2024 in Review

A list of stuff that made me happy in the past year

Obligatory, I know this is late and I’m gonna try to write more this year, blah blah blah. I typically post once a year in February so here I am making good on that cadence.

2024 was a great year with a lot of growth and stress. In putting this together, I also realized how much happiness and love there was too.

I didn’t have a plan for this year-end post. I just sat down and this is what came out. I think it shows where my priorities were and I am happy about it.

Top three things I cooked:

I got a lot better at cooking this year. My partner is the best eater and gives me so much positive feedback. My number one love language is words of affirmation so it was not uncommon for me to spend 4-5 hours making tacos or a loaf of bread just to make her happy.

1. Chipotle braised pork tacos with cabbage slaw and guac – Low and slow, baby. Meat is salted the night before and braised for around four hours, while turning every thirty minutes. I tried in the instant pot as well and the sauce doesn’t render so it’s not as good. And in my kitchen, nothing is worth doing if it’s not done in the most extra way possible.

2. Ukrainian Borsht - I was inspired by Cinderella Café’s famous Borsht and scraped this recipe off a guy on reddit who translated it from a video in Ukrainian, so you know it’s legit. It also takes a good four hours to make since you have to make the stock from scratch by boiling pork ribs for hours. I made this for my parents when I went home and got my Ukrainian dad’s seal of approval. Mingya!¹

   

   Do I wish I had any other picture of this soup? Yes. But here it is anyway with my very instagram-able face.

3. Ground lamb with pita and tomato chickpea salad – Tomato season is the best season and the spice blend of cumin, coriander, sumac, and allspice goes so perfectly well with the ground lamb and pita. Specifically the pita should be seared in the lamb fat that remains in the pan. Unlike the other two, this comes together in less than an hour and can be made on a weeknight. Chef’s fucking kiss.

   

   Tomato salad from the Six Seasons cookbook by Joshua McFadden. Lamb from some recipe I found online with whatever ad hoc edits I made that I won’t remember the next time I try to make it.

Top three things I ate:

I dunno guys…I think I really like food or something.

1. Cambodian chicken wings from Phnom Penh in Vancouver – One thing you should know about me is a love a good chicken wing. My family is from Buffalo. I live a twenty-minute walk from San Tung in SF. This chicken wing is better than both of those??? It’s crunchy, it’s salty, it’s sweet. It is perfection.

2. Papaya salad and Khao soi from PAI in Toronto – Canada for the win again. I had two friends suggest I hit this during my very short stint in Toronto and it was truly incredible. The papaya salad was life changing. Thai food is my least favorite Asian cuisine, but not when it’s made like this. I cry thinking about it.

3. Tropical Breeze Shave Ice from JoJo’s in Kauai, Hawaii – Picture this, you just finished the best surf lesson imaginable at the inimitable Hanalei Bay and are feeling the kind of hungry you can only get after spending hours in the ocean. You stop for shave ice and because the place is a chain, think it won’t be that good. You are wrong. So very wrong. Guava, lilikoi, mango, with macadamia nut ice cream and homemade haupia cream topping. The best wrong has ever tasted in my life.

Waterlogged, you know?

Top three moments:

Both the big and small. One is based on accomplishment but the other two are just little parcels of love.

1. Getting signed by my agent, Keir Alekseii at Azantian Literary Agency – I already wrote about this extensively, but still makes me smile every time I think about it. I am really proud of this.

2. Brushing my teeth in Vancouver on Saturday morning - It was one of those rare moments I could put down the chronic stress and really look forward to the weekend ahead. No work, just spending time with one of my best friends, walking around, window shopping, eating good food, and chit chatting about everything and nothing at all. I don’t know if it gets much better.

   Love love love you Kat. Thanks for taking care of me for four days, feeding me like an Asian grandma, and making me laugh. You’re alright, I guess ❤

   

   Forest walk with a wild Kat!

