A year ago, almost to the day, I started on the monkey trail with absolutely no pomp and circumstance whatsoever.  No photos, no facebook, no sharing, just notes about what I’d cooked – inspired by Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries I had no idea what a food blog was supposed to look like, and had in fact never read a single other food blog before starting my own. I’m not very good at keeping things to myself so  inevitably after a few months I told friends about the blog, started a facebook page and began the journey towards being something of an over-sharer. In those early months, despite being utterly sleep deprived and generally run ragged by life, I had endless blogenergy. I posted almost daily, I pinned things to pinterest, I read other blogs, I even introduced myself and the blog to people I thought might be interested. In short, I started to put myself out there. But just as keeping myself to myself isn’t me, then neither is putting myself out there.  I wrote this post about why I’m a lazy blogger, which kind of says it all. Now I’ve settled into a rhythm of writing to my own rules, without thinking about blogging, and suddenly I’m at the one year anniversary.

We’re also at the end of the year. Which isn’t really that much of a profound co-incidence when you consider the fact I began the blog on New Year’s Eve 2011.  And so for reflections and resolutions; 2012… it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. At times it nearly crushed me, and yet somehow I proved to be a surprisingly tough cookie. There was cake, cake, more cake. Chocolate consumption dramatically dropped, but was never ditched. The kids thrived, delighted, drove me to the edges of crazy on numerous occasions, and generally presented as ‘hungry’ at all times.

I will be sad to see the end of 2012,  the highlights were more than bright enough to carry us through the tougher times. That said, the last few months have been difficult and the optimism that comes with  the ushering in of a new year will be welcome.

And now, for yet another simple chicken dinner, perfect for the night before, the night before New Year’s Eve.

Ingredients 

Around 1kg of chicken pieces ( I used thighs and nibbles)

1 lemon

Several cloves of garlic (around 6) peeled and crushed

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Turmeric

Splash of balsamic vinegar

Handful of flat leaf parsley

Method

Put the chicken and garlic in a casserole dish, squeeze over the lemon and add to the dish, coat in a good shake of turmeric and slug of olive oil, salt and pepper. Cover and roast at around 180 for 40 mins – 1 hour. Bring onto the stovetop, uncover, and add a little balsamic vinegar,  reduce any excess liquid so you have a thick sticky sauce.

(Inspired by Nigel Slater’s Lemon / Basil / Garlic chicken from Real Food)