I’ve wracked my brain for the last week trying to come up with a meaningful end-of-2010 or welcome-to-2011 post. I thought about doing a wrap-up of my most popular ten posts for 2010, but I didn’t feel it was the right time for that. My blog’s anniversary is coming up in February, so I thought I might save that kind of thing for then. I’m much more interested in reading about other’s top lists of the past year. [If you want a really great wrap-up of favorite food blog posts of 2010, check out this post on kitchen Mage.]

Last night at our New Year’s Eve dinner, I was inspired by one of my very best friends on what to do for today’s post. Truthfully, she always inspires me, and I’m so thankful to have her as a friend. Plus, she’s going to be a famous novelist one day, and I’m really looking forward to the day when I can say, “I knew her when…”

2010 was the year that I found that the passion for food, food writing, and food photography is embedded deep in my soul. That creativity had to come out, and it did, in the form of this blog. I love being in my kitchen, with my camera nearby at all times, making food for those that I care about most. I love that I can share it here with all of you. And mostly, I love that all of you care to read about it. You, friends, have been my inspiration and a part of my life for the past year.

And I want to thank YOU for that. As a teensy token of my thanks, I want to do a giveaway of one of my favorite cookbooks of this past year. And here they are:

Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller.

The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenberg.

Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef by Shauna and Dan Ahern, the amazing couple behind this blog.

Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan.

The Essential New York Times Cookbook by Amanda Hesser, one of the co-founders of Food52.

This giveaway is the least I can do to thank you all for your loyalty and readership over this past year. I am so happy you’re with me on this journey, and I plan to make 2011 an even better year for myself and this little blog of mine. Happy New Year!

Here are the details of the giveaway: Please leave me a comment below – just one comment per person, please – telling me which of these books you’d love to own. I’d also love to hear about your favorite cookbooks or food lit books of the past year or of all time, so please share! On Saturday, January 8th, I’ll use Random.Org to select one winner from all of the comments. I’m paying for the book, and I’ll pay for the shipping — to the USA or Canada only. And again, thank you!

***Update on January 8, 2011***

I loved reading all of these comments. It was a struggle for me not to reply back to some of them, but I didn’t want to mess up the comment count by adding my own in there. Again, thank you all for sharing this journey with me.

And, now, for the winner, as chosen by the random number generator:

Comment number 44 happens to be this one:

Congratulations, Jackie! I’m thrilled to be sending you the cookbook.

Early last summer, or maybe it was late in the spring, I bought a potted Meyer lemon tree. The kids were excited about watching our very own lemons grow. In fact, they drove me crazy for the first week we had the plant. “Are there lemons yet? When will the lemons grow?” Of course, I had the same questions, but with 30-something more years of patience than Maddie and Oliver, I was content to wait.

We watched that little tree grow a tiny bit bigger, sprout beautiful white flowers, and then, after a while, we were rewarded with baby green lemons. By the time the baby lemons appeared, the kids had lost interest but I was enchanted with this little tree. I felt like a child checking the stockings in the days leading up to Christmas to see if by chance, by some remote chance, Santa decided to come early. I checked on my little lemon tree almost daily. I felt each lemon, counted them, and guarded those eight little babies carefully. And of course I watered the tree, and it got lots of sun on my patio.

Before we knew it, we had Meyer lemons. Real Meyer lemons, grown in our own backyard. Eight of them.

That’s it. Just eight.

So what does one do with eight Meyer lemons? I asked this question on Twitter and Facebook and the most popular answer was lemon curd.  I’ve never had lemon curd, but I love lemon tarts and lemon bars. So, lemon curd it was.

I’m not sure there is an easier thing to make than lemon curd. You’ll need a candy thermometer or other instant-read thermometer, but that’s about as high tech as the recipe gets. Lemons, butter, sugar, and eggs…what could be simpler?

The Meyer lemon curd tasted just like the filling of a lemon tart, sweet and bright with just the right amount of tartness. The curd is a great topping for warm biscuits or scones, a cheesecake (and if you keep your eyes peeled, you’ll see a post about this in the very near future!), or a filling for a tart. And it’s really good just eaten out of the container with a spoon.

