Top 14 Recipes of 2014

I am so happy. 2014 has been such a great year. I've been wedding planning. We moved back to Ohio (which was one of the best decisions I've ever made). And I've made some of my favorite recipes EVER this year.

So before we ring in 2015 (which I have a good feeling will be even better than 2014) let's take a look back on what all of your favorite recipes on this blog are to date, your favorite recipes of 2014, and MY favorite recipes of 2014!

Flourless Chocolate Cake

I've made my fair share of flourless chocolate cakes (and this one is still the best. Although the recipe I'm sharing today is a close 2nd!). And there's a reason.

They. are. pure. DECADENCE.

Another upside to flourless chocolate cake is how EASY it is to make but how impressive it seems! You can serve the cake super elegantly with garnishes, powdered sugar, etc. (to make a symbol on the top of the cake just cut out a shape with paper, place it on top of the cake, and then dust with powdered sugar. Remove the paper and voila'!) or you can just sit on the couch in your p.j.'s and eat it warmed up with some ice cream while you watch  Millionaire Matchmaker. Up to you, really.

The texture of this flourless chocolate cake is like the most moist and chocolatey chocolate cake you've ever had times a thousand. It's intensely dense and almost melts in your mouth. I also can't decide whether I like it best cold, room temperature, or warmed. They're all delicious!

Look....it's still the holiday season. We have a bit more time to enjoy parties and indulging before January 1st rolls around and we're all hitting the gym and only eating salads. So let's live up the rest of 2014 and make ourselves and our favorite people a flourless chocolate cake. I think 2014 deserves it. I think WE deserve it!

Something Saturdays-on a Friday (12/26/14)

Alright, let's rewind to last week: Michael and I went to NYC to visit and to see my cousin Emily. We get on the bus from the airport and what's the first thing that happens? Michael's wallet gets stolen (pick-pocketed).

Yepp.

I lived there for 6 years with no problems and I visit after moving away and Michael is immediately robbed. We filed a police report and canceled the credit cards (which had been used within 30 minutes of being stolen) and dealt with it. It's pretty much ok now...it was just SUCH a hassle and obviously extremely infuriating. But now I've been inside a NY "interview" room. So there's that.

Anyway we tried to move past it and enjoy our time. We did all the Christmas-y things and ate most of my favoritest foods and spent time with people we missed (including Susan and Mallory!) It was fun but....I am so happy we moved. I love our life now.

Then the holidays came upon us before we knew it! Tuesday was Michael's sister's birthday so we spent some time with his family and, since we were just going to be there again in the morning, we spent the night at our respective moms. Christmas Eve we spent the first half of the day with Michael's mom and his siblings (his youngest brother and sister had to go to their dad's on Christmas day) and then we went to my dad's parents for Christmas with them. That night we slept at our moms' again and spent the morning with my mom and brother. Then we headed over to Michael's stepmom's family, then we spent some time with Michael's dad and stepmom at their house, and theeeen we went to Youngstown for his mom's extended family. It was fun (and not as much traveling as it sounds--Michael used to go to a lot more places). We got some money, some socks, some DVD's, some gift cards, a gorgeous painting by Michael's sister, a frame for our wedding invite/a wedding photo, a pretty globe/nativity, and all kinds of other stuff! (Oh yeah...and a 50" TV from Michael's dad. That's pretty awesome, too :P) And Christmas isn't over yet! Tomorrow we'll celebrate with Michael's dad's family and then Sunday is my mom's family. Plus we're planning on trying to fit in some time with my bestie and also my cousin Emily while they're both in town for the holidays.

I hope you've had just as wonderful of a time with loved ones as I did!