Diary of a First Grader: The Sixth Annual Weekly Eats Roundup

Hey Friends, it's that time again!  Six years ago today I had an impulse to write a weekly recap post of my meals, workouts, TV watching, and reading.  After a year of weekly recaps I wrote an annual recap which I've come to think of as "Birchwood New Year".  Now that these posts are old enough to start first grade, let's take a look back at the best of the best things that we've talked about this year.

Weekly Eats Memory Lane

The First Weekly Eats Post

Year One Recap

Year Two Recap

Year Three Recap

Year Four Recap

Year Five Recap

Here are the Best of the Best Things that We Ate This Year

It's not even a contest.  The best recipe of the year is Rainbow Plant Life's Braised Tofu

The best family meal that we had this year was Jo Cooks Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Pasta

A runner up for best recipe is The Foodie Takes Flight Stir Fried Spicy Udon Garlic Noodles.

The best "that's not really a recipe" recipe that I tried this year is The Cheap Lazy Vegan's Chickpea Salad.  Yes it's very much a recipe, but the way I make it is to just throw chickpeas, mayo, mustard, etc in a blender.

There was a time when there was only one breakfast burrito in this world, but another came along, and this year yet another: let's hear it for The Cheap Lazy Vegan's Eggless Breakfast Burritos

My second favorite breakfast of the year was Vegan Eggs Benedict.  It's a mashup of two recipes: the eggs are from Sarah's Vegan Kitchen, the sauce is from  Minimalist Baker, and a description of everything else is here.

Best Staples of the Year

I've found that life runs a little more smoothly with a few extras on hand.

• Pickled red onions (as seen in the chickpea sandwich and the egg Benedict).  I don't really follow a recipe, I just chop up a red onion and cover it with a mixture of half white vinegar and half water and a little bit of sugar.  It keeps for several weeks in the fridge and adds such a nice pop of flavor.
• Sauteed mushrooms.  When you want a handful of mushrooms in whatever you're eating but you don't feel like going out to the store OR you don't feel like going out to the store and buying a package of mushrooms only to use a few and have the rest go bad before you can figure out what to do with them...just slice 'em all up, sautee in either oil or butter with a little salt until they are browned to your desire, relocate them to a baking sheet or something flat on a sheet of parchment paper, freeze 'em, and then scoop 'em up into a freezer container until you're ready to use them.

 

• Fried tofu from the Asian market.  For those times when you want tofu but don't want to prep tofu.  Check the freezer section of your Asian market.  I've bought several brands and several shapes and sizes, and all of them are good.

Best Meals on the Road

My latest hobby is local tourism, where I go places that are far enough from home that I need to stay overnight but not so far that I can't get back quickly if I need to.   Sometimes I bring food from home for these trips, sometimes I eat out and the meals are forgettable, and then there are these three meals that I'm still thinking about months later...

Strong Hearts in Buffalo, NY

Due to my short stay there I only had a salad and a cupcake.  I have no reason to go back to Buffalo and yet I kind of want to go back to Buffalo just to eat my way through their menu.  My one meal at Strong Hearts is why I seek out vegan restaurants on the road.

Papa Del's Pizza in Champaign, IL

This was the pizza of my childhood, and I was thrilled that it is EXACTLY the same as I remembered it.  I also don't have any reason to go back to Champaign and yet I want to go back to Champaign just for the pizza.

The Westview Tavern in Pelee Island, Ontario, Canada.  You go to a small island in Canada, spend the day biking, and then go to one of the few (it actually might have been the only?) restaurant that was open that day, and you get a burger which you're expecting to be like every other burger on the planet...and it makes your toes curl.  You don't need to have choices when There is Only One.

Best Fitness Stuff of the Year

The Peak Fitness workout - my favorite "I am not a runner anymore" running workout.  It's 20 minutes total with 8 x 30 seconds of sprinting.

Best TV of the Year

Man, I have to say that this was a poor year for TV shows.  All that I want is just to kick back and relax with a show at night, but the pickings are slim.  Same with movies - I rewatched and enjoyed a ton of my all time favorites but when it comes to saying "this was the best of the year" there are only so many years that I can tell you to watch The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca.

But there were two wonderful exceptions to the trend this year for TV shows.  Neither show is new, but they were new to me:

• The best show that I watched on my own this year was an Israeli TV show called False Flag on Hulu.  Season one was only "very good" and season two was "OMG THIS IS THE BEST TV SHOW EVER!!!!!"  Sigh there's a season three but Hulu is in no hurry to bring it to us...

• The best couples/family show that we watched this year is the one season wonder of the 90s that you didn't know you needed...The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.

Hmm...what else could we possibly have to talk about this year...oh yes I know.

Best Books of the Year

This was an amazing year for books and for blogging about books.  This year also saw the founding of an elite group known as The Cool Bloggers Book Club.  One way to know if you're a member is if you participated in Engie's bookclub this summer and the other way to know if you're a member is that you know you're a member.

My list of best books of the year is longer than ever and the criteria for making the best of list was tougher than ever.  These are the books that I'm still thinking about months later.  In order read:

The Accomplice by Lisa Lutz (lots of the Cool Bloggers read this as well)

Station Eleven by Emily Mandel St John

The Social Climber by Amanda Pellegrino==>this was the book that got me out of a reading slump

Bad City: Peril and Power in the City of Angels by Paul Pringle (audio)

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano==>Kleenex warning that the final 25% of the book made me sob buckets.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Smile and Look Pretty by Amanda Pellegrino

I Could Live Here Forever by Hanna Halperin

The Many Lives of Mama Love: A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing by Lara Love Hardin (audio)

I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron (audio)

The Violin Conspiracy by  Brendan Slocumb

Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent==>content warning that there's a topic in this book that I personally find very upsetting so I had to skim those sections but oh my gawd this book was so good.

That's a wrap for year six!  What's on your "best of" list?