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The year that was …
December 23, 2007 | 56 Comments
Nupur urged us to take stock of the past year in terms of blogging achievements as part of her Best of 2007 event. We thought it was a great idea. 
These are a few of our favourite things on Jugalbandi from the 10 months and 22 days we’ve been around.
We have four series @ Jugalbandi. (See icons on the left sidebar.)
LucidLens documents our photography experiments in the garden, in our neighbourhood, and on our travels. Our favourite trip and most spectacular photos this year are from our visit to Olympic National Park, Washington. We will bring them to you after we sort the pictures out.
Of the published ones, we love Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado.
In Season records our gardening escapades this year.
The three most fuss-free veggies with the highest return on investment – potatoes, peas, and swiss chard.
Green Arrow Pea
The most stunning flowers in our garden were the irises, the red daylilies, and the roses.
Red Daylily
Our Postcards Series with guest authors, took us to beautiful, exotic places.
The Crusts n Crumbs series is about our baking experiments.
Our favourite post in this series is Bread Basics, which we use as a reference tool.
Though we enjoy bringing all these series to our readers, our favourite is the Pantry Audit series where we have, so far, researched and written about Rice, Flour, Sweeteners, and The Thai Kitchen.
OUR FAVOURITE DISHES
Each of us picked five of our favourites from the Recipe Index.
Bee’s list
Potato, Onion and Saffron Bread
Salad with Spring Greens from our Garden
Jai’s list
Methi Malai Buns (Creamy Fenugreek Buns)
Creamy Fenugreek Buns is the entry from Jugalbandi to Sandra and Zorra for the Best Recipe of 2007 event.
We were trying all of these recipes for the first time, except the chocolate pudding.
If we had known the amount of work that it takes to maintain this blog, we would never have started it. We were so swept away by the romantic idea of having our own space on the web that we were blindsided. How hard could it be to chronicle some of our thoughts, research, and recipes on a Web Log, right? We just need to type them in and add a few pictures? Seriously, how hard could it be?
We’ve been wrong before, but not by so much. Part of the problem is that we are terrible with code, albeit, we are getting better. It is not the logic or the concept that gets us, we just don’t have the time or the patience to learn a new language (an abstract one at that). Nevertheless, its been a fun journey. Fun enough for us to stick around and even wanting to continue.
Back in February, we wanted to focus more on the nutrition and fitness aspects both in our lifestyle and the blog. We haven’t done justice to our goals and plan to make amends in the coming year. On the other hand, we did well in the recipe department. In our recipes we strove to create healthy and natural alternatives to what is out there. A vast majority of our experiments have been successful, and we are quite pleased with that.
We are also learning food photography and as a part of that started CLICK – a theme based photography event. We are glad that many of you are also having fun clicking, judging, and voting for your favorite pictures. We have decided on the next few themes and can’t wait to bring them to you.
As the blog gets bigger, data management is becoming more important. Again, databases are not what we had to deal with in our work or personal lives before. Some education is in order before things get out of hand. If we are able to structure things well then we’ll be able to deliver more of the concepts that we have for this space.
Wish you a happy, healthy, wonderful 2008.
- Jai and Bee
Filed Under: GARDENING, MUSINGS, national park, TRAVEL, vegetarian recipes
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56 Comments
Season’s Greetings- Jai and Bee. Here’s to more of you two in the next year and many more to come. I, for one, enjoy every post of yours- its either visually appealing, gastronimacally satiating or technically challenging
.
Either way, I like jugalbandi served on a regular basis…maybe just as soul food.
Tata
-altoid
I’m glad you did this post B&J, gave me a wonderful review of all what I have missed in the past. Love all the pictures and recipes
You have a very nice blog and are doing a great job of maintaining everything…seems like you have mastered the language 
I am learning a LOT from here, thanks to you!!
Wishing you many more such wonderful months and days of blogging. This is one site I know I will keep coming back for more no matter what
A fabulous new year to you both! :horn:
Every post is breathtakingly beautiful…you have a virtual masterpiece online. Thanks for all the eye candy & words that make great reading.
