Adios 2016 !!!

One more day and will be bidding goodbye to 2016. Like 2015, 2016 went in a flick too. Before welcoming 2017, following the tradition of 2015 and 2016, here is my retrospective post. Err precisely, a small recap of what happened in VVK in 2016. Before that, I would like to thank all the readers for all your support and encouragement and especially for trying my recipes and taking the time to click and send me the picture. It means a lot to me and it’s a boosting factor for sure.

Overall 2016 turned out to be a good year or at least I have come to live in peace with it. From the blogging point of view, it really turned out to be a great year. Let me share some of the key things now,

• I successfully completed three blogging marathons in 2016. One in January, then in April and the last one in September.
• I tried quite a few recipes with my slow cooker and clay pot. Now all set to experiment my Instant Pot. (shh!!! don’t tell that to my slow cooker)
• Also, this year saw me crossing 500 posts (this is my 602nd post) and also I celebrated the 7th blogging anniversary with a traditional family sweet recipe.
• This year, I spent some time on social medias other than Facebook and Twitter. I know, I have a long way to go.
• Now coming back to the main thing – food photography. I am still climbing the learning curve, but I am happy that I am climbing. Even though the recipe, Asparagus Chutney is not among top 5 posts according to google analytics, it is one of the recipes close to my heart for multiple reasons.
  • It was the first recipe that got accepted in Food gawker back in July. Even though I struggle with rejections till date, the approvals have surely motivated me to post in other food galleries too, where pictures along with recipes are scrutinized. You can take a look into my external and my own food galleries in my page – VVK Galleries. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my BM friends and other who critiqued and encouraged my food photography. A special thanks and mention to Pavani and Kushi.
  • The asparagus chutney resonated for a long time in social media and it was one among the recipes that were tried by most of the readers. Thanks again!
• Videos – This has a long history, ok short one. :-) When I created my google plus page for my blog, google automatically created a brand YouTube channel too. But I wanted to first try in my personal account, mess with it and then move on to the brand one. I always wanted to post both short and elaborate videos with my own voice over and that’s what I tried in my first video which was “how to clean banana flower”. I did try “how to” videos this year like pressing Sevai, rolling khandvi, shaping samosa. Towards the end of the year, I decided to move on the brand channel and tried short videos. Now need to dedicate more time for videos which is on my to-do list for 2017. Here is my channel link and stay tuned for more recipes. :-) You can find all the video recipe in my channel page too.
• According to google analytics, here are my top five posts,
  • Coconut Milk Rice (This was one among top five in 2015 too)
  • Undhiyu with Frozen veggies
  • Microwave Khandvi
  • Chettinad Vegetable Biryani
  • Kollu Thuvaiyal
• Resolution for 2017 – I am going to keep it simple. Explore, Experiment, Enjoy, Execute, and Evolve. As usual, looking forward to learning and grow in 2017.

Once again, thank you all for your warm support and I am wishing you all a happy and a prosperous 2017.