Favorite things I made this year: layered white and dark chocolate bark with toffee bits and crushed pretzels; thumbprint cookies with Bonne Maman raspberry jam (epicurious recipe); and Momofuku's cinnamon sugar squares.

I made a few loaves of an orange cranberry quick bread that every one loved and scarfed. The recipe is from the Bittman book. I have new respect for the power of grated orange rind. The recipe calls for fresh cranberries but I soaked some dried in warm water to plump them up. Great with coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon. Yum

My standout holiday cooking effort was a vegetarian nut loaf with nuts, cheese, brown rice and mushrooms. I was thrilled at how well it turned out.

Lots of Indian street food!! Had friends n family over, so made sweet, savory, spicy, tangy food... To keep up with all ages!! Namely pani puri, bhel puri, gobi manchurian, samosa chat, biryani, idlis .. Phew!

Hubby smoked a prime rib on Christmas and we finished off that meal with Julia Child's Reine de Saba. Probably the best thing I made to give away were mini loaves of a cheese, bacon and onion quick bread-those were just amazing.

Looking back, it seems I mostly made cakes and cookies!! For New Years I made a ring shaped chocolate marzipan cake with little marzipan pigs, which I think will be a new New Year's tradition in my house!
http://outoftheordinaryfood.com/2013/01/01/chocolate-marzipan-cake-and-marzipigs/

I also made lots of cookies, a yule cake, a bouche de noel
http://outoftheordinaryfood.com/2012/12/21/french-cake-a-week-buche-de-noel/

For Christmas eve dinner I made a double crusted savory tart with butternut squash, fennel, sage, and pecans. Like this one, but with roasted squash instead of black beans (cause my dad doesn't like beans!)...
http://outoftheordinaryfood.com/2012/11/22/say-happy-thanksgiving-with-a-double-crusted-fennel-pecan-and-black-bean-pie/

And this was a simple mid-holiday meal, but I feel very proud of it! It's quite festive, all red, gold and green...Cornmeal cakes topped with chard, chickpeas, tomatoes roasted red peppers and olives...
http://outoftheordinaryfood.com/2012/12/24/crispy-cornmeal-cakes-and-chard-with-chickpeas-olives-and-roasted-red-peppers/

I've never been into baking cookies but I did a whole lot of baking this year! Any lots of peppermint treats.

This was my first gluten-free holiday and it went well. I cooked a full dinner (turkey, cranberry relish from scratch, brussels sprouts, and green beans) on Thanksgiving minus stuffing and desserts. I had a similar meal on Christmas and New Year's. I was worried about being able to give up sweet potato pie, stuffing with sausage and hoppin' John but I did it and all is fine.

I made Thomas Keller's lemon tart with pine nut crust: http://the-cooking-of-joy.blogspot.com/2012/12/thomas-kellers-lemon-tart.html

Also made his croissants for the first time!

My brother and I made Jamie Oliver's turkey wellington for Christmas night -- huge amounts of work, but it turned out pretty well. And it was certainly impressive.

For Christmas, I made a smaller version of the Feast of the Seven Fishes with three fishes. We also munched on some chocolate peppermint cookies and some homemade hazelnut macarons between family sightseeing. I made a quick butternut squash risotto when I didn't feel like cooking much, and of course we had some savory bread pudding with the holiday leftovers. For New Year's, I made cheddar oat crackers and herb roasted almonds to snack on until midnight. Looking forward to some more delicious recipes in 2013!!

I cooked my first ever goose and it turned out great. And I saved/rendered all of the fat for future cooking. My whole family decided we prefer the goose to turkey. I also made a pretty successful non-grain stuffing which merely substituted eggplant cubes for bread cubes - which also a went over well.

What a lovely Holiday season this was for me in the kitchen. For Christmas I made macaroni and cheese, stewed pigeon peas, christmas rice, roasted vegetable and sorrel to drink.

For New Years I made:
Pecan pie - http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/10/the-pie-thatll-make-you-cry/
Cornish Hens - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cornish-game-hens-with-garlic-and-rosemary/
Parsley Potatoes - http://www.marthastewart.com/314716/potatoes-with-parsley
Cauliflower au gratin - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/cauliflower-gratin-recipe/index.html
Calallo - http://trinigourmet.com/index.php/trinidad-callaloo-vegetarian/

My family usually cooks traditional Russian dishes (beet salads, herring, lots of meat...), but I chose to throw in a couple of my favorite recipes into the mix and surprise everything. I made a huge bowl of balsamic braised brussels sprouts with pancetta and parmesan...and dun dun dun -- Momofuku's crack pie (think of an oatmeal cookie crust with a caramel-y custard-y filling).

