Warm Goat Cheese Salad and the Top 5 posts in 2015

The last post of 2015 and I am ending it with a recipe for this warm goat cheese salad. The warm breaded goat cheese is perfect for the cold weather and the salad leaves with the homemade dressing make the dish light and a perfect way to get your greens in.

2015 was pretty uneventful with respect to blogging. I posted only 17 times, out of which 8 posts were on Tuesdays (mostly, GMTs).

Though the blog was inactive, I was busy with my new baking venture The Pink CakeBox in Chandigarh, India. TPC was one of my best experiences, but it did come with its share of stressful moments. Each cake, each request, each delivery taught me something new and despite the struggles, I am glad I took a step towards my dream. I had to leave it mid-way but I hope to revive it again in some form or the other soon. Till then, and even after I do, I plan to keep this blog as one of my top priorities.

The Novice Housewife gave me an identity and it helped me gain the confidence to tap into my passion for baking and open TPC. So even though 2015 saw me absent for the most time from the blogging scene, I will make sure in 2016 I am more present and dedicated to this space.

As a goodbye to 2015, I thought of sharing the top 5 posts that were most visited in 2015

#5 :Aloo Puffs

Spicy potatoes wrapped in buttery puff pastry,

whats not to like and that’s why this was the fifth most viewed recipe

in 2015. I have made these with home made puff pastry dough as well as store bought.

They are great for breakfast, picnics and if you make the smaller versions they make excellent bite sized appetizers to serve at any party.

 #4: Fudgy Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate fudge frosting

This is my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe. I made this several times in 2015. Several would be an understatement.

Chocolate was the most requested flavor in the TPC kitchen and this was the recipe that I worked with.

I did substitute a little of the butter called for with oil, to retain the moistness of the cupcakes even when refrigerated.

The original fudge frosting posted saw an addition of nutella and melted chocolate to make the frosting even more delicious.

#3: Patterned Cake Roll Video

I hardly ever make videos, since they are too cumbersome. But there is something about videos which makes it easier for a person to understand the recipe, plus I like the whole idea of them. I might or might not make more videos in 2016.

While I love this recipe for the wow effect and its taste and I have tried it many times without fail, it did give me a little trouble in India.

I have no idea why, but I will be visiting this again and update the post with troubleshooting tips.

#2: Slow cooker dal makhani

This is one of my favorite recipes and going by the comments people have left, a favorite of many others too.

If you love dal makhani, this should be on your list of recipes to try.

#1: Eggless Sugar Cookies

A lot of you tried these cookies this year and absolutely loved them.

And why not, the recipe is easy to follow with great results.

This is also a good base recipe to try variations. If you haven’t tried them yet, you should.

Have you tried any of these recipes? What did you think of them?

And now to the last recipe I am sharing in 2015- this warm goat cheese salad.

The first time I had something similar was in New York and ever since wanted to recreate it.

When we moved to Dallas and I got back to cooking I decided it was finally time to try a warm goat cheese salad at home.

I found the recipe at epicurious.com  and liked that it included pears and walnuts. Plus, it had great reviews. Since the first time I made it I have tried this recipe twice and have always loved it.

The original recipe dips the cheese rounds in egg and then bread crumbs. The first time that I made this salad, it was a day when V does not eat eggs, so I used milk instead of eggs, and since it worked I use that each time to make it an egg free vegetarian dish.