2013 Recap - What A Year!


I pray that you all have had a wonderful and beautiful Christmas.  It's hard to believe that we are rounding the corner into a new year.  My, how time certainly does seem to pass so quickly.

Joyously Domestic is now one year and six months old this month.  It is so hard to believe that so much time has passed since I published my very first post.  Blogging has been a joy and a dream job me.  I'm so thrilled that so many of you have been a part of this journey with me.  I am so incredibly grateful and humbled that you follow along with my posts, read my stories, make some of my recipes, provide me with your feedback, share my content and encourage me in so many ways.  Thank you to YOU!

I was just reading through my blog post from last December that recapped 2012 here on Joyously Domestic.  Here we are twelve months later and the very same recipe that was number one last year is still holding strong as our most-popular post - my Roasted Ranch Potatoes with Bacon and Cheese.  A couple of recipes have knocked it to number two throughout the year, but usually only for a day or two.  What is with you people when it comes to bacon, cheese and taters?  I joke.  It's a fabulous recipe.  I find it all over numerous recipe-sharing sites, Pinterest and Facebook.  My heart is so happy that so many people have enjoyed it.  It has now been viewed almost 800,000 times here.  Holy smokes!

The Top Thirteen Blog Posts in 2013 on Joyously Domestic

What a fun year it has been here on the blog!  I posted almost one hundred new recipes along with some party, DIY, craft and homemade gift posts.  I thought it'd be cool to take a look back through our thirteen most-popular recipe posts during the year.  I'll soon be posting a 2013 recap that will include some other topics related to Joyously Domestic during the past year.  For now, however, I wanted to share with you the opportunity to take a look back at the posts that were visited the most.

P.S.  You all have great taste ... these all are some of my personal favorites, as well!

Chocolate-Dipped Festive Fudge Pops (The Tale of An Accidental Fun Dessert)

This is a little story about a recipe in the kitchen going from failure to fabulous.  We've all had those "flops" when we're baking or cooking - the ones that sometimes bring tears to our eyes (and bruises to our culinary egos).  Those moments when we realize that we're staring at a disaster-of-a-result sitting on the counter.  We're sure that the garbage is the destination for our failure, but we rack our brains on how to salvage this mess-of-a-recipe that we've created.

Is it too burnt?  What if I scrape off the bad part(s)?  Can I transform this into something else? 

Well, my dear mother, Dawn, had a new recipe to try for chocolate fudge.  It was on one of those recipe cards that you sometimes see on display at the grocery store.  Now know that my mother is a fabulous cook and baker - and a stickler for following recipes precisely.  She made the fudge recipe, but it never quite set up correctly.  The flavor was outstanding, however.  But, once "set," it was still a bit too um, gooey.  She had been in the midst of a baking frenzy - preparing a huge holiday platter of goodies to take to her company Christmas party.  She refused to use this fudge for her platter since its appearance was well, less-than-stellar. 

She was ready to pitch the fudge into the trash.  But, who just happened to stop by?  Yours truly.

I tasted it.  Loved it.  Stole it.

That fudge and I had a date with destiny.  I knew exactly what to do with it.

Thus, these Chocolate Fudge Pops were born.  Now, I was concerned that another fudge recipe wouldn't work like this one did for making fudge pops.  So, I whipped up a batch of a tried-and-true chocolate fudge recipe that I've used (it is from Nestle and can be found HERE.)

You can add in nuts or omit them.  Dried fruit can be added in, too.  (My mother's fudge had dried cherries in it.)  You could make it studded with crushed candy canes for the holidays as I did for the second batch I tried this method with.  These fudge pops would probably work fabulously with peanut butter, eggnog or vanilla fudge, as well.

The number of servings will depend on the fudge recipe you use and the size you make the balls.  Mine yielded around 20 fudge pops.

Individual Party Cheese Balls

It's such a busy time of the year for us all, isn't it?  And, in the midst of the Christmas shopping, decorating, baking and planning, most of us are racking our brains for recipe ideas for all of those holiday parties we are hosting or attending.

Here's a great appetizer recipe ... one that I plan on making for New Year's Eve and maybe a couple of other Christmas parties we are attending.

The idea is that each guest can take an individual cheese ball along with some crackers.  It allows everyone to have their very own to use on their own plate and it, also, allows people to take those with ingredients they prefer.

What I love about this idea is that there are so many flavor combination options ... especially when it comes to the coatings on these little, adorable orbs.  I've chosen fresh dill, parsley, crushed red pepper flakes and sesame seeds for these.  But, you could use chopped nuts, other herb combinations, shredded cheese or even chopped dried fruit.  (I did try chopped dried cranberries and chopped sun-dried tomatoes.  Note that they make the cheese balls a lot larger than ones coated in herbs or sesame seeds, for example, so the sizes were not quite the same.)

If you already have a cream-cheese based cheese ball recipe that you love, you can simply use that as your base.  Then, just roll the balls into whatever coatings you like.  You could, also, add in some horseradish, pimentos, dried chipped beef, cooked bacon, cayenne or other ingredients. 

I placed a cute party pick in each cheese ball for easier service.  I, also, find that they make a convenient "spreader" for guests to spread their cheese onto their crackers.

Yields 20 - 24 mini cheese balls.

