The Kittchen Turns 4!

Somehow, four years have passed since The Kittchen hit the internet. In that time, this site went from being a hobby to a career. I worked super hard this past year to get to the point where I could take the leap and blog full time, and I have loved every second of it! Here is a look back at the past year:

1. I still can’t believe that my friends and I made it onto the cover of Crains Chicago Business. Want to know how that happened? I was lucky that the reporter found my site and wanted to interview me, but when I got that email I stopped everything, picked up the phone, and called the reporter. Sometimes the early bird gets the worm, and in this case, it got my name on the cover of Crains.

2. I was happy to attend some amazing Chicago food events this year. I ate my way through the James Beard Awards, Chicago Food + Wine, Chicago Gourmet, Shedd BLU, the Windy City Smokeout, Oysterfest, Lollapalooza, and Kohler Food and Wine. I spend the majority of my time alone at home in my office writing, so getting out to socialize and eat is always a treat.

3. With my day job out of the picture, I finally had time to travel. Adding more travel content to this site has been a goal of mine, and now it’s happening! Charles and I took an epic trip to Europe, and a fun getaway to Kansas City. And in a couple of weeks my Mom and I are heading to Napa and Sonoma.

4. One of the things I am most proud of is the Windy City Blogger Collective, which has doubled in size in the past year! I am so proud of all of the members and I love working with my partner Erin on this project.

5. And OMG I met Jacques Pepin!

6. My lovely friend Amanda featured me on her podcast She Did It Her Way, and I was thrilled to hear that Forbes named She Did It Her Way as one of the 12 Podcasts for Entrepreneurs to listen to! You can listen here.

Now that I have recapped some of the exciting moments this site has had in the past year, let’s talk about some of my favorite recipes!

This Chocolate Pie with a Caramel Coated Pretzel Crust was a big hit at the Pie Party I threw for my friend Maya’s birthday.

I went through a phase where I was eating this Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Salad on repeat.

My friends and I hosted a couple virtual dinner parties, and this Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Butternut Squash, Goat Cheese, and Sage was one of my favorite recipes from the series.

My Bourbon Peach Pie was a fun summer recipe that Erin and I loved.

I love making brunch, and these Roast Pork Breakfast Tostadas are definitely worth making at home. Make my BBQ Pulled Pork first, and serve that in sandwiches, and use the leftovers for breakfast!

Have a great weekend everyone! I am excited to celebrate both my blog’s birthday, and my own birthday, since this blog was a birthday gift. Last year I celebrated my birthday at Alinea, and the year before that I was in Napa. This year I am going to brunch at Rural Society with my girl friends, and then have a low key dinner with Charles at Davanti Enoteca.

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to read The Kittchen. It is such a privilege to spend my days doing something that I absolutely love, and I am so excited to see what the next year has in store!

And if you want to celebrate with me – join me at the bar at Trencherman on Wednesday November 4th. I am creating the burger for their $10 burger and beer special that night!