Best of FOOD52 2011

2011 is coming to a close -- and boy, do we have a lot to show for it. Check out all that we've accomplished together this year, and pat yourselves on the back. Here's to many more!

We designed a network of community cooking sites for Whole Foods Market, starting with the first store in Rockville, MD and expanding to four regions.

We finished crowd-sourcing our second cookbook (which hits shelves October 2012!), with gems like Roasted Butterflied Chicken with Cardamom and Yogurt and Butternut Sage Scones.

The Perennial Plate and Detroit Dirt, a community composting initiative, teamed up for an urban gardening extravaganza on Detroit Dirt's farm. FOOD52er mariaraynal helped organize the event, which brought together almost twenty voluteers to help with the project. Read her recap here. 

Amanda won herself a James Beard Award for The Essential New York Times Cookbook. Since the very idea for FOOD52 grew out of Amanda & Merrill's work on this big, handsome book, the win is especially poignant -- we can all be grateful that this book is what brought us all together.

We published our first cookbook, The Food52 Cookbook, with 140 recipes vetted by our extraordinary community. More than 40 potlucks were thrown across the country in celebration. Out of 195 "Best Cookbooks of 2011" lists compiled by Eat Your Books, ours came in 4th overall!

As part of her winnings from our contest for Your Best Winter Late Winter Tart, FOOD52er lorigoldsby got the chance to make her gorgeous Tangerine and Almond Shortbread Tart on The Martha Show (with Martha Stewart herself as sous-chef!). Amanda & Merrill, of course, were there to cheer her on.

Food writer and FOOD52er Stacie Billis (One Hungry Mama) spearheaded the cookbook Peko Peko, a beautiful, hopeful cookbook whose proceeds went straight to GlobalGiving in support of Japan. Two of the 50+ recipes, timWuNotWoo's Misoyaki Roast Chicken with Shoyu Onion Sauce and Teri's Quick Cucumber and Shiso Pickles, are favorites right here on FOOD52.

We turned the FOOD52 Hotline into our first iPhone app, providing answers and guidance to thousands of home cooks all across the world. Food luminaries like Dorie Greenspan and Mollie Katzen joined in on the fun, too.

We expanded the FOOD52 Shop, bringing deals from our favorite producers and designers right into your kitchen.

FOOD52 got a spiffy new look, allowing all of you to interact more and discover more recipes, fellow cooks, and handy how-to videos than ever before.

We created our first iPad app, The FOOD52 Holiday Recipe & Survival Guide, with recipes and tips from you, plus video of Amanda & Merrill wrestling a gingerbread house, among other things.

Our ever-cheerful community pulled off FOOD52's first Secret Santa swap: a cross-country gift exchange organized by enbe, with over 100 FOOD52ers joining in.

Happy New Year -- thanks for making 2011 so much fun for us!