Happy Anniversary, LoV Bites!

Well, today marks exactly one year since I ventured into the world of food blogging. And what a year it's been! I've made countless delicious dishes, a number of new friends, and even achieved a few minutes of fame. A year ago I couldn't have imagined how much use my kitchen would see, how many people I'd have supporting and encouraging me, and how much fun this would be!

Let's run down some of the highlights of LoV Bites' first year ...

The recipe wishlist. I've had a running list (or rather, a box full) of recipes I've wanted to try forever. Luckily, LoV Bites gave me a more organized place to put them. I created my recipe wishlist in March and have been steadily knocking out dishes ever since. I have many more recipes sitting in my "to do" pile than are listed here, but this serves as a reminder of some of the most desirable. I've set no goal for completing them because these certainly aren't the easiest dishes. If anything, they're the most challenging I care to attempt. I made a pretty good dent this year, but I don't ever plan to cross them all off. The joy of the wishlist is that it's forever growing! If you have ideas, I would love, love, love to hear them.

Making foodie friends. Who knew there was such a wide world of food lovers out here in cyberspace? Little did I realize that when I started cataloging and commenting on my recipes I was joining the ranks of a seemingly infinite number of fellow food bloggers. I've had the pleasure of e-meeting many great people this year, especially in the Milwaukee food scene. I was invited to join Your Milwaukee Dining as a facebook contributor, snapping shots of some of my most delicious meals in the city. I also won a couple guest spots on Chicago's Foodie Finds blog where I contributed posts about La Merenda and the Cream and Crepe Cafe. And I garnered 90+ Twitter followers, most of whom are fellow food lovers. It's been an awesome year of connecting and I'm looking forward to meeting many more friends in the year ahead!

Awards from America's Test Kitchen. Perhaps my most surprising and proud moments of 2011 came via America's Test Kitchen. It's no secret that I'm a huge ATK fan and I use their recipes often. For pure fun, I went out on a limb and entered several of their "Dish it Your Way" blogger challenges on ATK's The Feed website this summer. I shared Jen's Juicy Lucy during burger week and my Chocolate Dipped Cone Cupcakes during cupcake week. But the highlight was WINNING (yes, I said winning) the mac and cheese challenge with my Deep Fried Mac and Cheese! I couldn't have been more thrilled to have one of my own recipes spotlighted on The Feed. It was a big deal for an amateur like me!

So here's to another amazing year of food and friends. I hope you've enjoyed the journey so far as much as I have. Cheers!