Today is the day.  The last day of the year.  The day to get my act together for Gardening 2012.  Since I already mapped out my garden, this mainly involved figuring out which plants to order from my chosen seed vendor and ordering my seed starting stuff. 

To rewind slightly, I’ve already planted 30 square feet of garlic.  Lance and I attempted to do this before Thanksgiving but I managed to forget how to walk down stairs thanks to our beautiful new wall and ended up in Urgent Care with a badly twisted ankle.  Art, Lance, and I all finally finished the planting of garlic on November 27th. 

Since I’m planning on doing Square Foot Gardening, I’m planning everything by the square foot.  I have 48 square feet to work with in my garden, 30 of which are taken up by garlic, and the remaining 18 will be taken up by various vegetables and herbs. 

My main trial with garden planning is the whole “need to start seeds inside” issue.  I have cats.  My cats like to eat plants, knock them off counters, etc.  I don’t have a place where I can set up a seed starting rig that would be safe from these kitties which limits my options significantly.  Hopefully House 2.0 will have some sort of garage.  Or spare room.  Or something. 

In the meantime, I needed to explore other options and, after research and talking with my awesome local farmers, I opted to try a mini outdoor greenhouse.  I might try it out inside first, but it will probably end up on the patio in the backyard.  I’m going to start seeds in peat pellets placed in old egg cartons and then transplant them when they’re ready.  Hopefully this will work out well! 

I also went ahead and ordered all of my seeds and transplants for the garden.  It’s quite the list.  I’ll include the number of square feet I’m planning for and any other notes below. 

I decided to try something slightly different and only compile stats for the previous 52 weeks of meal plans in these posts instead of compiling data since the beginning of the blog.  In theory, this should generate more movement as well as a more current list.  Much to my surprise, the list still didn’t change that much! However, it was interesting to see that most of these “most cooked recipes” were only cooked about 4 times in the entire year.  That’s pretty cool, I think! 

Since it’s the end of the year, I also included a list of the most popular recipes according to visitor counts.

Thanks to all of my visitors who have made this another great year of blogging for me.  I appreciate all of the hits and continue to enjoy this recipe-sharing hobby of mine!

Most Cooked Recipes
Mom’s Chicken
Bread
Tetrazzini
Amatriciana
Sweet Potato Fries
Aioli
Chicken Sancoche
Oven Fried Coconut Chicken and Rice
Hamburger Stroganoff
Pasta with Sausage, Basil, and Sundried Tomatoes

Neat New Recipes
Grilled Barbecued Chicken Kebabs

Most Popular Recipes in 2011
Slow Cooker Roast Chicken with Crispy Skin
Crunchy Potato Wedges
Slow Cooker Honey Roasted Chicken with Rosemary and Dijon
Pan-Seared Cod with Herb Butter Sauce
Roasted Potatoes with Pesto
Marjoram Chicken
Bacon Swiss Quiche
Slow-Roasted Eye Round Roast Beef
Smothered Yellow Squash and Zucchini with Chicken, Pasta, and Basil
Slow Cooker Lemon and Dill Salmon with Spinach

Just a bit of shifting in this month’s top ten.  I try to avoid making these dishes, but I don’t always succeed!  They are our favorites for good reasons, you see. 

I feel like I didn’t really to that much cooking this month so I was surprised to find seven neat new recipes that I wanted to give a shout-out to.  I guess I didn’t do too badly in the cooking realm during November after all. 

Most Cooked Recipes
Mom’s Chicken (I can't even remember the last time I cooked Mom's Chicken and this makes me sad.)
Bread
Tetrazzini
Sweet Potato Fries
Aioli
Chicken Sancoche
Enchiladas
Quiche
Pasta with Sausage and Sundried Tomatoes
Amatriciana

Neat New Recipes
Baked French Toast
Creamy Tater Tot Casserole
Greek Grilled Chicken Salad
Molten Chocolate Cakes
Saffron Risotto with Pancetta, Tomatoes, and Sausage
Salmon with Wasabi Sauce and Bok Choy
Top Round Roast Beef

No change at all in the top ten this month, but I did cook some delicious new recipes that deserve a shout out!  (I’m not sure whether I should only pick these from recipes that I posted during the month or recipes I cooked during the month.  I’ll probably stick with the posted option because it’s easier to keep track of that way.) 

Most Cooked Recipes
Mom’s Chicken
Tetrazzini
Bread
Sweet Potato Fries
Aioli
Chicken Enchiladas (It's sad that a dish I make so often has such a crummy picture.  I've never been able to make these look pretty.) 
Quiche
Amatriciana Pasta
Gazpacho
Chicken Sancoche

Neat New Recipes
Bacon Onion Balsamic Jam
Cheesy Garlic Drop Biscuits
Chicken and Green Chile Mac and Cheese
Chicken Tikka Masala
Sundried Tomato Butter