3. “I didn’t think I’d ever have the chance to see something this beautiful in my life.” - My mom in Big Sur. I was very lucky to spend a lot of time with my parents this year. We stayed in Santa Cruz and I got to take them around to some of the most beautiful spots in south bay. My parents have mostly stayed on the east coast for most of their lives and are just now beginning to travel more and see the world. Being able to experience and facilitate some of that with them is really special.

   

   Love these two <3

Top three trips:

Too hard to choose just three because any time I travel it feels like a small miracle. In no particular order. Doesn’t include the trips above that got their own shout out.

1. An unexpected spring dump at Tahoe in May – the overwhelming number one reason I go to Tahoe is to cook a big pot of soup with my friends in a cabin in the woods while it snows outside. There is nothing cozier after a long day of bombing it down the mountain because I ski terribly and pizza-ing all day blows out my knees.

   

   Taken right before we had to drive in the middle of said snow dump.

2. Kauai, Hawaii - I could make a whole blog post about Kauai. Island living is the best. The theme of this trip was hard-as-hell hikes, absolutely incredible food, and blisters. So many blisters. Some highlights include getting chest deep in five different river crossings to reach a waterfall, climbing a mountain and waving to the rich people that took the helicopter, finding hidden tidepools and snorkeling with the fish, and throwing out the pair of hiking boots that gave me a blister the size of another pinky toe. Thanks for being the best adventure buddy, Jekkie <3

   

   Mentally, I’m here.

3. Guerneville, CA - A very dear friend of mine overly generously gifted me a weekend trip to Guerneville for my birthday this year. Rainy, moody, cabin vibes in the middle of woods while drinking the best coffee in preparation of long, verdant hikes. Oh, and oysters. (Thank you!!)

4. Yosemite - I hadn’t been since my first year of graduate school and it was really fun to come during the winter with snow on the ground. Lots of shenanigans. It was my first time traveling with a couple of friends and they were surprised to learn, despite my stony exterior, I do not in fact have my life together. I am actually a gremlin constantly running late whilst literally and metaphorically just throwing shit in my trunk and hoping for the best.

   

   Started this hike with approx. 7 more layers than what’s pictured.

5. Spending time with my parents at home in Pennsylvania and having my partner visit my hometown for the first time - showing someone where you grew up makes you realize all the small things that crafted your childhood and who you are now. Also, they get to make fun of all the baby pictures hung around the house because you’re an only child and the walls are basically a shrine of your adolescence.

   Top three books:

1. Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum - Holy moly I loved this book. Much more than I ever anticipated. The bad news is it made me want to quit my job and open a cute little book store in a quiet neighborhood in Korea so that I can fill with a thoughtful curation of diverse books and a menagerie of kind and intentional people. Made me think a lot about what happiness is and what it isn’t. Whether dreams make everyone happy and if I’m one of those people anymore. It made me think about if I want to be happy some of the time or a little bit every day. It made me feel more emboldened that you can not feel connected to your job but still feel content in life because there are things outside of it that you care about and want to do. It made me feel good that people are too complex to be fully explained by their work because I don’t want to be fully explained by my work. I guess I had been thinking about a lot of the things they talk about, and this book made me feel less afraid about the person I might want to become.

2. The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin – This was a really dark, gritty series with intense world building. Typically I am not into extensive world building, but the magic system was so well enmeshed with the themes of trilogy that it’s no surprise that Jemisin won the Hugo for every single installment of this series. Lives up to the hype. Deserves more.

3. I Who Have Never Known Men – Not even sure where I heard about this book but it blew me away. Haunting, terrifying, hopeful. What is the meaning of life? Does it matter? What does it mean to be human when every part of the human experience has been stripped away?

And that’s all for now! Thanks so much for reading if you’ve made it this far. I hope 2024 treated you well and you’re excited for what 2025 has in store.

Until next time, take good care.

Hannah

1. I know this is actually an Italian phrase but my Polish/Ukrainian family also says it