You've all been busy this year: writing articles and poetry, creating collections, taking photos, and sharing, testing, and voting for recipes. We love that you're never shy about sharing your opinions with us and we can't get enough of the way you make us laugh. You're always ready to support us and celebrate with us -- simply put, you're the best around.
Does it sound like we're writing a personal ad? We're okay with that -- we're secure enough with ourselves to embrace our mushy sides and tell you that you're our lobster. Here are some of our favorite moments with the Food52 community from the past year:
- We were over the moon when longtime Food52er Louisa Shafia's book The New Persian Kitchen won the 2014 Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks.
- Hanging out together at the best Monday night gathering of the year -- The Piglet Party -- made all other Mondays pale in comparison.
- For a few glorious weeks we enjoyed reading all of your thoughtful reviews of the Piglet Community Picks (and we're thrilled to see how excited you are to get going on the 2015 Community Picks).
- Okay, really just absolutely everything related to the Piglet is a highlight.
- We couldn't be more excited that Executive Editor Kristen Miglore’s James Beard Award-nominated Genius Recipes column is now a book (well, almost). She's packed it full of greatest hits from the column and some never before featured recipes -- and a number of the dishes are sourced from tips from all of you.
- Molly Yeh taught us how to make a funfetti cake, Dunkaroos, a gingerbread farm, and more. Oh, and she also hosted Sam Sifton and a NYT video crew at her farm and taught them how to make lefse. We're in awe.
- Cathy Barrow (a.k.a. MrsWheelbarrow) published Mrs. Wheelbarrow's Practical Pantry: Recipes and Techniques for Year-Round Preserving. We're smitten with it (and your supportive comments), but it's not just us -- everyone under the sun is in love with this beautiful book. Have you seen a gift guide -- any gift guide -- this season? This book is on all of them.
- We were so thankful when Ben Mims taught us how to crack and use a whole coconut and even more thankful that he gave Southern desserts a fresh update in his new book Sweet & Southern (a 2015 Piglet Community Pick!). Plus, it's impossible not to love anyone who says: "It makes me want to stab my eyes out when people say they can't bake."
- Product Manager Michael Hoffman stopped coding long enough to write a piece that had us all doing fist pumps in the office.
- Winnie Abramson (a.k.a. WinnieAb and the savior of what to do with Thanksgiving turkey leftovers) published One Simple Change -- a book to help us eat well, in every sense of the word.
- We eagerly awaited the results of your vote for the color of the market tote collaboration with MZ Wallace and the patterns on the reversible can and beer koozies, both of which helped shape the final products available in our shop.
- Longtime Food52er Michael Dietsch (a.k.a. adashofbitters) released the book Shrubs: An Old Fashioned Drink for Modern Times and shared a wintry shrub with us, plus five ways to use it.
- Little BIG Books was successfully funded on Kickstarter, and one of the books -- OINK VS MOO -- is written by our beloved thirscheld, who's been with us since the beginning -- and with all of you many Sundays for Sunday Dinners.
- On a daily basis, you all come to the rescue of fellow cooks in need of advice on the Hotline, and this summer we assigned ourselves the very difficult task of choosing one person every month to recognize for their thoughtful, helpful participation.
- It's a highlight every single time we get you see you in person (and then force you to take photos with us), as we did here with mrslarkin, gingerroot, and fiveandspice.
- For nearly five years, every Monday Jennifer Steinhauer (a.k.a. Jenny, a.k.a. Jestei) shared fellow Food52ers' recipes that are perfect for cooking on busy weeknights. This summer she said farewell, but only after consoling us with recipes from her new book Treat Yourself: 70 Classic Snacks You Loved as a Kid (and Still Love Today).
- Hundreds of you participated in the fourth annual Holiday Secret Swap, with Food52ers across the country -- and around the world -- swapping homemade goodies and regional treats.
While we didn't make every community member happy, we've tried our best, and it has been a wonderful year with all of you. Thanks for being a part of Food52.
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We're sure we haven't covered everything, so tell us: What were your favorite Food52 community moments this year?
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