The way I see it.

This blog has been empty for too much of 2009.
I don't want to look back on this blog and feel that nothing of consequence happened. I don't want to look back on 2009 as a joyless year.
....I don't want to remember this year as the year of the back injury.

Amazing things happened to me this year, things I could have only ever imagined, adventures I thought only other people would have and experiences that I have been too quick to forget. I don't want to relinquish them. There hasn't been a lot of cooking but there has been a lot of joy. And so if nothing else, these are the photos that will represent my culinary highlights of 2009.


When I was an apprentice I had a picture of a Wylie Dufresne entree on my ipod. I would look at it every day. That photo kept me walking back into that kitchen day after day, despite all rational and self preserving instincts. It allowed me to think big. I would never ever have imagined that one day I would actually be eating at his restaurant WD 50 or that meeting him in his kitchen would make me blush like a teenager.

entree wd 50. cuttlefish, root beer jelly and cashews.

dessert wd 50 saffron cheesecake


I have no photos of our meal at Per Se restaurant but I do have this one photo of the front door. I don't need photos as the memory of this meal is permanently etched into my mind. I have never tasted anything as luxurious as the 'oysters and pearls' course, this is what I imagine cupids eat all day (which explains why they are so chirpy, romantic and pudgy). I have never felt so indulged in my entire life. Eating in a Thomas Keller restaurant is not something I thought I would ever be able to tick off the bucket list, and yet in 2009 I ticked it off twice: first Perse and then Bouchon.

The best grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup at Bouchon bistro. This is what food should taste like.




Beer and crab cakes with my amazing husband to celebrate my 30th birthday. Discovering I actually not only like crab but love crab was definitely one of the culinary highlights of 2009.


Eating a proper, and I mean proper 21 day aged steak, in a proper steak house. When I took this photo a girl walked past me and said "wow you must really like beef"........I am so upset that I still can't think of a witty retort.

Pastries. There will never be enough pastries in the world. love.


A truly lovely invitation.

Magnolia cupcakes get a mention because they really did taste as good as they looked.

I have dreams that have been fulfilled, expectations that have been exceeded, I have friends who continue to amaze me, a family who unconditionally love me, a mother who could make the darkest day shine, I have a husband all should envy and a job so great I feel like I made it up. All this I have, so 2oo9, not such a bad year after all.