Happy Birthday to my Blog!!! It turns 6 years old today, which is kind of milestone in blog-land, as my friends keep pointing out to me. What an interesting trip it has been from that very first post in 2005. I’ve met so many super people along the way and have eaten a vast array of great food items, many of them Local Products found in the markets here in New York. I really enjoy getting out to meet the folks whose passion has inspired them to create something edible and to develop a business around it. I’m also completely in awe of the great cooks who show up at every Food Event with delectable treats in hand. For me, finding out about and trying all of these things is the essence of the Experimental and the Gourmand part of my website name.
My files are much better organized than this, I promise!
Another other key component of the website is a feature that has been there since it began. My Recipe collection continues to grow with no end in site although it is more organized that it was when I started this project, which was one of the reasons for taking up writing this in the first place. I’ve also migrated from testing recipes to developing a lot of my own original ones, more than 100 of them to date if my numbers are correct. I’ve definitely broadened my knowledge base as far as technique and cuisine are concerned, but I also really enjoy the basics and making revamped versions of some of the dishes with which I grew up, as tackled in my Recipe Box Project. The blog has helped me to put on “paper” some of the incredible Italian meals that I ate when I lived in Bologna, as well as new discoveries from my more recent travels.
Last year’s Christmas Dinner from my mom’s recipe card file
I’ve often been amazed and delighted with the fabulous bounty that comes into the local Markets; it inspires me in my cooking projects and gives me so much great material with which to work. This has helped me to frame my site around trying harder to eat locally and seasonally. I’ve realized, too, that I learned so much of what I know from hanging around my mother as she cooked, giving me those tiny, random Kitchen Witch Tips that I enjoy sharing and which just make a recipe turn out that extra bit better.
Happy Blog-A-Versary to me! (courtesy a sale at Williams-Sonoma)
The past six years have had their ups and downs, as followers can see from my posting cycle. There are times when I thought about closing down the blog or putting it on a long hiatus while things in my personal and/or professional life were swirling around chaotically, but what has kept me going is having a place where I can be part of a community that immerses itself in a love of food, something about which I remain incredibly passionate, as have the kind comments I’ve received from readers and friends. I look forward to many more posts where I get to indulge in the Experimental and Gourmand sides of culinary exploration and hope that you’ll be around to share this journey with me.
Buon appetito!
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