It’s December 29th and that can mean only one thing, my friends: year-end round-up time! For the third year running, I offer you: your favorite Local Kitchen posts, based on post traffic this year.

This year’s list is all about social media: between Reddit, Pinterest, and StumbleUpon, Facebook & Twitter, and aggregator sites like LifeHacker and the Kitchn, a lot of you have surfed on over from various spots on the Web, and a lot of you have shared your favorites, spreading the love. I get a kick out of seeing how people make it to the blog and it’s always a thrill to see that people like a recipe or idea enough to share with their own social media posse. Thanks to you, more people than ever visited Local Kitchen this year and were subsequently exposed to my rapier wit. (I can’t guarantee that there won’t be karmic payback; perhaps you should go hug a kitten or something.)

Without further ado, the recipes & posts that you were buzzing about this year!

Number 10: Locavirgin: Thick Cut Pork Chops with Simple Pan Sauce

If you know me at all, you know how much I hate to lead off this segment with the above atrocious picture of a pork chop (and how much I wish I’d managed to reshoot these pictures in the previous year). But there you have it: this post is from nearly three years ago, and my photography has come a long way. Suffice it to say that, despite the awful photography, this simple master recipe from Julia is a winner, and perfect for dealing with any kind of thick chop. Try it out and see.

Number 9: Recipes Index

Still hanging in there at #9 on the list, lots of you have been perusing the recipe index, which makes me happy that I keep it reasonably up to date.

Number 8: Crock-Pot Roasted Chicken

This Crock-Pot roasted chicken from summer of 2011 owes its popularity this year to the internet’s answer to Crock-Pot Awesome, Slow Cooker From Scratch by Kalyn’s Kitchen. Still a great option on a too-hot-to-roast summer day, or a kitchen-renovation day, or the-oven-is-already-full-of-pie day.

Number 7: How To Clarify Cloudy Chicken Stock

Another one I need to reshoot, this handy tip for clarifying cloudy meat stock using egg white is a winner. Also important: never allow your stock to boil and it won’t get cloudy in the first place!

Number 6: What To Do With Citrus Peel

I loved researching this post and gathering so many great ideas for citrus peel from the vast corners of the Interwebs. I love, too, that so many of you have commented with great ideas, and shared the post with your friends. No Citrus Peel Left Behind!

Number 5: Homemade Hand Cream

Thrifty handmade gifts were still booming this year, as evidenced by how many of you pinned this recipe to your inspiration boards. I, too, gave out a lot of this lovely hand creme as holiday gifts; may we all have luxuriously smooth skin in the New Year!

Number 4: Canning in a Boiling Water Bath

Canning: still hot in 2012. I predict hotter still in 2013!

Number 3: Space Solutions: Under-Cabinet Knife Rack

Thank LifeHacker and the Kitchn for the popularity of this post this year: both sites linked to it and generated lots of traffic. My fave comments had to be from people in culinary school, recognizing a fellow sufferer in the yellow-taped knife handles.

Number 2: Bone-in Chicken Breasts on the Grill

Grilled chicken: still popular in 2012.

….and, the Number 1 most popular post on Local Kitchen this year <drum roll, please>….

Number 1: Cucumber Tomato Feta Salad

A gloriously simple yet delicious summer salad, this is one that I did reshoot this year, because the old pictures were getting pinned all over Pinterest, and I couldn’t stand seeing them everywhere.

So there you have it: you’ve probably seen many of these over the past year, but if not, I hope you find something to inspire and enjoy. Happy New Year, all!