I hate to be predictable, but it’s that day of the year when you’d be expecting to see some kind of top-10-review-highlights-resolution kind of post, and who am I to disappoint?
So c’mon, then, into the spudmobile, seat belts on and let’s zoom through 2009…
First stop, the Irish Blog Awards in Cork. Though it may have been a gloomy, recessionary kind of year for many, happily it was a very good year for the Spud, and not just because of this…
I can’t say that I objected much to being mentioned in the Irish Times either, and, later, having my own words in actual print in the Irish Independent Love Food Magazine. Result? One very happy and humbled Spud.
It’s not all about the glory though (yeah, right), there was glamorous foreign travel too (watch as the spudmobile takes to the air). In May, I scored some fancy potato peeling equipment (and lots more besides) at the International Food Blogger Conference (IFBC) in Seattle. In San Francisco, I ate bánh mì with Greg from Sippity Sup, ceviche and causa with LouAnn from Oyster Food and Culture, and at November’s Food Blogger Connect in London, I ate garlic with everyone.
Closer to home, there was a grand spudmobile excursion to the Organic Centre in Leitrim for their annual Potato Day, where I met Dave Langford, potato collector extraordinaire, and later got to see his impressive collection of spuds growing up at Lissadell House. I was also whisked down to see the Flahavan’s Oat Mill in November and have been on a diet of porridge ever since (it’s not all glamour, y’know). When not gallivanting, I was to be found in the garden, bravely squaring up to the slug barons and earning my purple heart of spudness.
And, of course, there was plenty of general eatin’ and drinkin’ in 2009.
I stopped off to meet tea tasters, winemakers and cocktail shakers and I raise a glass to them all.
I ate potatoes in their many shapes and many forms and loved my lessons in boxty from a real Irish mammy. Bord Bia, it seems, rather loved my mini cheese, potato and onion pies, while Saveur liked my salt-baked baby potatoes. My potato milkshake, though, was enough to strike fear into the heart of grown men. I can only assume that I must have been doing something right!
And, yes, there was lots more besides, but that is probably quite enough for one whirlwind tour.
Thank you all for joining me along the way and hope you’ll come along for the ride in 2010!
Happy new year!!! I still love that purple heart potato.
Happy New Year, Spud! I hope 2010 is all you ever dreamed of!
:) Breaks smiles my way…
jenn: Happy New Year to you too – that purple heart is one of my favourites too :)
Susan: Oh thank you and the same to you. Here’s hoping we get the chance to meet again sometime this year.
Chef E: :) – and when it comes time for the 2010 review, I’ll be able to add the fact that I had a poem written about me too!
Happy 2010 Spud! I wish you all the best for this new year!
Happy New Year! Sounds like you had an awesome 2009 and I can only imagine your fun will continue into 2010! :) Good luck and happy cooking.
What a great recap – and I have to say a culinary highlight for me was having not one but two lovely meals in your company – how am I going to top that in 2010?
French Cooking: …and likewise!
GrilledShane: thanks, I’m hoping 2010 will be every bit as good – hope it’s an excellent one for you too :)
OysterCulture: we’ll just have to get our thinking caps on to see how we can top that!
I’m so happy to have come along for the ride in 2009 and look forward to hanging on for dear life as The Daily Spud continues her lightspeed trajectory in 2010!
Wow, what an incredible year for both you and your blog! I am thrilled that I got to meet you and talk. Next time, I’m coming to Dublin!
And congratulations on winning that Purple Heart! You deserve it! Happy Happy 2010, darling, and let’s get together!
Tangled Noodle: I have the front passenger seat reserved for you ma’am :)
Jamie: …and I was so happy to have met you too – let’s do that again sometime for sure, you’re welcome here anytime!
Great, now I’m dizzy. ;) 2009 was, indeed, a fantastic year for you, DS. Here’s to an even more impressive 2010. Of course, I now feel like an underachiever. Here was my 2009:
1. Got kittens.
2. Managing to keep them alive.
I’d better get to work on 2010!
Ah but Jenni, don’t forget that you launched the new-and-improved onlinepastrychef, have been a real-life co-author and have helped countless hapless individuals with pie-crust certification and such. All of that and the kittens are still alive. Now that’s what I’d call a good year :)
I will add, however, that my verification words this time are “the creeper” – I’m not sure what exactly I’m supposed to read into that!