2013 was a hell of a year. It was my first year writing vegetarian and vegan recipes for this blog exclusively. This was a challenge that I have enjoyed very much and I plan to continue on as a meatless blog indefinitely. It was also my first year speaking at conferences.
On a personal note, my husband and I finally crossed the bridge from trying to get pregnant to actually BEING pregnant, which is awfully exciting. With a baby on the way, I found myself with a whole lot of extra feelings to deal with, so I started a special blog to focus writing on just that. Mary Makes Babies went from private to public just a couple of months ago, becoming blog number three in the "Mary Makes" family. You can see them all lined up together-like at www.MaryMakesGood.com.
Last year, I wrapped up 2012 by sharing a recipe from each month of the year. I kinda liked that, so here we go again. I give you 2013, in recipes.
January: Tomato & Dill Bisque
I don't remember too much about last January. From what I can gather on my blog there were tickle fights, internet marathons, and plenty of kombucha.
February: Ginger Garlic Tofu
I went a little crazy for fermentation in February, making batches of saurkraut, sourdough, and pickles with reckless abandon.
March: Sweet Sesame Brussel Sprouts
March was my month! I spoke at SXSW and won the "Most Experimented" prize at the Austin Smoke Experiment with my Smoked Chocolate Ice Cream and Cherry Bourbon Smore Sundaes. Good times.
April: Parnsip & Spring Onion Pierogis
Scott Bobleo and I went to Europe in April. We visited my parents in Switzerland and explored parts of France and Italy. It was awesome.
May: Lemongrass Tofu Spring Rolls
The Austin Food Blogger Alliance Community Cookbook came out in May, and included two recipes from Mary Makes Dinner. This was my first time having a recipe published in a book!
June: Ginger Madras Popsicles
I spoke at BlogHer Food in June, and had a blast attending the conference. I met tons of great food bloggers, got to eat free Coolhaus ice cream sandwiches, and party it up with my blogger friends.
July: Ginger Mojiotos
July was a big month for family! My sister delivered a healthy baby boy. It's hard to believe that my newest nephew, Fox, is now more than six months old. Our oldest nephew, RJ, visited Austin in July too. We had a great time at the beach in South Padre. I hope we can repeat the trip this year too!
August: Raw Salad with Lime Basil Dressing
August was a lazy month on the blog. I had just started a second job at Typepad, and I was in the beginning phases of pregnancy! (The part where you spend most of the day wishing you were asleep.)
September: Ginger Garlic Noodles with Bok Choy, Apples & Tofu
I taught a photo editing workshop for the Austin Food Blogger Alliance's Photo Camp this month. I couldn't talk about it publicly, but this month started off a particularly challenging period for me when it comes to food. I was put on a strict low-carb, low-fat, high protein diet by my midwide. These noodles? They were my last for months!
October: Cornflake Crusted Green Tomatoes
This was probably my most exhausted month in 2013. You can tell my the sadly low number of posts and recipes. I did manage to post one though. I didn't get to eat many of these tomatoes, but they sure were good.
November: Autumn Panzanella with Roasted Beets
November was great! I look forward to Thanksgiving and Wurstfest every year. We introduced everyone to the bump, and I helped some amazing folks organize the Austin Bakes for Austin bake sale, raising more than $4,800 to aid folks in Austin affected by the Halloween floods.
December: Roasted Kale and Chickpea Salad
And suddenly we were at the end of the year. For me, this year went by pretty quickly. I took another stab at the 30 Days With a Grateful Heart project this month, spreading my posts across all three blogs. You can checkout a roundup of everything in that series on Mary Makes Pretty.