(Personal) Best of 2013: Best Recipe

Our final Best of 2013 post goes to the recipe we thought was our personal best of the year. It had to come entirely from us - not a Secret Recipe Club post, or a French Fridays with Dorie post, or an adapted recipe, but one we came up with ourselves. We had many this year, and most of them we created in the first half of the year. This isn't surprising, as we were away most of the summer and this fall has been pretty crazy busy. 

Anyway, we narrowed it down to a few. The Pork and Chipotle Pozole was a warm and hearty dish we really enjoyed back in February. April's Yellow Curry Shrimp was excellent but we didn't make the sauce from scratch, so we didn't think it should take first place. Our Potato, Leek and Celeriac Gratin was decadent indeed, but, alas, not quite as good as our Best Recipe of 2013. 

That honor goes to our incredible New Orleans-inspired brunch dish, Bacon, Egg and Cheese Bread Pudding. We could devour that daily. 

(Personal) Best of 2013: Best Post

After some discussion, we decided that our "best" post of 2013 should be our most popular one. The logic behind it is that those who viewed it may want to view it again, and those who missed it might want to check it out. So there you have it. The thought process of A Couple in the Kitchen. We used Blogger Stats to determine the outcome, and therefore, our personal Best Post of 2013 is Golden Cinnamon Buns for Secret Recipe Club.

(Personal) Best of 2013: Best Photo

The last three posts of our Ten Best of 2013 will involve some self-critiquing. We are going to pick personal bests from our blog, and the first one is our Best Photo. We feel our photos have definitely come a long way since we started this blog back on New Year's Day 2008 (Wow! Six years!), and we took quite a few great shots this year. But the best one, we think, is this one of "Egg Pappardelle with Arugula, Leeks and Proscuitto." That dish is almost too pretty to eat. What do you think?

Best of 2013: Best Use of Leftovers

The best use of leftovers for 2013, or for that matter, for all time, is...Stuffing Waffles. While we may still be in a post-holiday food coma, just thinking about these makes us our tummies growl and our minds drift to next Thanksgiving. 

Best of 2013: Best Drink of the Holiday Season

As we head into 2014, we wanted to take some time to reminisce about some of the best foodie discoveries and experiences of the past year.  And Amy, for one, would like to start with the Best Drink of the Holiday Season. That winning drink is the "Holiday Upside Down Cake," and it's made with an in-house made Onyx Moonshine Holiday Spice Infusion shaken with pineapple juice and a drop of cherry juice. Think pineapple upside-down cake in a chilled martini glass. It. Is. Dangerously. Delicious. And it was created at the Best New Bar of 2013...The Hidden Still.