Well hello Into the Dish.com! It’s been over a year since my last post and I am so looking forward to coming back. But I’m going to do it different this time. Because the first go around wasn’t working for me. Here’s why:
Over two years ago, I had a dream to start a food blog. I don’t know exactly where it came from or even why I made room for it, but for whatever reason, night after night I’d find myself plotting and planning this little blog. I was excited to learn how to build a website. I was looking forward to joining the community of other fellow food lovers and exploring the world of possibilities that being food blogger would open up.
Soon, the dream had legs and I was spending hours each week turning the dream into reality. I committed to a great digital marketing course, learned all about google optimization, social media, paid ads and affiliate sales. I watched my site traffic grow and felt a great deal of pride for having “figured out the formula” to making money on my hobby site, or “side hustle” as it’s known in the online biz world. I was officially part of the food blogging community. Into the Dish.com was going to grow!
For almost a year, it was magic. I was energized and loved the work, sneaking in as often as I could. But then suddenly, it wasn’t magic anymore. Over the course of a few weeks, I watched my enthusiasm and interest in cooking and writing about food go out the window. I was devastated.
It turns out that there is more to food blogging than just making yummy food and posting the results on a functional website. For starters, self-promotion is key. In order to drive traffic, bloggers have to promote their posts shamelessly on social media. I needed likes, shares and followers. I had to engage with friends and strangers….a lot. I had to really put myself out there and instead of that energizing me, it was bleeding me dry. I felt constant pressure to post weekly, to come up with fresh ideas and the “best recipe” for xyz. As if the world needs another best recipe for xyz!!! The time that it was taking me to do that, at a level that I was proud of, was more than my family and I could afford.
So I stopped.
But eventually I missed my hobby, and deep down I knew that this site would come to life again – the only question was when and how. A year later, I am happy to say I return with new clarity and vision for Into the Dish.com.
So moving forward, this site will NOT be a business, but rather my very own online food journal that I will be comfortable sharing with others (should others happen to find me, ’cause I’m not getting back in to the social media circus!!). It will be a place for me to record my learnings. When I get a bee in my bonnet and research something to death, I will put my findings on this site. Remember the post about why meat sticks to the grill? Stuff like that. Or when I have a really, really good recipe like Crazy Cake or Pressure Cooker Hamburger Soup or this No Mayo Potato Salad with Dill, Cucumber and Green Onions, I will memorialize it here. Or if I’m feeling philosophical and want to share my opinion about something in the food world, like how taking the pressure off of the family dinner actually brought my family closer together, I will do it here.
Plus, I’m taking the pressure off. No self promotion and social media building. No fancy pictures and optimized content. Recipes may be loose, acting more as guidelines and inspiration. I will be honest when I’m estimating – be warned that I will include additions of “a little bit of this and a little bit of that” so you will have to use your own judgement on occasion if you choose to follow them. On the days that you need a sure thing, do what I do and stick with the pros the first time you make something to avoid disappointment. Go to Barefoot Contessa or Best of Bridge or America’s Test Kitchen and follow the recipes step by step. They are amazing resources and I use them regularly.
So there you go. If you have stumbled back on to Into the Dish.com, thanks for joining me. I’m excited to be back and look forward to new inspired mealtimes for us all. And if “for us all” means only my family and close circle of friends, I’ll be fine with that this time around 🙂
Sincerely from the kitchen,
C.