Nessa's Family Kitchen Foodie Highlights of 2011

I hope you are looking forward to 2012, I know I certainly am. A new year always comes with the prospect of  new opportunities and I'm looking forward to sharing my new year foodie  adventures with all of you.
Thank you for your loyal support in 2011 and here are some of my foodie highlights for this year.

In January I started to write for The Westmeath Independent. I love writing for the paper as there are many locals who read my column and cut out my recipes that don't have access to the blog. It makes me very proud when someone taps me on the shoulder to say they've tried out one of my recipes.
In March I was completely blown away by winning the Best Newcomer at the Irish Blog Awards. I also got to interview the lovely Donal Skehan while he was recording locally, one of the episodes of Kitchen Hero.

In April I was contacted by the very lovely Emma Parkin, who is the editor of Easy Parenting and she asked me to become their family food expert. This was a great compliment and something that I was so thrilled to be involved with. Also in April I was invited to a very fancy afternoon tea at The Westbury for the launch of Donal's book, Kitchen Hero. A lovely afternoon was spent with some great blogger friends.
In May I entered a recipe competition on TV3. I got to appear twice on Ireland AM and thanks to all who voted I won the competition and went on to do a cookery demo at Taste of Dublin with the lovely Edward Hayden last June. What an amazing experience for both myself and Jack (who was by my side for all the action!).
Also in May I had a really enjoyable evening at The Wineport Lodge in Glasson. A star studded night all in aid of The Irish Heart & Irish Kidney Foundation and the menu was very impressive.
In June I got to demonstrate at the fabulous food festival, Totally Tipperary It was a really great event and I got the opportunity to meet up with many amazing food producers. The demonstration was broadcast live on the Internet which was very exciting. Another important demonstration that I did in June was  for Mount Temple N.S. This is where the boys go to school and even though they have seen me at cookery demos on many occasions they were never so interested, or proud, than when I was cooking in front of their friends.

In July I got the chance to head to Cavan for some work experience at MacNean House with the amazing Neven Maguire. A fantastic experience and one that has proved a great help when I've been putting together new recipes.
Each September I organise a coffee morning, in aid of The Hospice. I'm delighted to say that this year's was my most successful yet, making €640.
I love meeting up with other foodies and in September we were treated to a day of food styling & photography tips at Bord Bia. Later in the month I was asked to contribute to Moate Culture Day. I decided to organise a cookalong here on the blog. On that note I must record a few new video recipes for 2012!
In October I was invited along to a fantastic day out at Kinnitty Castle to go Mushroom Foraging. What fun we had and actually learnt quite a bit about mushrooms.
In November I had the best meal out for the year at Druid's Glenn Resort in Wicklow. It was just scrumptious! November and December are always busy times for me as I run my annual Christmas Cookery Demos. This year's went wonderfully and I loved meeting up with some of the ladies who follow this blog.

This December I was delighted to be asked by Eumom.ie to do some blogging on their wonderful parenting site. So I will be writing up some new posts over there in the next few weeks.

Thanks for reading the blog over the past year. I have had so many wonderful experiences and I love to write about them here and share them with you.Your queries, comments and e-mails are so appreciated and make my experience as a blogger more enjoyable. Best Wishes for the year ahead.

Nessa x