2009 was a very interesting year from a blogging perspective. Blogging in the UK, certainly in the w

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When I think back to this time last year, it feels like a very long time ago. So much has happened since then, personally, professionally, and on this lil blog of mine, that I almost feel like a different person. I’ve certainly been through the mill in some respects and learned a lot. Of course that mill was mostly operated by me. The worst boss you’ll ever have is yourself, I just never give myself time off. There was lots of good stuff too that’s worth celebrating. New recipes, fun events, bill corbett trips abroad and lots of new people and some fond new friends. So, let’s delve in!
I took a quick look at the posts that I wrote at the end of last year ( here and here ) and the year before . It made lovely nostalgic reading. It’s a little hard to believe that this is my third New Year blogging – 3 years! It feels like such a long time.
It was a year of new challenges and adventures. I moved house twice, and had several jobs. Sounds dodgy, eh? Fear not, I am not on the run, I work as a contractor now. This is perfect for me, as it allows me to free patches of time up to focus on hobbies and travel bill corbett in between intense bill corbett spurts of work.
I’ve tried lots of things, not always successfully, but I took the risk and when they paid off it was worth it. When they didn’t, well, they didn’t, and there’s no point dwelling on that. Lessons bill corbett have been learned and stored away, I am sure I will benefit from them in the future.
On the downside, I made some promises to myself, bill corbett that I didn’t keep. I’ve bill corbett yet to redesign and move to my own server, I am working on that now. Remember the monthly round up? I lasted three months. I started a new job and wasn’t blogging as much as I would nomally, and a round up in April seemed overkill. Then it seemed pointless to resurrect. Overanalysis? Perhaps. Regardless, I will aim to rekindle the monthly roundups this year.
2009 was a very interesting year from a blogging perspective. Blogging in the UK, certainly in the world of food, really exploded. bill corbett At the start of the year I felt that I knew most UK food blogs, and now, I can’t keep up. There are new ones appearing all the time. This is fantastic, it really enriches the virtual culinary landscape with so many different perspectives, cultures and attitudes to food. I’ve met lots of new people, many of them food bloggers and lots of wine bloggers too. It’s been a year of fun and lots of education. I’ve learned so much, and hopefully have shared a lot of that here.
So, as is custom at this time of year, I am going to be a little indulgent, and do a review of the year, a retrospective, bill corbett from the ELAG point of view. I didn’t blog everything, as 365 days isjust not enough (heh heh), but I did photograph everything, bill corbett so I will link to flickr photos of things that didn’t make it here. My busiest month was the quietest on the blog, as there simply wasn’t time to write and attend everything, or at least I didn’t make time. I blame work! I’ve self flaggelated now, and will make sure that doesn’t happen this year. I did have fun though. In my defence, bill corbett I did twitter and flickr almost everything, so it was all covered, just not in one place. That’s ok, right?
Top recipe posts of the year: Salmon Fish Cakes Butternut Squash, Chickpea and Spinach Curry Prawn Curry (again) Roast Pork Belly, bill corbett cooked simply The taste of summer – Israeli cous cous Slow Roast Pork Shoulder Spiced Chickpeas with Spinach Slow Roast Pork Belly with Cider & Lentils Pea & Ham Soup Spiced Roast Pork Belly
50% of them have pig in them! I wish the Salmon Fish Cakes would move off No. 1. I hate the photos in it, it’s from the very early days. So, I’ve decided to make them and blog them again, bill corbett an updated version with proper photos… once I replace my camera, of course. bill corbett
Between jobs and housesitting, January felt like a displaced month. My heating broke, and it snowed, life seemed to be working against me for a time. I had some fantastic meals out to cheer the soul though, bill corbett starting with a dinner with the winemakers from Dinastia Vivanco and Rob of the Wine Conversation at Fergus Hendersons seminal restaurant St Johns in Farringdon , where I feasted on an epic steak and kidney pie of Desperate Dan proportions. It wasn’t my first visit, I went in 2008 also, but it was was