I posted my first recipe on this day last year.  It was about a fruity oatmeal “cobbler” I’d make for Olive when I was in the thick of making baby food in huge batches each week.  That’s really what started this blog – well, it’s what propelled it.  I began my journey with cooking when I was about 10 years old and I would cook lunches every day for my family during the summer.  My mom worked and my dad and brothers worked outside in dad’s woodworking shop all day and I was in the house doing the laundry, cleaning and cooking.  Mom had taught me the basics; how to boil water for pasta, how to brown meat, how to not burn the house down, and from there I began enjoying putting a meal together for my family.  I really didn’t care about food until I was married and Matt and I became obsessed with chef culture and technique and the origins of recipes and how to do something from scratch.  Then, I really didn’t pursue cooking until we had Olive. And by pursue I mean, cook every single meal, every single day of the week except for Saturdays.  I started to feel like my biggest source of joy and peace was found in the kitchen.  I feel more confident there than I do anywhere else.  Cooking, for the most part, makes sense to me, and it makes people happy and heals sickness and just generally brings people closer together.

In the past year, I’ve posted 132 times, I’ve had one recipe pinned over a thousand times on Pinterest and I even got to shoot a little segment on a local access show called 24 Frames, which I am dying to share with everyone once it becomes available online.  When I started this blog, I gave myself the goal of posting a couple times a week for one year and I am happy to have met that goal!  I plan on continuing and I’m happy no matter what happens.  If everyone stops caring about this blog tomorrow, I will carry on because I love cooking, I’m cooking every day, anyway, so why not photograph and document it, and I love having a history of recipes from my family to look back on.  This coming year holds many new adventures, as well, and I’m looking forward to them as they develop!

Thank you for the fun ride, for making me feel super special and a special thank you to my friend, Katrina, who said over one year ago, “Um, why aren’t you writing a food blog, already?”  Love you, Katrina.  🙂