Have a great 2008!
Lovely review of the past year! Seems like you guys have been around forever though.
I look forward to your posts especially your pictures. Thank you!
No doubt I am impressed by the amount of research that goes into most, no lemme correct that, all of your posts. But it is the thoughtfulness, the ease and simplicity of presentation that bowls me over.
I am sure glad you guys started blogging. Have a wonderful year ahead Jai and Bee.
Great review, and thanks for your hard work and inspiration in 2007. It is Xmas Eve here, and time for me to wish all of my blog friends a wonderful time with family and friends tomorrow. May it be a peaceful and blessed day where we can give a lot of joy to those around us. Have a great day.
Happy holidays! looking forward to 2008!
Wishing you both a wonderful and adventurous New Year!
Your blog is the representation of the very fact that you are sooo dedicated to it….& surely much thought & love has been put into maintenance, unlike me who doesnt have enough time to take pains to really put up a gorgeous presentaiton, the way you both do so very well. I love every bit of your blog & love you both too.
Have a lovely Christmas & a rocking New Year. :yes:
Hopeto see you both continue in this vein in the coming year, too.
Best wishes for a Happy new Year.
So with that review done, is the bar raised? :yes:
From me: You have been superb on jugalbandi and it was music in the Kitchen for sure. Yes we really love to read the posts that you put together with so much work. Also not to forget you ate cold meals with this passion of blogging and clicking.
Thank you so much and wish you luck for the future.
Loved every bit of your blog and looking forward to all that is still to come from you two…happy holidays!
A Year gone, and so much to look back to! And I missed none of it.
Happy New Year, Bee and Jai.
Your blog brought such a sense of elegance and panache into the food blog world. I sure am glad you started blogging! Your gardening series has left me slack-jawed all year. And yes, the pantry audit is such a treasure trove of information. I can’t wait to your posts on fitness (just started to be a gym regular and need all the inspiration I can get). Thank you!
I’d have counted almost every post
of yours that is…
You guys have a really great blog and the pictures are unbelievable. So I told my husband yesterday to check your blog and let me know if he finds something nice to eat. I guess I shouldn’t have done that because he gave me a big list of items.
Happy Holidays and wish you guys a very happy new year.
loved both ur picks..the photos are amazing..happy new yr to both of you
You have made such great recipes last year. I am definitely going to try Methi Buns soon. Happy Holidays.
Hap holidays to u two. Ur blog is an insipiration to all of us. And ur photos take my breath away. U rock :yes:
Bee and Jai,
Thank you! Your blog is such a treasure trove of information – I have learned so much from your blog in the past 11 months – about nutrition, photography, awareness on environmental and social issues. To use Nupur’s words, you really have brought panache and elegance to food-blogging and definitely set the bar very high. Happy Holidays and here’s to many more years of blogging at Jugalbandi. I look forward to seeing your posts on health and fitness.
The reason I came here now – to tell you how lovely the fruit and nut war cake turned out. I can’t believe there’s not a drop of fat in that cake – it’s moist and oh-so-tasty. The deviations I made from your recipe was to soak the fruits in Grand Marnier instead of rum, I also soaked lemon and orange zest along with the fruits and added a dash of nutmeg, allspice and powdered cloves to this mixture. The recipe is a keeper and I’m going to try it with rum soon. Btw, it took me 1 hr to bake it in a loaf pan. Thank you for all the effort you put in to make Jugalbandi such a rocking blog.
Best wishes,
Mamatha
Indeed gr8 work and dedication is seen in your space. Congrats and have a blessed new year.
Merry Christmas, Jai & Bee. I hope that you and your family will have a wonderful day and also best wishes for 2008.
x Nora
What an array of beautiful pictures,. They are definitely a great feast to the eyes.. Very nice post Jai n Bee..
Hi BEE and jai,
wish you a happy new year 2008.