But I would never do such a thing. *wink*

Meyer Lemon Curd

From Gourmet, December 1999. Just a note: When I made this, I only needed two Meyer lemons to get the amount of juice & zest the recipe calls for. I would suggest having 3 or 4 on hand, and be happy if you have a couple left over at the end.

Ingredients:

3 to 4 Meyer lemons
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

Directions:

Finely grate enough zest from lemons to measure 2 teaspoons and squeeze enough juice to measure 1/2 cup. Whisk together zest, juice, sugar, and eggs in a metal bowl and add butter. Set bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, whisking, until thickened and smooth and an instant-read thermometer (or a candy thermometer) registers 160°F, about 5 minutes. Force curd through a fine sieve or mesh strainer set into another bowl.

Cover surface of lemon curd completely with wax paper and cool completely; keeps covered & chilled for about 1 week.

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Oh, wow. Christmas is over, just like that. We heard the kids whispering in the living room around 6:15 as they checked out with flashlights what Santa brought them. They let us rest a little longer, and finally rushed into our room to tell us that SANTA BROUGHT HULA HOOPS!! And PILLOW PETS!! HE REALLY CAME, HE DID, HE CAME! Just watching them, overflowing with excitement and joy, was the only gift I needed that morning.

Another unexpected gift on Christmas day was this:

Our first annual Christmas day family photo. My husband – smart man that he is – had the brilliant idea to take an annual photograph of everyone who came to our Christmas dinner. This is Year One of the annual Christmas photo. I can’t even describe how happy this photo makes me. I’m holding my 87-year old grandmother’s hand in this photo, the only grandparent I have left. She’s survived lymphoma, and she’ll tell you all about it if you give her a moment of your time. Also in the photo are my parents, my children, my husband’s parents, my sister-in-law and her family, and our babysitter, Nikki.

I just love that photo.

It was a good Christmas day. We did our meal in our typical fashion – potluck style, to make it a little easier on the host and to give each family the opportunity to make one of their special dishes. My father-in-law used to own a barbeque restaurant, and he kept the smoker when the restaurant closed its doors. He cooked and brought a smoked ham and some barbeque ribs that were simply delicious.

My dad made his famous mashed potatoes. My sister-in-law brought her grandmother’s amazing sweet potato casserole. I made the cornbread dressing, the pumpkin pies, a Meyer lemon cheesecake (post coming soon!), and the Waldorf salad.

My mother used to make Waldorf salad for our holiday meals, primarily the Thanksgiving meal, and then one year she stopped. I think it became too much of a hassle to chop all those apples, and I can’t blame her. It is sort of a pain in the rear. But, the salad was part of our holiday tradition, so I took over making the salad. Now I make it for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s one of the lighter dishes on our holiday menu, and we all appreciate having something a little healthier but full of flavor.

I’m not sure where I got this recipe from exactly, but I’ve modified it some over the years. I used to try to make it the day before, but it really doesn’t work as well that way. The dressing gets runny, the apples tend to get a little mealy. I sometimes add toasted, chopped walnuts, but I didn’t this year. I’ve added regular raisins, but I really like the golden raisins in the salad.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones. I sure did.

Yield: Serves 10-12.

Waldorf Salad

For the apples in this salad, I usually use a few Granny Smith apples, a few yellow apples, and a few red apples (preferably Gala). The mixed variety of apples gives the salad a nice flavor and beautiful colors. Also, I usually use low-fat mayonnaise and nonfat Greek yogurt in the dressing. It makes for a light, refreshing fruit salad, and I never feel guilty about going back for seconds.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/3 cup honey
lemon zest from one lemon
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
9 apples, mixed variety, cored and chopped into 1/2 to 3/4 inch dice
1 1/2 cup celery, diced
1 1/2 cup seedless red grapes, halved
3/4 cup golden raisins
1 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted (optional)

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, honey, lemon zest, lemon juice, and ground ginger. Stir in all fruits, except walnuts if you're using them. Cover and chill for at least one hour. Stir in walnuts just prior to serving.

Note: This salad is best made the same day you plan to serve it.

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