🥳Happy New Year!🥳 I’m just popping in for a quick update about what the new year will hold for this lil blog. I also want to do a roundup of my top five favorite books from 2023 (because I read sooo many exceptional books and can’t help sharing the crème de la crème). Let’s begin!
So long, 2020! Don’t let the door hit ya on the way out! 😉
I’m SO psyched for the new year. After spending the past four years publishing two books, having two babies, and moving to a new house, 2020 was gonna be my “rest year.” Let’s all take a moment to have a hearty laugh over that one. 😂😂😂
This year, I’m committed to taking it easy. No big project plans (not right now, anyway). However, there is ONE thing I really want to make happen: the return of full menus on the blog! If you’re new around here, you may not know that I used to make a recipe every week (each Book of the Month got a 4-course meal). With all the big projects and life changes that came my way, I decided two years ago to reduce my blogging schedule to 1 recipe/month.
It was definitely the best decision at the time, but now it’s starting to feel limiting. Plus, doing a 4-month recipe series on fiction-inspired cookbooks showed me that I could definitely pull off 2 recipes/month without feeling too stressed.
So here’s my plan: a new recipe every 2 weeks, a new book every 2 months. Each book finishes with a 4-course meal just like it used to, but in 2 months instead of 1. This will give me a chance to return to the format I love while still taking it easy.
Although I have no huge project plans, I’ve got some ideas for smaller changes/additions I’d like to make to the blog. Some are ideas for non-recipe posts that might pop up intermittently when I have time; others are user tools I’d like to add, provided you guys think you’ll find them valuable. I’d love to get your input on the stuff I’m considering, so I’ve shared a survey below. Thank you in advance to everyone who chooses to participate. I love hearing your feedback!
Hello, folks! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Just checking in to do a post-Christmas update to January blog plans, then I’m off to thoroughly enjoy a relaxing cup of tea and downtime with the kids. 😊
As many of you may recall, I’ve chosen Hans Christian Andersen as my next recipe inspiration, and I’m taking a poll to determine which of his stories I should make recipes for (you can vote here—poll closes January 1st!). I’ll make recipes for whichever 3 stories get the most votes, and I’ll post 1 recipe per month in January-March. Lots of you have been voting, which is amazing! Thank you! 😀
Hello, folks! Happy 1st day of Advent. My manuscript deadline fast approaches (Jan. 1st—EEK!), so I’m taking a day to relax before crunch time begins in earnest. This morning I’m enjoying the first tea from the Adagio Teas Advent calendar I got for my birthday and basking in the calming glow of a candle I scent-mixed myself at RiverFront Candle Co. a couple months ago while visiting my sister. The candle is a mix of bourbon, burnt sugar, and leather, and I named it “Brûlée and Books.” ^.^ Here’s to one last quiet morning before I dive deep into book edits! * clinks glasses with you from across the internet *
In the spirit of a new season, I wanted to reflect on the year a bit, share blog plans for the future, and give you a chance to weigh in on my first few recipes of 2020.
With a new baby, new house, and another cookbook to finish, this year has been one of blessings and chaos. Although it was my original plan to go back to my old posting schedule next year (1 recipe/week), I think I really need to take a breather. I’ve decided to stick with the new 1 recipe/month schedule for 1 more year. Hopefully I’ll be able to go back to creating full menus after that (there are so many more I’d like to do!).
I also want to take next year to think about the future of the blog as a whole. With two small children and two books to promote, I don’t want to stretch myself too thin, but I also don’t want to abandon a blog that has been a vital creative outlet and skill builder for me for the past 6 years. This may mean changing the focus and format of the blog in the future, perhaps pivoting to focus on integrating cooking into homeschooling or experimenting with historical cooking techniques and ingredients in the modern home. I may create a survey about this next year to gauge your interest on different subjects. As much as I want to take the blog in a direction I’m passionate about, it’s also important to me create content that has value to you. After all, I’m not just talking to myself out here! 😉
But enough seriousness. It’s time for some fun stuff! Do you remember last January when I did a Grimm’s Fairy Tales menu and let everyone vote on which fairy tales to use? Next year, I’m doing it again, but this time with Hans Christian Andersen! I’ve posted a poll below (plus others on Twitter and Facebook) where you can vote on which Andersen tales you’d like to see me make recipes for. The polls will be up the entire month of December, and you can vote in each poll once, giving you a total of 3 votes. At the end of December, I will tally the votes and make recipes from the top 3 winners. Since I will continue posting once a month, the recipes will go up Jan-March.
