Okay, it's New
Year's Eve and it's time to look back at 2014. I have collected here
my favourite photos, moments and recipes from 2014 and linked back to
the posts (obviously not all recipes aren't originally mine, and when
that's the case I have mentioned it). There were many dishes made
this year, and I have selected here some of my favourites. I didn't
want to make a too long post, so I had to be very selective with the
recipes, and also chose to add picture collages instead of the
individual photos.
As I was looking
back at the year, I realised how lucky I have been with all these
wonderful travels and good food. I had more trips than ever, mostly
to my home country but also to others. I certainly appreciate a lot
that I was able to do this.
January
In January I
celebrated my first blog anniversary and grew more and more fond of
blogging the whole time. I visited Oxford, where I try to go at least
once a year and stay in the hotel Malmaison, which used to be a
medieval gaol and Victorian prison just next to a Norman castle. I have many
favourite pubs in Oxford, but one of them is The Eagle and Child, where the local
literary group the Inklings used to drink. I love making my
own pasta and made red pepper ravioli.
February
In February I was
often cooking British food, and one dish in this category was
Scottish tattie scones – what a perfect breakfast it was! I also
baked traditional Finnish Runeberg's torte, a recipe that I'm trying
to perfect each year. I'm a big fan of veggie pizza, so one evening I
had a mini pizza party.
March
Spring came to
England in March and I feasted on homemade falafel, followed an
Ottolenghi recipe for roasted aubergines, drank mojitos and made
zucchini and feta pancakes. There was also a big celebration as the
dearest of them all, my granddad, turned 90.
April
In April a dream
came true for me and I got to visit Paris for the first time! Spring
in Paris really is well worth experiencing. During this month I was
inspired to cook a lot French style, but also posted some Easter
recipes such as lemon and white chocolate muffins.
May
In May many Paris
posts still appeared on the blog, but I also visited the Swanage Railway Diesel Gala and Beer Festival in the idyllic Isle of Purbeck
in southern England. I made my first veggie sausages and as rhubarb
was in season, I baked a rhubarb pie.
June
I started June by
making my “most accomplished curry so far” (says my partner),
which was a pineapple curry. I've made it a couple of times since and
it has always been well received. Also in June I celebrated Midsummer in chilly Finland and made a three-part burger post consisting of
basic burger buns, pea and leek burgers and broccoli and cheese nuggets.
July
I just loved the
whole warm summer this year, and July was a particularly busy month
for me. My brother visited me with his girlfriend and we showed them
some of the southern English countryside and London, but I think that
the shetties and their foals in New Forest were the highlight. Then I
returned to France to make holiday in Avignon and its surroundings.
July was the right time for eating salads and I made among others
this mixed summer salad. Balcony gardening was going well and I was
able to bake spelt and carrot rolls from my own small carrots, which
were the first carrots I've grown on the balcony.
August
In August I was
being a clumsy cook as I burned my small hedgehog paw when frying a
pizza made from Provencal produce. The
fried pizza was so tasty though that I didn't mind the injury too
much. Then I had another great holiday when I visited my family in
Finland again. It was a great summer, weather being warm throughout.
September
In September I
admired the growth of my tomato Tigerella and balcony garden plants
in general. I started serious squash cooking and posted an onion squash tart recipe. I also cooked some pepper nuggets and crushed potatoes.
October
October was all
German themed. I wrote my first trilingual post about a German
classic Currywurst, but of course made its vegetarian version.
Later that month I visited Hamburg and Bremen for a few days.
November
With November the
cold and rain came to England and due to that my cooking got very
autumnal and I ended the tomato growing season by making green tomato chutney from the last of the crops. Among others a garlic soup and a Moroccan style squash stew were
warming me during the chilly weather. I finally managed to make a
vegetarian sushi post thanks to the rice cube gadget that I purchased
and I posted my first cooking video ever.
In December we got
to my favourite holiday and I started posting all things Christmas. I
baked a flourless chocolate cake and set Spike on top of it. I made a warm and cold acorn squash, halloumi, lentil and pomegranate salad. Then I
spent Christmas with my family in Finland. Yesterday I got back from
a short trip to Oxford, where I got a huge shock when I detected that
my favourite tree (and that of J.R.R. Tolkien), the magnificent old
Pinus Nigra, had been felled. Of course the Botanic Garden
wouldn't fell it just for the sake of it, but there had been an
incident in the summer, when two large limbs had suddenly fallen off
the tree. As the result they had no other option than to fell the
whole tree, as it had become structurally unsound. It was an
extremely sad sight and I had to shed a few tears when I saw it.
Below is a photo taken of the tree in January this year and then the
chopped pile of wood from December, and also a visiting squirrel on
the pile (there's also another photo from the Garden with the pine on
it in the January section).
Obviously this
wasn't the best ending for the year, but I still feel that I have
been very lucky and happy this year and am excited to see what 2015
will bring.
Now I want to thank you all for this
year and wish you a wonderful New Year! See you next year!
Your VegHog
