Happy New Year to you all! 🎉✨

It has officially been a full year of ValeCooks! This past year, I set myself a rather ambitious goal: to try 7 new recipes each week 🗓️, totaling 365 recipes for the year. I’ve been tracking my recipe experiments in Google Sheets since 2020. Here’s how the journey has looked so far:

• 2020: 91 recipes

• 2021: 255 recipes

• 2022: 173 recipes

• 2023: 188 recipes

This year, I aimed for 365—and as I reviewed my Google Sheet, I realized I made 468 recipes in 2024! I surpassed my goal by over 100 recipes! 🎉👩‍🍳

A Year of Cooking Adventures

I tested 7 or more recipes during 50 of the 52 weeks this year. There was only one week I didn’t cook because I was road-tripping from Munich, Germany, to Trieste, Italy, and back 🚗🍝. The other missed week, I got through six recipes but was sidelined by a headache on the final day.

This was truly a year of cooking, and I loved every moment of it. Cooking these recipes brought so much joy into my life—hosting get-togethers, bringing treats to family, having little cousins over to eat, countless sessions cooking with my mom, and even a few cooking days with friends. I attended two cooking classes, and I hope to take even more this year! 🍳💛

By the Numbers

As an avid library user, I checked out 106 cookbooks this year 📚. Of all the recipes I made, 17% came directly from those cookbooks! Even without social media, 10% came from TikTok and Instagram (special shoutout to my sister for sending me links 🫶).

This was also a year of many firsts in the kitchen. Here are just a few highlights:

• This was my first time making gnocchi from scratch, Cheez-Its, chamoy (so good!), mochi, toffee, almond milk, pasta, layered cakes (big hit!), and homemade ice cream (using both an ice cream maker and Ninja Creami).

I’ve always gravitated toward sweets, but my sweet-to-savory ratio wasn’t as lopsided as I expected this year. 40% of recipes were savory, while 60% were sweet.

• 31% were desserts—back then, that percentage would’ve been much higher!

• Most Cooked Categories:

  • 9% pasta 🍝

  • 7% frozen treats 🍦

  • 7% cookies 🍪

  • 4% salads 🥗

Top Recipe Sources

A total of 60% came from unique recipe creators I hadn’t cooked from this year. The remaining 40% came from repeat sources, and these are my top 10:

1. America’s Test Kitchen – 17 recipes (still obsessed!)

2. NY Times Cooking – 14 recipes

3. Feel Good Foodie – 14 recipes

4. Smitten Kitchen – 11 recipes

5. Food Network – 10 recipes

6. Pizca de Sabor – 10 recipes

7. Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) – 9 recipes

8. BROCC YOUR BODY – 9 recipes

9. Run Fast. Eat Slow. – 9 recipes

10. Sprouted Kitchen – 8 recipes

This year, I wrote 42 posts, breaking down the recipes into three categories:

• 9% fell under “Impress Someone” 🌟

• 31% fell under “Would Make Again” 👍

• 60% fell under “Would Not Make Again” 👎

Reviewing my spreadsheet and recapping this year has been so much fun. It’s incredible to see everything I’ve cooked, learned and shared.

Next week, I’ll share my goals for the upcoming year. I can’t wait to tell you what I’ll be trying in 2025—it’s going to be another exciting year in the kitchen!

Thank you so much for your support this year. 💛 If you know someone who might enjoy this newsletter, please share it with them.

Cheers to a wonderful New Year! 🥂🍴

I ended the last week of the year hosting five of my younger cousins and my twin brother for a gaming, Christmas cooking, homemade ice cream, and Costco pizza party. 🍕🍦For the first time, I used my ice cream maker to make three ice creams from scratch, and I also pulled out the Ninja Creami to make a non-dairy ice cream for one of my cousins. We did individual tastings, where everyone had a spoonful of each flavor, then chose their favorite to enjoy. Everyone went back for seconds! 🥄✨ I also made two more NY Times Christmas cookies. 🎄🍪

Recipes Made This Year:

Goal: To try seven new recipes each week 🗓️, aiming for 365 this year!

 Number of Recipes Made this Week: 8 ✅

Number of New Recipes Tested as of 12/29: 468🌟

Weeks Achieving Seven or More New Recipes: 50 out of 52

This Week’s Recipe Test Summary

Impress Someone🌟

Nothing this week.

Would Make Again 👍

Vanilla Cherry Cashew Granola from BROCCYOURBODY 🍒🥄
Quick and easy to make—and on the healthier side!

Ginger Cheesecake Cookies from NYTimes Cooking by Samantha Seneviratne 🍪🧀
My cousins devoured these and even took more home! They’re on the sweeter side, but the cream cheese adds a nice balance.

Easy Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream from allrecipes  🌿🍦
Two of my cousins requested mint chip ice cream, so I found this highly-rated recipe and gave it a try. I’d never order mint chip at an ice cream shop, but I actually enjoyed this one! Just make sure your chocolate chips are super small for easier bites.

Best Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream from Joy Food Sunshine  🍫🍦
My cousin who requested this flavor is usually very picky about chocolate ice cream but really liked it! My twin brother and another cousin weren’t fans, though, so I’d say this one is more for serious chocolate lovers—two of my cousins loved it.

3-Ingredient Ninja Creami Lemon Sorbet by Wendy Polosi 🍋✨
This was a bit too lemony for me (it uses four lemons with zest!), but my cousins thought it was refreshing and really enjoyed it. Saving this one for another visit!

Would Not Make Again 👎

These recipes didn’t live up to expectations or weren’t to my taste

Sugared Cranberries from BROCC YOUR BODY 🍬
I made these for Christmas because I have fond memories of sugared cranberries from a college potluck. My family liked them but thought the sugar was too visible, so I’ll try a different version next time.

Cranberry Jam from @samanthainperson | Instagram Reel ✨
It was good, but it didn’t excite anyone at Christmas.

Eggnog Snickerdoodles from NYTimes Cooking by Vaughn Vreeland 🍪🎄
I thought the rum extract tasted too artificial and overpowering.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, or any recipe requests you might have. Just respond directly to this email.

See you next week. Keep cooking! 👋 

Vale from ValeCooks