiluted cream of chicken soup and Stove Top over chicken breasts sounds.  The other thing I was skeptical about but was good as an experiment was the Pizza on the Grill.
4.  Most Repinned Thing from My Blog:  I found the repins from my blog one of the biggest ego boosts in my year because I'm shallow like that.  What was even more interesting was the fact that it wasn't my Pintester recipe.  I would agree that these are darn tasty.  People repinned my Pork Refried Rice, my Glazed Lemon Pound Cake (which is so good!), and the Glazed Orange Donut Muffins.  But they were most likely to arrive at my blog and pin Buffalo Chicken Cupcakes.
5.  Best Thing from the Magazine Challenge:  I made a lot of desserts, and the Flourless Chocolate Chunk Cookies are fantastic, but we decided that the best thing I made from Martha was the Vietnamese Steak Sandwiches.  They are worth it for the flavour in the carrot slaw alone.  True story.
6.  Worst Thing from the Magazine Challenge:  There are a couple, but probably the one that disappointed me most was the Moroccan Chicken.  It was bland.  'Nuff said.

So there's 2013!  Lots of great things.  Here's to 2014, and more great food!