Gimme Some Oven

top nine of ’09!!!

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Ok, I know I’m exactly a week late posting this. But still wanted to celebrate some of the fun of my first year — well, six months actually — of GimmeSomeOven-ing!

Goodness. It’s crazy to realize it was just six months ago that I spontaneously decided it would be fun to start a food blog. You know…just a new “little” project… :)

Immediately brought the idea to the guys in my band, who were stoked to help brainstorm a name for it. We came up with a few possibilities (the early favorite was “Chef Girl RD”), but it wasn’t until our keyboardist matter-of-factly declared “Gimme Some Oven!”….that the blog was born. :)

6 months later…..95 posts later (holy cow!)…..a new camera later (Craigslisted in two old digital point-and-shoots for a used DSLR that I had no idea how to work – thanks Jeff!)…..realizing that I knew pretty much nada about web design (a zillion thanks to another Jeff, my brother-in-law, for his WordPress brilliance and endless help in launching/maintaining the site)…..and of course, many delicious meals (and a few not-so-delicious attempts!) later….

Here we are. :)  Without a doubt, the best surprise of this entire endeavor has been getting to meet so many of you! Ha…pretty sure I naively thought that the only people who would ever see this blog were my friends, family, and possibly some of my Facebook crew. The fact that my little recipes are now viewed around the world absolutely boggles. my. mind. Totally humbling. But totally sweet. :)

So thanks for your support, your great comments, and for continuing to give my recipes a try! Here are some of the favorites of ’09 to wrap up the year. Hope you enjoy them.

Cheers to another year of great food — and more importantly, great memories made in the process — in ’10!

1. Rum Cake

2. Chipotle Chicken Cups

3. Best Chicken Enchiladas Ever

4. S’mores Pops

5. Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

6. Blueberry Zucchini Bread

7. Cocoa-and-Chili-Rubbed Pork Chops

8. Cherry, Almond & White Chocolate Biscotti

9. Oreo Truffles (Snowballs)

Share this Post

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

12 comments on “top nine of ’09!!!”

  1. I can’t believe your blog is so young yet! It’s definitely one of my favorites.

  2. And we are so glad you decided to start a blog, it’s one of my favorites!

  3. I wonder how many of your readers would have ever guessed that you’ve only owned a DSLR camera for 6 months! You are a gifted artist and it shows in your photography and your recipes. Best wishes for a happy, healthy 2010!

  4. Ditto to The Nervous Cook… what a fantastic blog! I’ve loved reading your posts, one would never know (I didn’t) that you’d just started this year! Congrats. Now I’m going to go make that rum cake…

  5. I just started reading your blog a few weeks ago after I saw your S’mores pops on the front page of tastykitchen. I’m thrilled to have found you and can’t express enough how many kudos I got for making your chipotle chicken cups. woohoo! ♥ You’re doing an excellent job, and I’m excited to see what you’ll post in the future. Happy 2010!

  6. Yum. Everything looks wonderful. I think it was the s’mores pops that brought me here too. : )

  7. Thanks for the hard work Ali! I love your blog too. I glance at it at least once a day to discover some new deliciousness you’ve made for us to try out :) Happy 2010!

  8. I really love checking out your blog for new food & photos, keep up the great work!

  9. Congratulations, Ali! Over 90 posts already? You are prolific! And they’re all quality.

  10. I recently discovered your blog through a friend of mine and love it! As a student I am always looking for healthy, delicious and relatively easy to make recipes that don’t kill my budget. Your blog has become my go to place for all of the above, please keep posting and happy 2010! :)

  11. Ali,

    Your website is amazing! I tried out your Cocoa-Chili Chops the other day… SO GOOD! I’m going to try out the Chipotle Chicken Won-Tons later this week! And hopefully I’ll get around to the Rum Cake at some point… WOW!

    Anyway, gotta say… actually knowing someone with a food blog (as opposed to all the other food blogs out there) seems to inspire me more than ANYTHING!!! Knowing that someone I know, someone I went to school with, can actually do all that–cook like that, makes me want to try to do better w/different recipes!

    OH, and as always, your pictures are fantastic! You need to post how you “learned” all that, since you said you didn’t know anything when you started! Your pics look like they could be published in a book… they are award worthy! Gotta know your secret… aside from natural lighting!!!!

    Anyway, keep it up! Enjoying it as always!

    Jennifer (Hadsall) Elitzin
    :D