As it has been the Christmas period and things have been hectic, I haven’t done a bake for a week or two and we are still eating Christmas chocolates, cake etc so any bake would be wasted and that is not the intention of the challenge.

I started this challenge in 2013 and initially did one bake a week. It would have taken years if I had continued to stick to that so I upped the amount to two bakes each week where possible to get through the recipes. This has worked well so far and I have now only 61 recipes left so 2015 should be the year I complete this challenge.

My baking skills have definitely improved thanks to Mary’s detailed recipes and I have enjoyed most of it and find there are very few weekends where I don’t want to bake. My store cupboard has never been so full either and I don’t have to check now , I pretty much know if I have every thing I need for a recipe.

I also know which recipes I will definitely make again and which will never see the light of day again!! I loved the doughnuts and will be purchasing a deep fat fryer this year (hint hint hubby) and I have enjoyed making the bread recipes with a few yet to go. I have loved the small cakes and tray bakes but the dobaz torte was one to consign to the never again pile as were the Florentines.

Thankfully the keep and make recipes outweigh the never again ones! If you have been regular readers you will know that I have had a few operations over the course of this challenge and I think “getting back in the baking saddle” has helped my recovery and getting back to normal-what ever that is!

I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who visits the blog for their support and love checking to see how many visitors I have had and from which countries. Some days we have a globe trotting community. I try to recognise you all where I can and often put on there how many visitors we have had.

My thoughts are obviously beginning to turn to what to do after the challenge is completed. I will still bake but will not have the pressure of having to do so weekly unless I choose to. My hubby recently blogged about splitting the blog so that he/we can focus on photography and this is also something I love but I need to learn more about the process so will need to do a Photoshop or Lightroom course. I,am a “purist”photographer in that I don’t believe in having to manipulate an image other than sharpening etc . My feeling is that if you have to change bits or take things out then you didn’t take the right image.

Any how. Onwards into 2015.welcome to the last year of the challenge. I hope you enjoy it and please feel free to comment on any blog with thoughts and suggestions. It would be nice to hear from you.