2024: Year in Review & Top Recipes
It’s hard to believe, but 2024 is already wrapping up! I thought I’d take this time to reflect on the past 12 months and share a little about what I’m looking forward to in 2025.
Overall, it’s been an amazing year for Kitchen Treaty! Since I shared that I was back in the game last April, I’ve been working hard on both Kitchen Treaty and Good Gourds. Overall, I updated a ton of posts and created a ton of new content this year, and it’s felt amazing!
On a personal note, I finally made it to Europe for the first time ever last spring, and despite both myself and my kid getting sick, we had the most amazing 18-day trip to London, Bath, and Paris.
We had pre-reserved a lot of attractions that were non-refundable, and somehow my husband managed to avoid the germs, so he ended up being the only one of us three able to see a lot of the landmarks. It became somewhat of a running joke, and at one point toward the end of the trip, our kid made a phone of his selfies in front of various landmarks – the Mona Lisa; Sacre Coeur; Stonehenge … the album was titled “Dad went to Europe alone.” 🤣
Still, we saw and experienced enough to fall in love, especially with London. Take me back! Next on our list: Italy and Scotland. And Germany. And everywhere else.
Probably the best memories of all of 2024 would be taking my kid to Taylor Swift’s Eras tour both in Paris while we were there and to Vancouver a couple of weeks ago. We’re huge, unabashed Swifties and both concerts were core memory level for sure (if you know you know!)
But back to business …
The Year in Numbers
Over 1.5 million people visited Kitchen Treaty in 2024!
I published 55 new recipes
Kitchen Treaty recipes received 117 five-star reviews! If you were one of the people who left a review, thank you so much! Whenever you try a blogger’s recipe and leave them a review, it means so much to the blogger and to the success of their business. It’s super helpful for other readers, too!
On Pinterest, my images appeared on screens more than 6 million times! Dang!
2025 Goals
Develop & publish at least 50 reliable, vibrant new recipes (be sure to sign up for my mailing list if you want to be notified whenever I publish a new recipe!)
Take at least one culinary course (I recently learned there is a King Arthur Baking School just an hour or so away from me, so I’m thinking about taking a class with them!)
Apply to my region’s Master Gardener program for 2026
Publish two new e-cookbooks
Start working on a print cookbook (!!!)
Leaning Into My Strengths (and Admitting My Weaknesses!)
My biggest takeaway from 2024 is that there is monumental value in leaning into your strengths. I love writing – always have – and other than coming up with new recipes, writing has been my very favorite part of my food blogging career.
So near the end of 2023, I put out some feelers and took on a handful of freelance writing clients. Basically, I write up copy for their food blog so that they can lean into their strengths. It’s a win-win!
Writing for others has had the wonderful side effect of adding wind to my sails. Something about it has really motivated me to build, grow, and improve Kitchen Treaty.
Burnout cycles are SO real in this career, and I’ve had a few of them. So I took stock in where my pain points lie, and brainstormed ways to make them better.
The first was recipe testing and photography days. I was trying to test and photograph between three and six recipes at a time, by myself, and at the end of the day, I’d collapse with a kitchen full of dishes that still need to be washed, feeling like I’d just prepared a Thanksgiving dinner for 20!
So I asked my wonderful sister to come be my kitchen helper on those days, and it made a massive difference. Not only because she is an excellent cook and way more efficient at keeping up with the dishes than I am, but the conversation and laughter makes those days just fly by, in the best possible way! Thank you Kathy!
The second change (and massive improvement all around) is that I really had to admit to myself that I had grown to dislike the photography aspect of food blogging, and that my food photography skills had dulled. A lot. And around the time I was admitting that to myself, to my surprise and delight, I lucked upon the most amazing food photographer and hired her to photograph a couple of my recipes. It was incredible to have a great photographer shooting my recipes WAY better than I can, while also not having to worry about that aspect of the job that had become my weakness. So I hired her to photograph the majority of my recipes going forward! Angie is so talented, makes my food look absolutely delicious, and will often send notes back after making my recipes with any suggestions after testing out the recipe, which is a huge bonus for myself and my readers. Thank you Angie!
Social media has never been a strength of mine. But it’s an important part of being a successful food blogger. So this year, I outsourced to a team to manage my Pinterest account, and it’s been great to have much of that off my plate. Next up, Facebook! I have no idea what to do with Instagram …
So, in a nutshell, one of the things that has improved my food blogging career exponentially is leaning into my strengths … and seeking help for my weaknesses. It’s okay if I can’t do it all! And it feels really, really good to lean into creating ironclad recipes and lots of writing these days.
Top Recipes of 2024
So what has resonated with you, my readers, this year?
Top 10 Recipes Overall
These recipes received the most visits this year:
Homemade Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
Homemade Thousand Island Dressing
The Best Macaroni & Cheese Ever
Pizza Sauce from Fresh Tomatoes
Soft-Baked Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
Fresh Squeezed Lemonade by the Glass
Top 10 Recipes Published in 2024
Only one recipe, Baked Boursin Pasta, made it onto both lists. It was popular this year (for good reason, it’s pretty tasty!) Here are the top 10 most visited new recipes in 2024.
Marinated Cheese & Olive Skewers
Broccoli Cheddar Chickpea Noodle Casserole
My Very Favorite Recipes of 2024
Here are my favorite recipes on Kitchen Treaty – both those I published in 2024 and those that have stood the test of time.
Instant Pot Golden Lentil & Spinach Soup – All these years later, still one of my favorite lentil soups!
Tahini Seed Chocolate Chunk Breakfast Cookies – This breakfast cookies recipe is so easy and so good! I worked really hard on getting this one right, and I’m still surprised how well it works to mix a bunch of nuts and seeds with tahini and you get a cookie out of it when you bake it! Because I have to watch my carb intake due to health reasons, these cookies are a life saver because they’re lower in carbs and high in protein and fiber.
Mom’s Hazelnut Cake – I thought this recipe was lost forever after my mom passed in 2020. Then, earlier this year, I found a handwritten copy at the back of a three ring binder full of recipes. I’m so excited to have this recipe back in my life and it was really meaningful to me to be able to publish it on Kitchen Treaty.
The Laziest Lazy Lasagna Recipe Ever – This recipe is, indeed, LAZY. But it’s also kind of a revelation – literally dump everything together and bake, and it tastes just like a lasagna that took an hour to prep!
Vegetarian Minestrone Soup – I have this one memorized. I just love it! I’ll often switch up the beans and/or veggies depending on what I have on hand. It’s a great “clean out the fridge” soup!
London Fog Latte – This cozy hot drink is on repeat all fall and winter long.
Coconut Curried Green Lentils – These lentils are the ultimate pantry recipe. They’re SO tasty and easy to make.
Chocolate Wacky Cake – A family tradition! The batter for this cake mixes up right in the pan. Nothing better.
Easy Matcha Iced Latte – This is my favorite way to enjoy matcha! It’s so easy to make, too – just put it in a mason jar, place the lid on, shake shake shake, and plop in a straw.
The Best Mac & Cheese Recipe Ever – So many people come back to Kitchen Treaty for this one, and I’m so thankful. I’m one of those people, too – I make this one several times a year!
If you’ve read this far, thank you so much! I appreciate you being here more than you know.
Here’s to a successful and delicious 2025 for all of us!
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