As I look back on the past year, I’m reminded just how unique it was for me. This was my first full year working on cookbooks full time. It was honestly one of the best choices I’ve made for myself. I actually have free weekends and I’ve been steadily improving my photography skills by devoting more time for learning and testing new techniques. It was also the 10 year anniversary of my blog! I did a full post about that, which you can check out here. I’m looking forward to the next year and hope it’s as much of an opportunity to grow as this past year has been.
My cookbook efforts have been incredibly successful this past year. Many of these projects were already done before the year started, but I’m so happy to see people cooking from the Halo, Pokemon, and God of War cookbooks. I did a large post going into details about each project which you can check out for more information on each. On top of all those announced this year, I have several projects that I’ve worked on this year. The only one that has been announced so far is The Way of the Househusband: The Gangster’s Guide to Housekeeping. This is the first project I have worked on with Viz. I was super excited when they reached out to me about working on the recipe section of the book. The Way of the Househusband is one of my all-time favorite manga and to be able to cook the recipes that Tatsu comes up with was a dream come true. Look forward to many more announcements next year.
Looking forward to my plans for next year, I’m reminded how this past year was also a bit of an odd one. Updates to the site were a bit more bare than usual. I’ve been pretty swamped with projects and finding the time to do weekly posts has been difficult. I am going to make a larger effort to make sure there is at least 1 new recipe on the site each month. I have a backlog of items I’ve already made but the writing is often what slows me down. I already do a ton of writing with the books and often my brain is like, “No thank you! No more.” I will be making sure next year to schedule a day that is purely for blog write ups, photography, and planning each month. I think doing that will make for a better schedule and more regular posts.
Something I’m sure many of you have noticed is that I’ve not streamed since August. I did a bit of reflecting this year and realized streaming was causing me a large amount of stress. The set up, planning, and then making sure to have a regular schedule was a bit much each week. With all the projects I’m working on, I already spend 40 hours a week on that. And as I’ve mentioned before, one of the major goals for me when I swapped to doing this full time was to make sure I did not overwork myself and kept my weekends and evenings free. After a lot of reflecting and talking with Jeff about it, I decided I will no longer be streaming. I did enjoy my time with it but felt like the negatives started outweighing everything else.
I already have many things spinning up and will continue to be just as busy next year. For now let’s take a look back at this past year’s highlights.
Best Video Game with Food: Harvestella
I only played the demo of this game and I’m still unsure if I’m going to pick it up, but the food in this game is stellar. Each drawing is so over the top beautiful and the ingredient list for each recipe has kept in mind what would be needed in the real world to actually make this dish. These are things I always appreciate in games. I have a few on my list to make and if all goes to plan, that will be one of the first posts for next year.
Runner Ups: Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons
Coolest Gaming Experience: Playing through Tunic
Jeff and I have really started enjoying playing puzzle games over the years. We will sit on the couch, with a notebook, and both work on solving all the mysteries to get us through the game. Tunic was one of the more unique experiences we had with this. I adored how the game was put together and the slow trickle of information that was given to build up the whole experience. Going through the game I was just excited to see what secrets we would be able to find and what information we could figure out on our own. There were many times when we realized something and were just surprised how clever the developers were in hiding information in plain sight. I can’t really go into too much detail about the game because I feel like the discovery of things is the best part of this game, but I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a new game to play.
Best New Restaurant of the Year: Porto’s Bakery & Cafe (Los Angeles)
This year Jeff and I actually started checking out a handful of new restaurants (all with outdoor patios). I know this is a category that has been missing these past few years, but I think I can finally bring it back. My stand out of this year was Porto’s in Burbank, CA. Jeff and I went to grab some breakfast and pastries. I ended up grabbing a Cubano and it is easily the best one I’ve ever had. Also the croissants we grabbed from there were just amazing! If you find yourself in Los Angeles near a Porto’s please check it out.
Runner Ups: Johnnie’s Beef (Chicago), BiXi Beer (Chicago)
Favorite Recipe of the Year: NEO: The World Ends with You: Salty Lemon Ramen
Ramen is such a guilty pleasure of mine. It is a soup that I’m constantly learning more about, working on new recipes, and trying to improve every time I make a bowl. This recipe is one that really pushed my ramen making to the next level. A bowl of this is light while very filling at the same time. Each slurp has you wanting to go back for another. There are a lot of elements to prepare for this dish but I do think it is worth the effort. Once my cooking schedule clears up this will be one of the first recipes I make at the start of the year.
Runner Ups: FFVII Remake: Midgar Special, Guild Wars 2: Crispy Fish Pancakes
Game I Spent Too Much Time On: Final Fantasy XIV
Late last year Endwalker, the latest Final Fantasy XIV expansion, was released and I am still playing a lot of FFXIV to this day. If you’ve been reading this blog from the beginning, you know that I tend to have one MMO game that I’m actively playing. FFXIV is that comfort game that I can just turn on and always find something to do. I’ve played a lot of Doman Mahjong with friends, have dived into the party finder to do current savage raids (not P8S, don’t want that stress), been working on Ocean Fishing and PVP titles, and have just chilled with friends. It really is a game that just keeps on giving. The important thing is I still have a fun time with the game no matter what I’m up to. Sure, it has taken up the time I could be spending on other games but I can’t complain. If you ever see me in-game, don’t be afraid to say hi.
Runner Ups: Warame Mahjong in Judgment
Game of the Year: Live A Live
I will admit, a lot of my free time was spent playing FFXIV instead of new games. Jeff and I played through a few games together but my stand out for the year was Live A Live. I can’t really go into too much detail because I think the story is something you need to experience on your own. I can say that the gameplay was extremely enjoyable and each story has its own identity. Each of the segments are fairly short and could be enjoyed in a sitting or two. If you haven’t checked this game out, I highly recommend giving it a try.
Runner Ups: Tunic, Baba is You, Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons
Most Anticipated Game of 2022: Like A Dragon: Ishin!
Easy! And no one should be surprised. I’ve been wanting to play Ishin for years now. I even picked up a Japanese copy earlier this year to start playing. I’m happy I waited because when I saw this trailer, I yelled in excitement. Now there are several other titles that RGG Studios announced but this one has a solid date and is only 2 months away. I can’t wait to finally get my hands on the game.
Runner Ups: Baldur’s Gate 3, FFXVI, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, All the other announcements from RGG Studios
That bowl of Salty Lemon Ramen looks amazing. Congratulations on your busy and productive past year! Here’s hoping that 2023 is even better.