My 2023: A year with twists and turns

Hi there! I’m back shortly to write this closing post for the year of 2023.

This year, I celebrated two-year anniversary of the blog in the most stressful year of my degree. I want to thank you all for supporting me and this homie blog, where I express my profound interest in cooking, especially the comfort food. Every views, every likes, every follows, every comments meant so much to me. To be honest, you’ve given me the motivation to continue sharing the recipes, the experience from a point of view of a far-from-home international student. Even recently, I haven’t shared much due to my current priority in preparation for graduation, seeing random visits to the page brought me the joy to the soul and brightened my day. And I promise to myself, when I complete my degree, this blog is the safe place that I will return to. In the meantime, please be patient with me.

My 2023 filled with more academic activities than recipes, even though I cooked and created new recipes regularly. This year noted a maturity in my thought process: think as a future chemist, on-point suggestions or considerations for any hypotheses and experiments that would be performed. There were some moments that I was proud of myself for sharing the same ideas as my supervisor. I had the honor to present my work in 02 important conferences in Chemistry and worked nonstop for the preparation of several manuscripts of which I would be the first author. My graduation is also approaching and I am in the process of job searching. With that, the stress and anxiety have bottled up in me, to the point that I felt uneasy when things did not go as planned (even it was a tiny, minor issue), and I could not sleep peacefully even with the help of sleeping aid. How am I going to cope with this? Well… good food is the key, and cooking is my therapy session.

My 2023 also marked an important moment in my life: founding my own family. We tied the knot in February, in a courthouse wedding with the presence of my in-laws. The party/reception aspect of our wedding is going to happen later, when both of us graduate from schools and have a good job. Even that we have not experienced wedding to the fullest (ceremony + reception), our marriage is still filled with romances and joys. We gave each other a place called home: filled with love, with the aroma of good food, with curiosity, with humors, with comforts, with gossips and deep talks before bedtime. I am thankful for that.

My 2023 also included several heart-warming recipes from my hometown: Vietnamese crab udon-style noodle soup (Bánh canh cua), Vietnamese beef stew (“Bò Kho”), and Vietnamese beef and tomato soup with rice noodles (Bún Bò Sáo Răm). Those dishes were savory and nutritious, and they relived the memories with friends, families whenever I had them.

My Thanksgiving of 2023, I had the pleasure to cook the savory beef stew for my in-law family on the dinner before Thanksgiving, and the fact that everyone all enjoyed and complimented it warmed my heart so much. I also improved my baking skills with different pies: pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and key lime pie. I created a dairy-free version of the traditional pumpkin pie so that my mother-in-law could enjoy it to her heart content. And my father-in-law declared that my pecan pie was the best he’s ever had. All of these thoughtful gestures motivated me to expand further and polish my cooking/baking.

Christmas and New Year’s Eve are coming near! I wish the best to all of you and your beloved ones. Cheers!

Once again, thank you for supporting me and my little cooking blog.