Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016

I can hardly believe it’s 2016. The year didn’t fly by for me, but it was pretty quick. I admit, a lot of things that seemed far off snuck up on me. Though I was never really caught unprepared, I just had to work harder to reach my goals.

I think I managed to keep pretty true to my 2015 blog plan/schedule and, I’m happy with the results looking back over my 2015 posts. I’d have liked to have had more recipes. So, in my 2016 blog plan/schedule, I’m going to go with 3 recipes per month instead of 2. Ok, so I’m not going hog wild, but it will give me an opportunity to share more recipes without feeling like I’m back to a food only blog. I’ve also decided to try and make sure I have one simple craft per month, as well as a first of the month “update”. I’ve also decided to sort of theme my months. January’s recipes and craft are Chinese themed. I got inspiration from my Christmas Eve party last year… As I write this, last year’s Christmas Eve party was exactly 8 days ago!

Below is the dinner buffet I cooked for my party. All 100% homemade Chinese food, though the authenticity may be in question, it was still very good to eat. I made it earlier, cleaned up the kitchen and stored the food in disposable containers in the oven on warm. This gave me time to shower and get dressed before my guests arrived, and when it came time to eat I spent just a few minutes in the kitchen getting the food out of the oven instead of hours cooking it while my guests waited. I like to plan a menu that allows me to enjoy my parties with my guests instead of in the kitchen.

From top left to bottom right: Plain Rice, Vegetable Stir Fry, Chinese BBQ Pork, Chow Mein, Oyster Sauce Beef and Teriyaki Chicken.

Check out my February 1st, 2016 post to find out what I’ve got in store for that month!

Happy New Year, and thanks for visiting my site.