I made plenty of Italian tri-color/rainbow cookies, peppermint brownies drizzled with candy cane pieces and dark chocolate on top, candied almonds, sugar cookies, party snack mix, chocolate-hazelnut truffles... On the savory side, there was pork tenderloin, lots of pasta, and little party appetizers involving mushrooms and mini phyllo cups. The holidays are the best! : )

Though I was working through the holidays, since the office was so slow, I had ample time to cook and used it to re-stock my freezer after Hurricane Sandy (we only got back into our building the weekend before Thanksgiving).

My big holiday cooking success was throwing a brunch on Christmas Day for my family--13 people in all. It was the first time I've really entertained a large crowd alone with mostly homemade food.

Big hits:
Crustless Mini-Quiches (made a few days before and froze): http://www.thekitchn.com/makeahead-recipe-crustless-min-125509 I had enough extra ingredients to make these again and bring them to a New Years' cocktail party

Smitten Kitchen's Whole Wheat Apple Muffins - These weren't too sweet, so that my sisters-in-law, who avoid feeding sugar to my neices and nephew both asked for the recipe! http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/04/whole-wheat-apple-muffins/

Susan Feniger's Romanian Sweet and Sour Eggplant - This is such a delicious recipe and can be a side, salad, dip, or sandwich spread. It freezes really nicely too - http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/08/susan-fenigers-street-foods-romanian-sweet-sour-eggplant-recipe.html

I also had a ton of fun with leftovers - made leftover roasted veggies into soup, and combined some spiced cauliflower with squash and minted bean salad to make a curry-like stew.

...And now it's back to work!

Mince Pies! They're everywhere in Britain at Christmas but not over here, so I make my own.

I love reading these recaps and always thougth it would be a fun thing to do every Monday vs a late Friday "what do you plan to make" post. Its a nice way to start off a workweek.

Just my two cents....

i made a lot of cookies/cakes out of box mixes!
http://theactorsdiet.com/2012/12/31/baking-from-a-box/

I actually ended up baking quite a few TheKitchn recipes, including the eggnog cake mentioned above, the vegan sticky orange cake w/ marmalade glaze, and the best of all, the quick hazelnut and olive oil cookies with lemon glaze. YUM. We also made seitan cutlets based on a PPK recipe for seitan roast that we tried over thanksgiving. We also made some mushroom ragu over polenta, lots of salads, vegetarian chili, and homemade biscuits, among others. Best of all, we did all of this cooking together with family, including my mom and younger brother. Such good times!

I made Faith's apple pancake for Christmas brunch (subbing in egg nog for the milk--heaven!), and the Pioneer Woman's tres leches cake for Christmas Eve dessert. I also made Smitten Kitchen's thumbprint cookies (using homemade peach-fig jam) and her crispy, salted white chocolate oatmeal cookies (adding in dried cranberries to take them over the top). I love holiday baking!

I did so much baking this year! Favorites were Joy the Baker's brown sugar cookies, and Smitten Kitchen's brownie roll out cookies, austrian raspberry shortbread, chocolate silk pie, and cinnamon rolls!

Favorite sweet treat: Joy the Baker's Orange Vanilla Almond Cloud Cookies! Gluten free and delicious.

Favorite dessert: A traditional Tollhouse Pie

Favorite savory item: Homemade croissants, the Cook's Illustrated recipe from last year!

what was your recipe for the savory quick breads? They sound amazing!

I made several types of candy that I gave away. I also made a Beef Tenderloin Roast w/Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Stuffing.

On Xmas Eve, I made whole poached salmon with sauce Béarnaise, followed by porchetta style roast pork belly with all the trimmings, and tarte tatin. Couldn't eat for the next few days!

Christmas caroling party featured ham with homemade buttermilk biscuits from the Kitchn, along with cheese straws, mini-quiches, and zucchini peperonata appetizers (for the vegan and gluten free guests). Lots of spreads at that meal--hummus and Jacques Pepin's chicken liver pate.

