As they say, better late than never. Happy New Year foodies! You'll have to forgive me for my silence over the past few weeks. Hubby and I received an early Christmas present with the birth of our first child, a beautiful baby girl.

Trying to keep my head above water has been a challenge with the wondrous things a newborn throws up at you....mostly in the literal sense, ha! However it's an incredible, positively life changing ride we are on and we're only at the starting blocks!

So whilst my mojo was lost a bit late 2015 (or rather my continuous pregnancy cravings for muffins would have made for some pretty repetitive posts), the urge to cook & write has crept back into my world...which is a good thing. A great thing in fact. It's my way of letting off steam. It makes me happy. This blog, is an extension of the very essence of me, so it brings me so much joy to share my musings with you dear reader. I am forever grateful for the precious time you spend with me here and the shared passion for REAL, mostly wholesome but sometimes wicked food.

Cooking is like love, it should be entered into with complete abandon or not at all - Harriet Von Horne

So before I dive into the New Year with new recipes, interviews and feature stories, I thought it would be fun to do a quick Year In Review and share what's on my mind for 2016.

Early in the year I received an email confirming I was to become an official ambassador for Jamie Oliver's Global Food Revolution. Excited much!! What does this entail you ask? The role as an ambassador is to launch a local initiative each year to support Food Revolution Day ( FYI it will be May 20th 2016, stay tuned for further details) and to help spread awareness of healthy eating and Jamie's campaign messages. Who wouldn't want to help Jamie?!

To brush up on my photography & styling skills, I attended the Local Is Lovely Autumn Food Photography workshop which was a pleasurable assault on the visual and taste senses. Check out some of our pics from the two days here, here and oh here. If you're a mad creative foodie like me, I strongly recommend Sophie's workshops not only to learn a thing or two, but for the drool worthy, amazzzzing food that Sophie serves up and the peaceful country surrounds...pure bliss.

Foodies Agenda was announced as a finalist in the Kidspot Voices 2015 food/travel category which was a real surprise and honour. High fives all round! Check out the winner Trish's blog, Ink & Cleaver, for her gorgeous food styling & humour.

We ramped up our Friday Foodie In Focus series and got to interview some extremely talented & passionate Aussie foodies such as Hayden Quinn, Nick from Gelato Messina, Kate Gibbs & Katherine Sabbath to name a few.

Early December, we finished our home renovations and I finally have my dream kitchen, aka Foodies Agenda HQ. I promise to share some pics with you soon plus some renovation tips. And finally, drumroll please.....the top posts for 2015 are....

Most popular Recipes:

• Citrus Yoghurt Cake

• Chinese Lamb Pancakes

• Guide to Eat, Play & Rest on Hamilton Island

• Guide to Eat, Play & Rest in Noosa

• Dog Friendly Cafes in Sydney

• Cottage Point Inn Restaurant

• Lauren Eldridge - Young Chef Of The Year

• Hayden Quinn

• Predicted trends and/or hot topics - Cooking with Leftovers, Cooking on Fire/Charcoal, Food Waste, Street Food, Back To Basics minus trendy ingredients
• A trip to back to London (which always involves a trip to the best food markets ever - Borough Markets!) and the sunny South of France
• Transitioning into my new life as a mum which includes 12 months of maternity leave...
• ...which leads me to more quick & easy mid week meals for all you busy mums & full time workers, I know the demands of both now!
• I'm currently pulling together a wish list for Friday Foodie In Focus...2015 will be hard to beat!
• Launching an e-book (or two..)
• More creative collaborations

That's pretty much a wrap I think. As always, I welcome your feedback and would love to hear any suggestions or recommendations for where Foodies Agenda should go in 2016.

Thank you again for your continued support...now let's eat!!