Happy New Year, everybody! I’ve been a bad boy about not posting VFYTs lately. I cleaned out my in-box today. Here are the last VFYTs of 2013. Let’s have an even more delicious 2014, shall we?

The reader writes:

Atticus Bookstore Cafe in New Haven. This is a bowl of their signature (non-vegetarian) black bean soup, served with sour cream, onions, bread, and hot cider.

The reader writes:

Scambled eggs, rice, portuguese sausage, pineapple and papaya overlooking the West Maui Mountains, Maui, HI. The papaya is from a tree just out of the frame to the right. Our meals in HI are eggs, rice, sausage, fruit, spam, rice, teriyaki, and beer on endless repeat.

The reader writes:

These are the best mussels I’ve ever had, including those I’ve had in France and Belgium. The owner here was nominated for a James Beard award this year, and deserves it! Not pictured: the frites with bourbon aioli. Yeah, those went fast.

The reader writes:

Eggs baked in cups of leftover spinach. Never had enough leftover spinach to try this before, but the Thanksgiving sidedish didn’t go over, so I made lemonade out of lemons, as it were.

Can you tell this is one that got lost in the mail pile? It’s from July! The reader writes:

Corn, chicken-n-shrimp skewers, baked beans and potato salad (with Chambord and soda) up on the balcony garden.

The reader writes:

I recently sent in a pic of Totonno’s delicious pizza from Brooklyn. Here now is a plate of grilled llama in a white wine / peppercorn sauce from Tilcara, Argentina. Llama is lean, but tender, with a slight tang that distinguishes it from beef. Highly recommended despite the undeniable cuteness of the animal.

The reader writes:

Irish Times Pub in San Francisco. Irish nachos (potatoes instead of corn chips), Miller Lite beer (sorry), fantasy football stat tracker, and an almost empty bar because, hey, it’s San Francisco and beautiful outside!

The reader writes:

Here is a picture of my dinner from last night. It is “Dingle Bay Salmon” at the Dubliner pub in Washington, D.C. It came with Brussels sprouts, carrots, string beans, home-style potatoes, and grapes (?)

Charleston, South Carolina

The reader writes:

My brother’s au pair is from Poland and spending her second Christmas with us. She wanted to cook us a traditional Christmas Eve dinner to celebrate. The courses included fried fish, borscht, mushroom soup with wild picked mushrooms from Poland, dumplings (cheese and mushroom), beans and sauerkraut, pickled herring in cream sauce, gingerbread, and more. While she had to substitute some American ingredients, it came out wonderfully. It was a great way to celebrate Christmas.

Not a traditional VFYT, but I thought it was charming all the same. The reader writes:

Here’s the view from my breakfast table this morning. Our 11-year-old (on the right) is on his 3rd reading of your book….unfortunately you can’t see the snow outside (we got 10″ on Sunday).