Was able to do a fairly impromptu dinner for 9 the day before Christmas eve, to host some out of town visitors: Mexican shrimp cocktail to start, Caesar salad, and a southwestern salmon wrapped in corn husks, with fresh corn from the farmer's market (a lucky find!). Inspired by Food & Wine January issue, I made cream puffs and chocolate pastry cream, which made dessert for that dinner and for Christmas eve.

Christmas eve--paella is traditional, and I adapted my long polished recipe to Rick Bayliss' cooking instructions. Repeat of the cream puffs for dessert (no complaints).

Christmas night (no restaurants really open) was Tandoor Chicken and pappadom, most requested meal from my sons.

Compared to past years, I really didn't do much cooking.

We made an Easy Cider Beef Braise
http://www.cookingatcafed.com/2013/01/low-slow-1-cider-braised-beef.html

And, we did a Kentucky Corn Pudding
http://www.cookingatcafed.com/2011/09/kentucky-corn-pudding-with-recipe-31.html

Had my dad over for bringing-in-the-tree dinner a few weeks back. Made a simple pork roast in the slow cooker; sherry potatoes; and broccoli rabe with blackcurrant glaze. Gingerbread for dessert.

The next night, my friend came over to help me decorate the tree. I had leftover pork, mustards, and rolls to make into sandwiches, leftover potatotes, and chestnut bean/chestnut/brussels sprouts. Also gingerbread. I was proud of making two dinners with about 1.25 dinners' worth of work.

My family does potluck for Christmas lunch. This year I did desserts so I made a pear-lemon-ginger cobbler (from 'The New Basics') and my favorite chocolate tart (from Jamie Oliver's first book, 'The Naked Chef.'). And whipped cream. Everyone raved in particular about the tart. It's awesome.

With my mom having a broken wrist, it was my turn to bake this year. So I made Norwegian krumkake and boller from my grandmother's recipes. My son was able to help and it was so neat having three generations in the kitchen baking this holiday.

Nothing special this year. A bacon and egg pie using a new pie pan, trifle for dessert on New Year's Day using raspberries and limoncello, and this morning I made a banana cake to use up the ripe bananas I had.

I finally made really good mashed potatoes. This is one of those simple recipes that I just never got right. 2012 was the year! Success! Hardly new but it felt great to fork up some excellent potatoes (I can bake, latke, boil, Spanish tortilla, roast, chip, and fry the hell out of potatoes--but never could perfectly mash).

For Christmas Eve dinner, I made brisket, slow-roasted salmon, crispy roasted potatoes, spinach gratin, corn pudding, roasted brussels sprouts with bacon and spiced apple bread pudding with caramel sauce. I baked raspberry and coconut thumbprints, chocolate-hazelnut and chocolate chip cookies and almond bread as edible presents for family and friends. Christmas morning was pecan sticky buns. When people ask me what I got for Christmas, I tell them I got fat - that's what I got for Christmas!

I made a bunch of things I saw on this blog, including the egg nog cake pictured above (great texture, but needed more egg nog flavor), the chocolate almond skillet toffee (which was a huge hit).

For Christmas eve dinner, we decided to make a bunch of small middle eastern plates, so i combined two of the baba ghanoush recipes i found here and a nice twist on falafel that is baked and made with butternut squash and chickpeas. This was a crowd favorite).

Christmas morning brunch was an overnight soaked pumpkin french toast.

We also made the southern style chocolate cake, which turned out really nice, to ring in the new year.

Christmas dinner prime rib hassellback potatoes green beans Corn casserole. Snickers cheese cake - http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/snickers-cheesecake-and-vlog/Mexican wedding cookies Almond Layer Cake With White Chocolate Frosting http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/almond-layer-cake-with-white-chocolate-frosting-recipe/index.html

http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/snickers-cheesecake-and-vlog/

The only new thing I made was parfaits (I got parfait glasses from my sister for Christmas) for the family gathering- Nutella mousse with a mascarpone cheese filling layer. The best thing I ate my uncle made, a smoked brisket, sooo delish, probably the best one he's ever made. Ate it for days after.

I made many a loaf of the eggnog cake, even using some of the batter to make cake pops for a regifting party. I turned a loaf into a smart gift for my boss by putting the wrapped cake on a rustic wooden cutting board and tying it up with twine.