Happy Anniversary to ME!!!

I am so excited to say it is my ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of Stirring Up A Dream!!!! To make my celebration even more exciting, today also marks my 100 post!! These are two huge feats for me.

If you asked me 1 year ago today where this blog would be I wouldn't have had a concrete answer. My original reason for starting this was to cook outside the box, literally! (By box, I meant pasta box.) I knew the idea of the blog would stick for a while, but like most things, I assumed this would fall to the wayside. Well, here I am! 1 year and 100 posts in. I've had some amazing dishes and some pretty funny failures, but each and every new dish has made me a better cook. It's made me more aware of what you can do with a little butter here or heavy cream there. Things I never knew how to do a year ago have become second nature to me. It's such an incredible feeling for me. Every time I try out a new dish, I expand my horizons and cannot wait to continue to do so. I'd love to take a look back at my top ten favorite dishes...which by the way have been so hard to pick since EVERY time I make something, that becomes my new fave.

Before I can share my favorites with you, I want to take a moment to remember some of the best blunders. How about the time my Chicken Adobo recipe called for 15 cloves of garlic, and stupid me bought 15 HEADS because I didn't know the difference. Ooops! That garlic sure lasted a long time. Then there were the infamous shallots! For over 6 months, I thought shallots and scallions were the same thing! Not so much! And after trying the REAL shallots, I fell in love and cook with them all the time. There were countless overcooked steaks, and one steak relish that caught my pan on fire, my overly BBQ'd blue cheese burgers and most recently my fried rice, gone rice crispies. I'm sure there will be many more to come in the next year, so be sure to check back.

Anyway... on to the best!

10) Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

9) Chicken Cordon Blue - Italian Style

8) Tortellini with Peas and Pancetta


7) Spicy Corn, Mac & Cheese Hot Dog

6) S'more's Bars


5) Greek Turkey Meatballs

4) Scallops in Shallot Wine Sauce


3) Caramel S'more Brownies

2) Baked Potato Soup

1) Honey-Mustard Chicken with Apples

THANK YOU TO ALL MY FRIENDS, FANS AND FAMILY FOR ALL OF YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT!!