It may sound cliche but the first thought that runs in my mind when I think about 2016 is “OMG, It got over so fast”. Even my newly minted 9 year old boy was overheard saying “Oh this time 31st December has come so fast”. Yes we do call him the gyaan giver of the house at times.
As the year goes, 2016 which was such a mixed bag (and I am starting to feel that is how all years going forward might be now). Couple of major personal milestones like turning 40 which made re-evaluate and think about life in a relatively new light. About what I want to do with, what really are my priorities etc. At some point, I think I also dealt with the dreaded mid life crisis though a dear friend tells me 40 is a tad too late for mid life crisis π
Then there was loss of some of my teenage crushes and idols and so many of them felt personal. Specially George Michael. He probably was one of my first crush ever. I had this massive poster of him in my room and I would sleep every night with his piercing eyes. I will admit I cried when I heard about his passing away. There were also a few personal losses that left me a little shaken, few people that I didn’t imagine I will lose so soon.
The biggest challenge this year however was seeing parents age. Both set of parents this year gave us scares multiple times and oh god, I swear it is as tough to see your parents sick as it is to see your children. Probably even more since parents throw tantrums which are worst than kids at times. It made me think of my parents as people and not just my mom and dad. And while these thoughts were going on in my head “Dear Zindagi” kind of made me accept it. I guess part of me is finally growing up though honestly I don’t want to. 2016, also saw many events at the larger level which could best be described as undesirable, sad and painful. The year left me yearning for more, left me tapping into my ability to search for happiness and joy in small things. In a book, a song, playing sessions with my son, cuddling with my dog or endless chats with the man. It really is true that when the going gets tough we tend to keep close people and things even closer.
As far as work is concerned, the year shone in bright bold colors (knock on wood). The consulting projects kept going through the year. Recipe developments for brands (like Kellogg’s, Delmonte, ITC) and a doing menu for a couple of new places in town kept me busier than I had planned for. (Check the latest project which is opening it’s door to public on 6th Jan. Enerjuvate – A fitness studio and cafe with a wholesome healthy menu).
2016 was also probably one of the most disciplined years in my blogging history. 75 recipes, 14 eating out experiences, 10 articles on food and a few travel tales. That makes it around 100 posts in 2016, part of it was the A-Z Challenge with 26 baking posts in April. I can’t even tell you how big it is for me. I set out saying I want to do around 2 posts a week and managed to almost achieve it. Sure, there were many things I wanted to do, started and couldn’t complete (note to self – do better this year). For example, my drafts is full of bulleted travel posts that need to be detailed and posted. The 52 salads I promised turned out to be around 10 or so but I am still happy with the blog being super active this year.
Another big news for the blog this year was the launch of the youtube channel. It is only 3 months old and has made me respect people in film and TV industry so much more. Gosh making videos is real hard work dude. If you haven’t yet, do subscribe to the channel. I could do with some encouragement.
And taking cue from this, I have a meticulous plan sorted for 2017 and I hoping I will stick to it in the coming year.
Some of the series and stuff you can look forward to would be
Breakfasts of India – Regular readers of this blog know how much I love my breakfast. Infact when we were sorting recipes for the youtube video, we realised that I have so many breakfast recipes. I have decided to extend my level in a series on which I have been working on since a few months. So here on every Monday, I will bring you a breakfast of India. From Idly to parantha, from poha to luchi. I am hoping to cover it all. If you know of any breakfast that is uncommon and ought to be covered, shoot me an email or comment here?
Travel Tuesdays – Like I mentioned, the travel posts are rotting in the drafts in the bulleted points and they need to see some light and this year they will π
Salad Saturdays – This year the 52 salad project is back and back with a commitment of a salad every Saturday.
Kitchen Basics – A bit of this started last year without an official name to the series. But this year, once in two weeks I bring you a post explaining basics of the kitchen. Whether it is to understand what does fry till oil separates mean or whipping egg whites or making pantry essentials.
Eating Out – At one point of time, there was a lot of eating out posts on my blog but over the last year they have suddenly dwindled. May be it is my laziness of carrying my camera everywhere or it is just the laziness to write considering so called Zomato bloggers are mushrooming everywhere and it feels irritating to be in this space in current state of affairs but then I have wondered and decided that I will not stop doing something that I enjoy just because of the sad state of affairs.
Heirloom Recipes – Last year sometime I started documenting my family recipes. From my side and from my husband’s side and I want to continue this effort. And this is probably the area that is most exciting for me personally currently.
And then there will be random fun posts here and there, recipes I try and more. Should keep the blog interesting for the whole year.
And on that note, we moved back to Wordpress with an all new layout. Tell me what you think about it? Email me, leave me a comment, tweet to me?
And while we are it, do subscribe to the blog and for this month I am giving away free ebook compilation of 10 of my favorite salads. So don’t wait. Enter your email id in the button on the left and grab the book NOW π
Wishing you all a very very happy 2017 and if you really read through 1163 words above this. A big heartfelt THANK YOU !!!
One more person following your blog. And trying to be regular at it. Keep it coming! π Happy 2017 BTW!
Welcome here π And A very happy 2017 !!!
It has been great meeting you in 2016 and being an avid follower of your work to learn so much on food. Cheers to the friendship and many more food stories. Keep inspiring us.
Thank you Anindya. Cheers