I had always wanted to actually cook through a cookbook and spurred by cookbook club, I did it not once, but twice this year.

Spurred on by the fact that I actually had to eat meals at home (we don’t believe that dining out whether indoor or outdoor is a good thing), I felt compelled to cook. Not to mention, it was always very stress-relieving. I look back and wonder…what meal could I create when I do invite people over? If I had a restaurant, what would it be? What would I bring to potlucks now, when it’s safe?

Here’s the ones that I remember:

Korean oxtail soup or Kkori Gomtang (done many many times whenever we found oxtail at a good price)

Yellow two-layer birthday cake with white cream cheese frosting

Cheddar biscuits

Chocolate chip cookies (made dough as gifts and for ourselves, realizing that it’s quite easy with a stand mixer!

Fried rice (multiple times)

Grilled onigri (as shown)

Charred shishito peppers (as shown, best discovery this year!)

(Attempted) tamago (as shown)

Plum torte

Miso-marinated black cod

Milk bread

Mochi—plain, jam filled, toasted

Ozoni soup

Sourdough bread (many times for ourselves and as gifts)

Chocolate bread like at Cheesecake Factory

Raisin bread

Dutch baby—mostly sweet versions with apples and a savory version with greens and meat

Chili, both meat and meatless versions

Pasta of various forms with homemade spicy and non-spicy sauce

Potato hash with shishito peppers

Green bean chili bacon soup

Pear and apple galette

Bread pudding

Foccacia

Banana bread

Skillet cornbread

Dumplings. The one that I made it with anise, it wasn’t great. Better to stick with the tradditional pork and green onion

Khao Man Gai or Hainese Chicken, variations on cooking technique

Korean braised oxtail or Kkorijjim

Ramen with housemade shoyu eggs in shoyu broth

Korean fried chicken with fried basil

Tempura. Butternut squash. Mushrooms.

Japanese chicken and rice claypot

Japanese porridge with butternut squash

Butternut squash soup

Housemade chai

Many smoothies. Mostly banana, berries, orange, yogurt, and whatever milk product we have on hand

Sour cream and chive dumplings soup

Barley and orange salad with pistachios

Yakisoba with chicken

Bruschetta

Sourdough crumpets

Sourdough crackers

Zucchini bread

Mashed potatoes

Potato salad

Chicken tikka masala

Roast chicken