Things I've cooked this year

I'm going back the roots of my blog and am posting about food (when was the last time I did that?) So here is a quick summary of food in my life in 2008 so far:
I started the year with the traditional southern meal of black-eyed peas (for luck) and cabbage (for money), at the McCarthy house. I ate lots of cabbage, so I am hoping to win the lottery soon.
At one point we had an impromptu shrimp boil at Chris's house (it was supposed to be crab, but crab cost $9.99/lb). Again, southern theme....can you begin to see what kind of family I am marrying into? Shrimp boil is super easy, you just boil together pototoes, corn, onion, garlic, Old Bay seafood boil packets, shrimp, and other stuff like peppercorns and pickling spices. When it is ready, you dump it on the table and everyone goes for it. At Chris's house we did not dump it on his dining room table, but rather served it on a cookie sheet. With Scott and his brother around, you have to peel your shrimp fast or you won't get any! In the picture that is Chris (sitting), Jeff, and Caroline (Jeff's girlfriend)
One night Scott and I made Siu Mai with mustard-soy dipping sauce. Sui Mai is a Cantonese steamed dumpling, and we made ours with chicken. This recipe came from my Yan Can Cook book my parents gave me for Christmas years ago with a wok. Since then I have acquired other Chinese cookbooks, but Yan is by far the best. These dumplings and sauce were amazing, and now they have a spot on Scott's catering menu.
Last weekend we attended Evelyn's 1st birthday party. Evelyn is our friends Jon and Lisa's baby. Lisa is particularly fond of Scott's cheesecake so he made a cute girl-themed cheesecake for Evelyn (although she won't eat any, so it was really for Lisa). I was not involved in the making of the cake, but it was my idea to put the frosting and sprinkles on it. It came out really cute, so I had to post it. Last night we used the leftover filling to experiment with new cheesecake flavors. I made a mini clementine-ginger cheesecake and Scott made peanut butter-chocolate chip. We haven't tasted yet...
That's been the highlights of cooking this month. I'll be sure to post about Valentine's Day since we traditionally stay home and cook something special.