HNY! the '10 highlights post

Well Happy New Year everyone! It's really hard to believe that 2010 is done and done (when will time slow down?) but I hope you celebrated the year last night and welcomed the new one in style with yummy food and drinks like me. Many drinks.

I thought about how to wrap up the year of Baking Therapy and got inspired by someone whose delicious blog I visit almost daily. Joanne is talented, hilarious, a NYC runner (!!) and one of the better food photogs around - if you haven't been reading, hop on over! Her post today featured her Eats Well With Others resolution and top 10 posts - and as I scrolled down (and started salivating) I agree there's no better way to recap the year.

So here it is. Baking Therapy's 2011 resolution - push my comfort zone and break into Bon Appetit Desserts (thanks J)!

And the top 10!

The year started off with some incredible soft pretzels that I need to make again soon. They're easy, fun to shape, and provide instant gratification when they pop out of the oven looking perfect. These would be great for a Super Bowl party served with some hot mustard or cheese spread!

It's hard to believe it's been nearly a year since the best night of my life (aka my night with Dorie Greenspan). The randomness of this evening combined with the fact that I got to work alongside Dorie, baking Dorie's cookies, in Dorie's rented commercial kitchen, FOR FREE continues to astound me. New. York. Moment.

These were a really fun Baking Therapy creation for a friends Valentines Day party and though I won't take credit for the creative genius behind the concept I was pretty proud of myself and my little hearts. So cute! So easy! So impressive at a party :)

This was a Real Simple recipe I really adored, for its ease as well as its pretty final product. Potato and fresh rosemary makes this flatbread a light app or a filling meal depending on the size of the slice.

I'm convinced these cookies won me friendship with my boyfriend's closest girl friends, so for that I'm eternally grateful. Not only do I truly love the girls, but I love the cookies! I've made them several times since and each time they come out of the oven in chewy perfect rounds.

There are some foods that hit your tongue and make ever fiber in your body smile with the bright sun of summer. It doesn't get more summer than ripe peach pie and this recipe is a keeper - if I could make it in our beach house kitchen (read: oven which is only used to heat frozen pizza), it's a 10!

Well who could forget ice cream making with Blake Lively and Chace Crawford (i.e. the most-read Baking Therapy post EVER). It was fun, random, supported marginalized populations around the globe, and gave me starry eyes that lasted for days. AND! Thanks to Santa and my new KitchenAid Ice Cream Attachment (YAY) there will be ice cream in 2011. And it will be homemade.

And for the second most-read post of 2010: Kristin Chenoweth's Pumpkin Roll! It was part of my October pumpkin obsession and fun to make - next rolling recipe in line, chocolate roll cake with Hostess Ho Ho-inspired filling!

These croissants were a real coup for me. Light, layered, flaky, and YEAST! They were made with yeast! And they came out of the oven with French accents. I can't wait to try them again soon.

My only yeast loaf bread of the year and this challah turned out well enough to inspire brioche, rye and raisin bread to come in 2011. It's just so easy!

Ok! I hope this post (and my blog) has inspired you to break out the standing mixer once in a while. It's been a great year and I'm looking forward to lots more in 2011! Thanks as always for reading, for commenting, for emailing, and for making my 2010 one to remember.

Cheers!