Cast your vote, dear readers! May the best fairy tale win. 🙂
NOTES:
- It is possible to vote for multiples (but no more than 3).
- If you decide to add a new fairy tale to the list, be sure it's from Andersen and not Brother's Grimm.
- If you change your mind, don't worry! The poll is set up so you can change your vote if you want.
Howdy, folks! I’m writing an extra post this month share some wonderful news!
Some of you may remember I changed my blog schedule this year to allow extra time to work on a “super secret project.” As of today, that project is secret no more. The time for the big reveal has come!!! Ready?
……*DRUMROLL*……
Merry Almost Christmas, everybody! Today I’m putting the finishing touches on gifts and getting ready to hunker down for the last remaining weeks before we bring the Little Miss into the world. In the meantime, I’ve got some exciting life updates to share with you guys:
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As many of you may remember, my cookbook A Literary Tea Party was nominated in the 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards. The winners were announced at the beginning of the month, and I’m thrilled to say I placed 4th in my category! 😀 There was some tough competition—including cookbooks from Ina Garten, Bobby Flay, and Giada De Laurentiis—so getting 4th place was really exciting for me. I flailed about it on social media quite a bit, but this is the first chance I’ve had to announce it on the blog. Thank you SO much to everyone who voted! 🙂
Pssst! If you’re looking for a last minute Christmas gift, you can still get my book before Christmas if you order through Amazon!
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In my pregnancy announcement post, I mentioned plans to approach next year in 3 phases: hiatus, 2 posts per month, then back to full schedule by the end of the year. I recently had a big blog-related project come up that I need to start working on ASAP, so the plan has changed some. I can’t give full details about the project yet since it’s not officially official, but I should be able to shower you all with the awesome news by early spring. 🙂
As for 2019 blog plans, I’ll still be on postpartum hiatus for January-March. I scheduled some past posts to republish on Thursdays so it won’t be a total dead zone around here, but I don’t know how often I’ll reply to comments and such. After March, my plan is to do 1 post per month for the rest of the year. With 2 kids under 3 years at home, I’m gonna need the extra time for Operation Super Secret Project! 😉
There’s a silver lining, though: you guys get to pick what I make for the monthly posts! If there’s a food you’ve always wanted to see featured on the blog, shoot me an email through the Chat with the Chef page! It can be a specific literary recipe (like, say, the Queen’s tarts from Alice in Wonderland), or if you want to see a certain book featured but don’t care which food I pick, you can tell me about that too.
And you can start sending your requests now! I want to build up as many ideas as possible before March so I have the option to work ahead (and time to read the book, if it’s one I haven’t read). So if you’ve already got something in mind, send it my way! 😀
Hi, everybody! I’m back again with more updates regarding my cookbook, A Literary Tea Party!
Hi, everybody! I took the Little Mister with me to vote in the midterms yesterday, and I gotta say he was a total champ (the free baggies of candy they were giving out to “future voters” helped too 😉 ). But now I’m ready for some FUN voting. Luckily for me, the second round of the Goodreads Choice Awards has officially begun! And my book, A LITERARY TEA PARTY, is in the semifinals! ???
Many thanks to those who voted in the opening round, and thanks again for your continued support. Voting for this round is open until November 11th. You can cast your vote here. Ten books will be eliminated in this round, so competition is fierce!
I’ve hinted a few times over the past several months about some big news I wanted to share. It’s been hard to keep it a secret, since it’s been a major contributing factor to my difficulty with keeping up on blog stuff, but I wanted to wait until the time was right to spill the beans. That time has finally come, so here’s my big announcement:
Hey, everybody! Life has been WILD for the past couple months. I’ve had a hard time doing any blogging apart from my weekly recipe posts, but now that things are settling down, I want to touch base with you all and let you know what’s new!
First things first…