Love to see the series of your recipes too.
vineela
thank you all, for your kind words and encouragement. have a wonderful 2008.
jai and bee
Jai and Bee that’s a wonderful review of jugalbandi!i love all your posts and photos.May God bless you and hope the new year brings you happiness and lotso interesting posts for us on ur blog!Have a great new year.
Hola! I have been off blogging and blog hopping for a while but I wanted to come say hi to you guys. Great post, as usual. I, for one am glad that you guys started this blog! Can’t wait to see whats in store for the coming year.
Wish both of you happy holidays and best of everything for the new year!
Thats a very nice list J & B. I will have to try the potato, onion saffron bread sometime. One other post that is not in this list is the pizzas. I loved that post with delicious looking pizzas. All the best for new year
.
Your blog offers a wealth of information, is fun to read and joy to look at! Wanted to say a BIG Thank you for sharing a bit of your lives and experiences with us.
It was such a pleasure discovering your blog this year and both of you have done an exceptional job with this site. I have learnt so much and continue to learn from you all. I’ve also benefitted and continue to benefit from your generosity and I am honoured to have you as my friends. Thanks for a great year and I can’t wait to see the things to bring to us next year.
Joyeuses Fêtes et au plaisir de vous lire à nouveau l’année prochaine.
verO
Bee & Jai,
Happy Holidays
romantic??!!
Its been wonderful having you guys around! Have a wonderful year ahead.
I have learnt a lot about food from ur blog.not only each recipe is good but the whole post is so informative.Really guys,ur blog rocks.Looking forward for more recipes with intersting facts and information.
Happy Holidays :horn:
Every post of yours is so informative!!! Love your pics, esp… Here’s wishing you both a Very Happy New Year!!!
Happy Holidays, Jai and Bee!
It is a beatiful journey going through this blog..lovely pictures and great writing! We hope that you continue to blog with the same vigor in 2008. Wish you both a great New Year!
everything is just beautiful bee
:horn: Happy Holidays Guys!!!!
Spectacular… that’s the first thing that comes to my mind when I look at the pics u guys take!!! U rock!
what a beautiful collection! amazing photos.. hi hi
can i hire u2 to do my photos? 
by the way , happy new year.
Hi Bee and Jai,
You have an amazingly gr8 blog :bow: and i absolutely love visiting it on a regular basis to check the updates. Love the pics, presentation and am sure its a lot of hard work on your part to maintain it. ALL THE BEST and Keep Posting the good stuff as always.
WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR 2008 :horn:
Hey guys,
my broadband is restored after I put ‘dharna’ at the MTNL office! and I am glad, or else i would have missed your spectacular round up of the year that was! Now that I’m back with my connection, I can do this round up too….love all the stuff you have selected – the greens and lily especially look arrestingly lovely! When I have my own garden, I’ll ask you to send me seeds of the gorgeous red flower :secret:
J & B, You guys have one of the nicest, great looking blogs out there.. A real inspiration for all of us newbies. Hoping to see a lot more of you all in 2008.
Happy New Year!!!
Jai and Bee – I hope you have a great Old Years celebration and all the best for the new year. Discovering your home on the internet is one of the things I love about being part (although somewhat intermittent) of the blogging world!
Plan for the new year!
Now I am reminded that I have not yet made my way through all your archives
[...] now since I baked last with all the travelling that I have done. Then came Bee & Jai’s retrospective post that tempted me enough to bake [...]
Wish both of you a wonderful 2008!! and you’ve done lots of enhancements to your site, and started the revolutionary Click event, so relax and take some deserved credit for that:) we are all learning, so let’s keep sharing the joy of food into everyone’s lives!
Happy Holidays!
Hello Bee and Jai,
Love the photographs – Wish you both a happy and prosperous new year.
Btw bee, I had tried the new combo -coconut and persimmon for kheer, I thought you might want to check it out.
http://valliskitchen.blogspot.com/2007/12/spicy-persimmon-salsa.html
Happy New Year to two of the most creative folks I have the pleasure of knowing! Wishing you all good things in 2008