The ten most popular posts published on Bay Area Bites in 2011 revealed a year of Occupy protests, parking lot raps, food truck gatherings, vegan and carnivorous comfort food, online cooking school, the opening of the first local deaf-owned restaurant, and food blogger success tips as well as professional hardships.
1. Vegan Almond Milk Ice Cream: 3 Recipes by Denise Santoro Lincoln
"I made three types of ice cream and, no surprise to many vegans out there but sort of a surprise to me, they were all amazingly good, exceeding my expectations on every level. My ten-year old daughter Maddie even exclaimed about the chocolate version 'This is better than store-bought ice cream! It's my favorite!' I have to agree. My three flavors were almond, strawberry and chocolate. All are vegan. The first two were delightful but the chocolate was really special, and all are cholesterol and fat free."
2. Aida Mollenkamp’s Top 11 Spots for Bay Area Foodies by Elaine Wu
"The host and co-creator of the television show 'FoodCrafters' and 'Ask Aida,' attended Cornell University and then the esteemed Le Cordon Bleu in Paris where she studied culinary AND pastry arts. Aida ended up in San Francisco when she became one of the editors of the online food magazine, CHOW. Currently, she’s working on her first cookbook, tentatively titled, 'Keys to the Kitchen,' due out in 2012. Here are Aida's top Bay Area spots for food fiends like herself (that aren’t restaurants)."
3. Cooking Lessons in Real Time: Google+ Cooking School by Jenny Oh
"People are using the 'Hangouts' feature of Google+, Google's new sharing project, in creative ways. Learn about a real-time video cooking school that uses this collaborative tool."
4. Bay Area Fried Chicken Guide by Stephanie Hua
"A guide to the best fried chicken in the Bay Area, and a recipe for an Asian-style fried chicken that's clean and simple, with a dynamite crispy thin crust."