Top Posts of 2013

Popular posts of 2013, and family favorites!

This year has been pretty good to me, I can’t lie.  This blog has grown pretty substantially, and I have had a TON of fun working on it.

Which is good, because I have also worked really hard.  Without getting into too many boring details, I’ll say I set some massive goals last January, and while I didn’t achieve them exactly, I am on the path to achieving them, which is nothing to sneeze at.

I saw this picture early in the year, and immediately set it as the wallpaper on my phone.  It seemed strangely appropriate.

 

*Picture from KatieLicht.tumblr.com*

So I guess this makes it time for me to get all sentimental about the past year, and all hopeful and creative about the year to come.

I’ll start by sharing the posts you seemed to love the most.  These are the posts with the most pageviews in the past year.  If you missed any of these, you might want to check them out, because people are voting for these recipes with their clicks.

TOP TEN MOST VIEWED RECIPES OF 2013:

10. Twix Cheesecake Bars

 

 

 

 

 

 

These cheesecake bars are so rich and delicious.  I used a shortbread crust (since that’s what Twix does!) and used both Twix bars and Rolos in the cheesecake.  It’s an absolutely decadent dessert, albeit one which requires small bites.

9. Graham Cracker Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

 

 

 

 

 

They were yummy, I’ll admit it.  I never did add this recipe to my “Most Popular” page, not because it didn’t do well on Pinterest, but because my pin counts got all messed up.  So, even though I’m certain this recipe has been pinned more than 3000 times, it looks like it’s been pinned about 45 times.  It’s confusing at best, and appears dishonest at worst, so I never added it to the Most Popular Posts.  Don’t let that stop you, though.  The cookies are fun, and perfect all year around.

8. Key Lime Fruit Dip

 

 

 

 

 

 

My family ate this stuff to our hearts delight.  It’s a touch on the runny side, but it tastes so wonderful on strawberries, I’m sure you’ll forgive me for that.  This is a fabulous choice for a summer picnic or barbecue.  It’s also great with vanilla wafers.  My son, The Fruitarian, was literally circling and drooling as I photographed this, just waiting to devour it.

7. Chocolate Protein Shake

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s a bit of a divergence from my normal butt-widening fare, but this protein shake deserves its popularity.  It does have a fair amount of sugar and calories, but if you must have a protein shake, you’ll honestly be happiest with this one.  Robb asks for them quite frequently, especially when he has been lifting weights.  Both my sons are taking a weight lifting class at school next semester, so I have a feeling I’ll be making a lot more of them.

6. One-Bowl Brownies

 

 

 

 

 

 

You’ve probably heard me mention one or two hundred times how much I adore brownies.  They are ever so much tastier than cake.  Nothing against cake, but seriously?  Give me a fudgy, slightly underbaked brownie any day.  I’d also be lying if I said there wasn’t some appeal to having just one bowl and one wooden spoon to clean afterward.  It’s the best of both worlds.

5. Strawberry Lemonade Cookies

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pinterest crowd seemed rather in love with this cookie.  The cookie itself is a basic lemon cake mix cookie, but it’s the frosting that makes it shine.  There is just something wonderful about coming home with a big box of fresh berries, and being able to incorporate them into a cookie.  If ever there was a cookie made for a summer day, it was these.

4. No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did you ever make a pan of something, and then have trouble keeping everyone’s hands out of it?  That’s what these babies are.  They’re no bake, so you can make them in like 10 minutes.  They’re peanut butter, so basically everyone loves them.  If the neighbor kids get a taste, they will immediately run home and make their own batch for their own family to devour.  In other words, these bars are not just addicting, they’re contagious, too.

3. Condensed Milk Cookies

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is another cookie that I was not convinced would do well at the time I made it.  They are similar to shortbread, so not the typical soft, chewy chocolate chip cookie most people are used to.  On the other hand, you can make them with 3 ingredients,  {to be fair, I used 6.}  and there is just something intriguing about using sweetened condensed milk to make cookies.

2. Pretzel Toffee

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m no master of candy making {far, far from it!} but this candy is super easy to make.  The many confused comments I’ve received have about convinced me to make a video, so you can see how this candy actually looks being made.  I’ll try to give you a heads-up when I get that video done.  It will be worth it, because this candy is a holiday MUST.

1. Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made this cake for my son, The Lizard’s, 16th birthday.  Having both chocolate and peanut butter in the cake makes it so delicious, even better than I imagined!  It’s popularity on Google has made it my single most popular post of the year.

 

Just as there is more than one way to skin a cat, there is also more than one way to measure the best posts on this blog.  Pageviews is just one of them.

The disappointing part of sharing recipes digitally is that you can never actually taste them without making them yourself.  So, for another measurement of success, I went to the people who actually did taste them, my family.  I asked each of my three children, and my husband, to choose their two favorite recipes of the past year, and tell me why.  Here are their responses.

 TOP TEN FAMILY FAVORITE RECIPES OF 2013:

THE LIZARD:  He must be partial to peanut butter and chocolate, because both his favorites involved this flavor combo.

Buckeyes	No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars

 

THE FRUITARIAN:  I knew he would choose these scones.  He begs me to make them all the time.

Coconut White Chocolate Buttermilk Scones	Butterfinger Bark

 

THE HIPPIE CHICK:  She had a hard time narrowing down her choices, and has a tendency to love fancy drinks.

Lemon Cream Sodas	Grasshopper Cookies

 

ROBB:  Robb’s not much of a sweets guy, so I’m not sure how he ended up married to a dessert blogger.  He often doesn’t even get to taste the recipes, because the kids and their friends eat them so quickly.  But he does have a couple tried-and-true favorites.

Apple Pie Cheesecake Bars	Cherries Jubilee Cookies

 

Last but not least, MOI:  You know I simply adore chocolate, right?  And buttermilk in cookies.  And no-bake bars.

 

Chocolate Frosted Cookies	Pumpkin Fudge Nanaimo Bars

 

Last but not least, some other things you might want to check out.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

 

The Lizard remembered this Watermelon Cucumber Punch, which he and I can drink by the gallon.  It’s not to be found on the blog, but the recipe is in the Summer Mocktails Book, available in PDF form at major ebook retailers.

I’ve also been a regular contributor to a site called My Cooking Spot this year, and my favorite post on that blog this year was the Kentucky Derby Pie.  This stuff is like a chocolate chip cookie in a pie crust.  It makes me wish I was from Kentucky.

And, it’s not a recipe, but my family seems to think I was pretty funny for drawing cartoon cheese straws into this post about Kitchen Disasters.  Let’s face it, we all have them.  Kitchen disasters, that is, not cartoon cheese straws.

And there you have it, 2013 in a nutshell.  Please chime in and comment below!  What was your favorite recipe this year?