Happy new year, Reader!
Many people choose Christmas as their favorite holiday, but mine is New Year's. There's something so wonderful about getting dressed up in sequins, the tumble of confetti and the sparkling champagne bubbles in glasses clinking at midnight.
Even in the years my husband and I stay home, make steaks and get cozy on the couch with a movie (which honestly is more our speed this decade), NYE is such a lovely ritual to say goodbye — or good riddance — to whatever happened that year. And the next morning, it's a whole new year, a blank canvas ready for new memories and challenges.
Twelve years ago today, I spent New Year's Day 2014 housesitting for my brother. Snowed in and single in my twenties, I started Feast + West from his couch.
I so admired the blogs I loved reading back then (and still do, but many aren't around anymore) and wanted to try my hand at writing one of my own. The blog sparked in a moment in which I craved creativity in design, my career, but also writing, photography and a way to share about the food and drinks I was discovering.
My very first recipe on the blog was this simple bourbon & ginger ale cocktail — still one of my very favorites. The photo on the left I took on my iPhone 5 (!) in my brother's kitchen in 2014, and the one on the right is a photo I took last year of my citrus ginger beer mocktail with my DSLR camera in my photo studio at the home I now own.
For a few years now, I've been blogging full time and can support my family with my ad income — something the single girl who took the photo on the left couldn't have fathomed.
As proud of I am of the photo on the right and all the photography and other skills I've learned in the last 12 years, I'm just as proud of the one on the left: I took a chance, made a New Year's resolution to try something new and haven't stopped doing it. It's led me to new jobs and taught me things like coding and SEO, but most of all, I made some of my best friends doing it.
I heard something recently that stuck with me:
A goal is a dream with a plan.
I’ve been thinking a lot about that a lot this season — and about crafting rituals around my goals, instead of stating resolutions. Small things you return to, again and again, that quietly add up over time. And if anyone needs proof that trying something new can truly change your life, this blog is mine.
A few years in, I started honoring my blog's beginnings with recipes featuring the same flavors as my first recipe: ginger and lime. Not every year, but when I could, I did. Maybe it's silly, but I wanted to take a moment to look back on those recipes, because I think this self-imposed tradition captures the evolution of this blog. Here are a few:
- 2017: Made with a homemade ginger shrub, the bourbon cocktail I made this year has a bit of a bite. I really want to make this one again soon!
- 2022: This herbaceous mule features a spirit I fell in love with when I studied abroad in college. I also baked up a bundt cake with ginger ale and a bourbon lime glaze. I don't make as many desserts for the blog anymore, but when I do they're often cocktail-themed like this!
- 2023: This year I made the homemade version of ginger ale that my best friend's mom taught me in high school. This was probably one of the first drinks I ever made from scratch, long before I started this blog.
- 2024: Tennessee whiskey, which my mother-in-law has taught me I like, puts a really delicious spin on that original whiskey ginger cocktail.
- 2025: In honor of Dry January, I made a mocktail version last year. I almost always have all of these ingredients and it's truly my go-to mocktail.
- 2026: This year's new recipe is a sweet & spicy syrup you can use to add these flavors to both cocktails and mocktails. Try it in homemade ginger ale or a classic Penicillin.
And that's just the ginger & lime recipes I shared in previous Januaries — it's one of my favorite flavor combos that has hit the blog over and over again. And will probably continue to!
These days, blogging is more challenging than ever with perpetually changing algorithms and AI competition that make it harder to be found. I don't think it's going away, and I have no plans to stop either, but it makes me all the more appreciative of storms I've already weathered.
If you read all the way down here, you're a true gem. It's an honor to make recipes for you that you'll make and enjoy with friends and family. Whether you've been with me since 2014 or just signed up for the Month of Mocktails for January, I'm so grateful to have you along for this wild ride. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your support.
I can’t wait to keep cooking, mixing and learning alongside you this year. And if one of your January goals is to drink a little less, I’d love to have you join me for the new Freewild Spirits Club this month.
Cheers, Reader, and I hope you have a very happy new year ahead.
Susannah