"Old-School" Creamed Chipped Beef

Let's face it. This is about as old school as it gets. Creamed Chipped Beef over Toast. You know it. And, you either love it or hate it. {I happen to love it.} It's about as simple as it gets, too, with regards to preparation. The ingredient list is a very basic one and it takes like, maybe fifteen minutes from start to finish. If you recall this fondly from your childhood, you know just how comforting and awesome it can be.

 

 

Even growing up in a pretty conservative, religious home, I still recall this recipe being {affectionately} referred to as "S**t on A Shingle." I'm always surprised that so many people have never heard of this.  This was a common meal in our household ... probably because it was so inexpensive to make. But, I absolutely loved it. Still to this day, it takes me back to my childhood and those comforts of home when I make this.  It's not particularly healthy, but it is super delicious.

The gravy can be served over toast or mashed potatoes.

Serves 4 - 6.

Candy Cane Crunch Peppermint Puppy Chow

 

Holy moly, friends, this stuff is totally addicting and oh, so yummy!  I've made traditional Peanut Butter and Chocolate Puppy Chow for years.  And, I made (and admittedly devoured) Cake Batter Puppy Chow for the holidays last year.  But, this version just screams Christmas to me!  I am a peppermint junkie, so this is right up my alley.

I use melted white chocolate chips that I flavor with peppermint oil for this recipe, but I am wondering about simply using the Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips that I've seen recently in stores for my next batch.  Alternately, if you're not a fan of white chocolate (or, you're an even bigger fan of regular chocolate), these would be great with milk or semi-sweet chocolate flavored with peppermint oil.  The mix just wouldn't be totally white, however, and would more-resemble traditional puppy chow in appearance.

This would be so fun to package up for coworkers, neighbors or teachers.  But, I'm not quite sure that your batch will last long enough to give away!  I know mine sure didn't!

Holiday Hot Cocoa Kits with Homemade Stir Spoons (Includes FREE Printable Labels)

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  Well, here in Michigan it is (we just got a good amount of snow fall this weekend).  I hope that wherever you are, you are feeling and enjoying the holiday spirit with the ones you love and cherish.

I am so excited to share this idea with you.  We made a bunch of these up this year for the kids to give to their teachers, their bus driver and a few of their special friends at school.  They are just a fun, little gift that will warm the hearts (and bellies) of the recipient.  I love that they are pretty inexpensive to make and super easy to throw together. 

You can print for free the round red and green labels that I used if you'd like to use them for your own hot cocoa gifts.  All you need to do is right-click the image and save it to your computer.  Then, print and cut.  I find that using cardstock paper works best.  (If you didn't want to create the full top fold-over labels as I did, you could use some cute ribbon or raffia to simply tie off the bags ... and maybe attach a little gift tag to the ribbon.  The ones below can be used with ribbon, too.  Simply use a paper punch to cut a hole in the label.)

You can click HERE for more of my FREE holiday printable labels and gift tags.  They're great for presents or homemade goodies.

NOTE:  Both the large and small party favor bags needed for this project can usually be found in the cake decorating section at stores like, Wal-Mart and Target or at any craft store.  They cost around $1 - $2 for each package.

Festive Holiday Buckeyes

 

Most of us know and love this holiday classic.  I spruced things up a bit by adding on some holiday-colored sprinkles and decorating sugar.  Not only does adding edible "bling" to these buckeyes give them a much-need pop of color, it, also, helps to cover up the hole left behind on the top of the buckeye by the toothpick used for dipping.

And, I love the variety of mini cupcake/candy papers that can be found these days.  They really jazz things up and I know these will add a touch of festive flair to my Christmas platters this year!

Yields about 6 dozen buckeyes.

FREE Printable Christmas Gift Tags

Happy Holidays to all of my friends here at Joyously Domestic!  I've created some FREE printable gift tags for you to use and enjoy this Christmas season.  They can simply be attached to wrapped gifts and packages, but are, also, so adorable hung with string or ribbon from homemade treat containers or mason jars filled with goodies.  Print and use as many as you'd like.

Just right-click the image(s) you'd like to use.  Save to your computer and print.  They are created in high-resolution jpeg format.  Just be sure to print as a full-page.  For personal use only.

Thirty-Minute Cheesy Broccoli & Cauliflower Soup

I stumbled upon a recipe on Yammie's Noshery for a copycat version of Panera Bread's cheesy broccoli soup. Their soup has always been my favorite there, so I was overly thrilled to try an at-home version. However, I wanted to incorporate some cauliflower into the soup, so I replaced half of the broccoli called for in the recipe with cauliflower - simple as that. {Just broccoli can be used if desired.}

 

I had my littlest one, Ayvah, home sick from school recently. She and I spent the morning curled up watching Christmas cartoons. When she was up and feeling a little better in the early afternoon, she wanted to get out her coloring books. So, I got busy in the kitchen whipping up a batch of this soup and getting out some frozen rolls to rise. Since dinner was still a couple of hours away, I transferred the prepared soup to my slow cooker and kept it on the warm setting. I was so proud of myself - it was only three o'clock and I had dinner done, blog photos of the soup taken and everything cleaned up. Score one for mom.

What I love most about this soup is that it, literally, takes all of thirty minutes from start-to-finish to make.  I was blown away at how easy and quick this recipe is. And, the taste did not disappoint. Sometimes something that claims to be a copycat recipe really doesn't turn out to taste much like the original. This one tasted just like Panera Bread's broccoli soup {just with a little cauliflower thrown in}.  The only thing I will do differently next time {and there WILL be a next time} is make a double batch.

Yields 4 servings.