My 2021 Favourites

Hi!! Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful time and stayed safe!

Things were a bit complicated this year for my family, but I still managed to whip up something special. Behold:

I spent hours planning this and admittedly might also have scored higher on my game theory exam, but it was worth it.

Now that the festivities are over, I figured it would be a good time to reflect on 2021.

To start, 2021 has gone by in a blur. I don’t think I’m alone in feeling that 2020-2021 is a long blur… with that said, I thought I’d share some of 2021’s highlights.

Favourite Recipes

Homemade Smoked Salmon– Smoked salmon is one of my favourite foods. I take pride in improvising kitchen equipment and this one really takes the cake. It turned out better than I could ever have imagined
Reverse seared pork chops– Recipe compliments of Serious Eats. It is the method I used to make that beauty pictured above. It is a fool proof, science backed guide. Note: There are a LOT of guides to reverse searing, but I have to pay homage to Serious Eats. It was Kenji who inspired me to start my food blog in the first place.
Stuffed Duck Head– Presentation and technique have never been my strong suit. Successfully deboning and stuffing a duck head was somewhat of a “crowning achievement” of sorts. Definitely not an everyday (or everyone) thing, but I’m really proud of this

Favourite Moments:

Acing the final for my intro pure maths class- Since my friend (that one) encouraged me to do diff EQ, I’ve been striving to do more maths. I took this Spring 2021. It’s a notoriously difficult class. Fortunately, the professor was amazing and I worked really hard. Even so, I did not expect a 99
Returning back to school- … enough said…
Receiving this letter from the professor I was an RA for

The professor who sent the letter is very highly regarded. I honestly did not expect to be able to meet him at all, much less be in a position to get a recommendation from him One step closer to grad school!

Favourite Entertainment:

Great British Menu (BBC produced, on Amazon Prime)- This show is phenomenal- The chefs push really push the bondaries, show the thought process behind dishes and really inspired me. Most of the shows I “watch” are played in the background as I do busywork. I paid close attention to every minute of this.
Russian Pop Music- I’m not a music person. The biggest issue I have with most English and Chinese music is the cringeworthy lyrics. Enter… Russian pop. Most of the songs are pretty bad, but it’s fun to bop along and see what crazy things show up in the music videos.

What were the highlights of your year?

I’ll be back (very) soon with a New Years post