Thursday, December 31, 2015

Top Blog Posts of 2015

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!  One of my favorite things to do today is to look at my blog posts from this past year and see which ones were the most read.  This year I've decided to break it down two way - my top posts written in 2015 and my top all time posts.

Top 2015 Blog Posts

My top 2015 blog post was a fun collaboration with Jeni of Jeni Eats on Ham Balls: An Iowa Classic.  Without knowing, I gave Jeni her first taste of Ham Balls at a North Iowa Blogger get together.  After that first try, she was in love!  I love Jeni's enthusiasm and curiosity for local foods and traditions.  Be sure to check out this fun post, and my recipe, as well as Jeni's take on our Ham Ball day in my kitchen!

My second top 2015 blog post had a North Iowa Blogger tie too.  It was a tribute to my fellow North Iowa Blogger, and friend, Amy Hild of Modern Rural Living, who passed away in a tragic car accident this past winter.  I will always remember Amy's zest for life, her passion and strive to learn.  I'm not surprised this was one of my top 2015 blog posts, as Amy's story has made the top lists of the year for our local TV station and local newspaper.  Amy still is making an impact, even from heaven!

Maybe I'm starting a theme here, but my third top 2015 blog post as well had a North Iowa Blogger connection.  The North Iowa Bloggers had a local Pizza Taste Off in March and I brought my family-wide famous Overnight Salad to share with the group, to help break up the amount of pizza and carbs we'd be consuming.  Well, it was very popular with the bloggers too, so I had to share my recipe.

My fourth top 2015 blog post was my Celebrate Your Heritage and Mom with Kringla post.  I grew up in a Norwegian area of Central Iowa where I knew who locally made the best kringla.  So with Mother's Day coming up on the calendar, I thought I'd share my recipe for this sweet cookie pastry that can be ate for breakfast, snack, dessert - really anytime of the day! 

Rounding out the top 2015 blog posts was a my Harvest Recap post, that shared some exciting news about "New Additions" coming to the farm.  I don't know if this post got so many hits because people wanted to learn about Flat Aggie visiting our farm, or wanted to learn about corn bagging, or maybe it was to find out that we are expecting "Baby Tinker" in May!

Top All-Time Blog Posts

My all-time top blog post is my 5 Easy Ways to Teach Your Toddler Their ABCs and 123s post.  If I've had any post come anywhere close to viral, this is it.  I list a few ideas on how to incorporate the alaphbet and numbers into your daily and weekly routines to help your toddler become familiar with them.  I know I'm always looking for ways to help my children learn at home, and obviously I'm not alone.

My next all-time top blog post sneaked into the top 5 for the first time this year.  It is a Tuesday Tasty Pork post for my Slow Cooker Hot and Spicy Ribs.  This was an early post for me and doesn't even include a photo of the ribs!  I'll be changing this in the New Year!  I'm guessing people are googling and pinteresting slow cooker and pork and are falling upon this post.  I'm all of a sudden really hungry for these pork ribs!

My third all-time top blog posts is one of my all time favorites too.  It is the only time My Farmer has done a guest post for me and it is on How to Have a Happy Farm Wife: Rules of a Farmer.  There are certain times of the year on the farm when things are very busy, people are having little sleep and stress is high.  This also seems to be the time when people can get frustrated easily with one another so My Farmer wrote a little post on what he does to keep the peace at home with me.  There must be some other farmers out there looking for solutions to this time of year too!

My fourth all-time top blog post is a post I did on Spreading the Love of Reading through World Book Night and the Latimer Little Free Library.  Sadly, there is no World Book Night in the United States anymore, but there is still a huge, and growing movement to set up Little Free Libraries across the nation and world.  I truly believe that if you can instill the love of reading at a young age, it will help your children learn and do well in school, as well as, it can be a life-long past-time and hobby.

My fifth all-time top blog post is a post I did on Farming - A Family Tradition.  I think it is so special that My Farmer and I both are 5th generation farmers and we are currently raising the 6th generation on our farm.  We feel honored and privileged to be carrying on our family's legacy.

What is your favorite blog post from 2015?  Are there any top blog posts that made the list that intrigue you?  Remember to Comment for a Cause!  Today is the last day to comment to help the North Iowa Christmas Cheer Fund!

6 comments:

  1. Very excited our ham ball adventure made your top of 2015 list! Your recipe is delicious. Happy New Year!

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    1. I was so happy it was on the top of the list. It was such a fun day! Happy New Year to you too!

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  2. I love that the ham balls made it to the top!! Another new food for me this past year :)

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    1. And here I had no idea that ham balls we #1 a regional food and #2 would leave such an impression on everyone that night ;)

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