Happy 2013!

I think I'm going to miss 2012. It was an epic food year. Some highlights:

• The fairy tale that is French Laundry. I wrote about it here. 
• The heirloom tomato festival @ Kendall Jackson winery. I plan my summer around this event.
  
• I tried whelk for the first time (in Anguilla, at the Straw Hat) and loved it! It was prepared in a mason jar, drenched in a decadent garlic sauce, and served with toasted baguettes. It was so good, I came back to the restaurant later to have it for "dessert." Yes. I had already eaten dinner.
  
• I also tried crayfish for the first time (also in Anguilla, at On da Rocks). It tastes a like a shrimp-baby-lobster-crawfish Frankenstein. Grilled and buttered, I overdosed.
  
• I probably ate too much cheese as well. Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam, to be exact. 
• I made a lot of tomato soup (out of heirloom tomatoes bought in bulk at the Farmer's Market) in the summer and froze it for a rainy day. I also baked beets for the first time.
  
• My mom spent a day teaching me how to make Chinese eggplant with ground pork and how to make Vietnamese fish sauce.
  

I am not sure what kind of eating I'll get into in 2013, but I know I have to lose a few pounds first. Actually, it'll be more like exercising so I can keep eating like I do.