TBT: My Favorite Posts Over the Last 5 Years

{doing a happy pie crust dance, circa 2011}

It's hard to believe, but this past weekend marked 5 years since I started The Avid Appetite. 

5 years.

We all know how quickly time flies, and well, these last 5 years certainly have. I started blogging as a way to work some creativity into my life. I had always been a writer and had dreams of becoming a journalist, a novelist, a screen writer, a TV writer. Instead, I became a blogger and it's enriched my life in so many ways. Not only did it help land me a job all those years ago (because I finally had real writing samples!) that would become a career that I love and look forward to each day, but it has also been with me through some of the biggest and most special moments of my life. 

{we rang in TAA's 2nd birthday with this dainty little cupcake}

I don't usually make a big deal about blog anniversaries, and some years have gone by with nary a notice. But this year, I've taken some time to reflect on just how important this blog is to me. It's documented my journey as a writer, as a cook, a baker, a wife, a friend, a daughter, and as a mother. And though there are waves of time when I leave the blog alone, when days or weeks may go by without a post, I'm always thinking about my blog and how to make it better; about what new content I can share. How can I keep it interesting? How can I find the motivation to write? How can I squeeze in the time to make this a great place for friends to come and feel at home, when I feel as though there just aren't enough hours in the day? It's not easy, but I do it because I love it. I can't imagine my life without it, or without all of you who come and read and interact and comment and who have become friends to me. So please, don't stop stopping by. Even if you read and don't comment (I know there are a lot of you out there!), I hope that you enjoy what I put out into the world, and that some of my posts have added something to your life. And I want to say Thank You. Because you've added something to mine. I look forward to comments and interaction more than you know. I love that I've become real life friends with other readers and bloggers. What a wonderful community this is!

For today's Throwback Thursday, I thought it would be fun to spotlight some of my own favorite posts over the last 5 years of The Avid Appetite. I hope you enjoy!

Food Stuff:

If you are in the market for a great party platter, try a rustic cheese board

I really miss making this roasted shrimp with fennel & feta

These individual egg cups are still a breakfast staple in our house

I often refer back to this lightened up, simple turkey meatloaf for dinner

It's almost Irish soda bread season and this is the best one I've ever had

One of my all-time favorite fails: this green velvet Jets cake

I fell hard for these cookie butter M&M bars

Layered Oreo cakes bars will make you the star of any party, any time

One of my all-time favorites: loaded butterscotch blondies + salted chocolate glaze

A beautiful, pillowy summertime treat: pineapple coconut dream bars

Please give me pretzel-crusted brownies with fluffy buttercream everyday until the end of time

These lovely malted chocolate cupcakes that I made for my Mom's birthday a few years ago

Blue velvet Giants cupcakes for their Superbowl run

Dexter season premiere cupcakes that got a lot of buzz

One time I threw a True Blood theme party

 I almost forgot about these chocolate-dipped fruit pops in marshmallow sauce

Celebrate St. Patricks Day with these chocolate stout mini cakes

12 go-to kitchen tools; this list still rings true in our house!

How I helped my BFF make 350 truffles for her engagement party

Individual red velvet Oreo cheesecakes --->perfect for Valentine's Day

 

Non-Food Stuff:

When do you start feeling like an adult? Now that I'm a Mom, I do feel like one. Sometimes.

Our dream destination wedding in Aruba

We bought an apartment

We're having a baby!

Enjoying our 'lasts' before baby

Penelope Jane's birth story, part i, ii, iii

Penelope's first birthday --->this already feels like so long ago, and we are approaching her 2nd birthday in just a couple of weeks!

The ugliness of Mom judgement (or: why can't we all just be friends?)

Traveling with a toddler or kiddo? I have 35 tips for toddler airline travel

10 things to know about sending your kids to daycare

9 tips for all of you new parents out there

Here's a quick look at a day in my life

...and finally, the very first post that started it all.

There are so many, many more posts that I could add to this list, but these are just some of my all-time favorites! I hope you've enjoyed reading them as much as I've enjoyed writing! Please continue hanging out with me!

xo,

Rachel

Two Years Ago I Started a Blog

Two years ago, I started a blog.

I can't believe that it's been two whole years...and yet, I can't believe it's only been two years.

 

I started The Avid Appetite as a place to explore my love of food and to have an outlet for writing, a passion that I've had for as long as I can remember.

And at first, that was all that I wanted it to be.

It's grown and evolved so much over the last two years. I love telling you how just simply have to make a new recipe that I cooked up...but I also love telling you about things I love in my life, all about how Shaun and I celebrate our anniversary or spend the holidays, about the embarassing amount of television that I watch...and a whole lot more.

If you would have told me two years ago that I'd have created and/or adapted and written over 160 recipes, I would have fallen out of my chair with laughter. As I've always told you, a mere three years ago I couldn't cook to save my life. Simply cooking a chicken cutlet seemed like a major culinary accomplishment (and it still is!).

I've made a lot of fantastic blog friends and reader friends. I've received the sweetest comments and emails. These things have by far been the #1 best thing about blogging! Seriously, I know I don't respond to comments usually (only because my blogging host, Squarespace, doesn't have this function!), but I do read each and every single one and do a little happy dance when I see them in the morning.

The bottom line is that I've really loved blogging over the last two years! I hope that you've enjoyed reading The Avid Appetite as much as I've enjoyed writing it! Here's to another year ahead, with more food, more cupcakes, and more friends!

xo,

Rachel

Our First Blogoversary + Celebratory Giveaway

I’m so happy today because yesterday marked The Avid Appetite’s 1st birthday! I wanted to share this article yesterday, however, with big changes in our eating, I had to just push it off a day. I’m thrilled and a little in disbelief that this little blog is a year old. How did a year go by so fast? I feel like it was just yesterday that I was reviewing site designs and functionality (for hours upon obsessive hours).

I thought it would be fun to share a little behind-the-scenes stuff with you about what goes on here in the avid kitchen. Oh and scroll down to find out about our giveaway in celebration of the big blogoversary!

10 Things You Might Not Know About The Avid Appetite
1.  TAA is a recreation of my original blog, Between JC & Manhattan, which focused on my exploits in and around New York City (though there was a lot of food involved). There were hardly any recipes on there until its final few months when I was already working on relaunching the site to be more food-focused.

2. Until very recently, I literally received 0.00 comments on my articles. The only ones I did receive were from my sisters (Kimberly has commented on almost every post I’ve ever written), my mom and Shaun, who would comment under different aliases so that I’d think it was a random reader. Love them all for this.

3. The design of the site was done by a friend and ex-colleague from my Sesame Street days who used a photo of my Anthropologie apron as inspiration for the color palette and pattern. When she came up with the logo I literally squealed with excitement. I adore its whimsy and playfulness.

4. Shaun and I brainstormed the name of the blog for months. Painfully, I might add. Shaun would send a list of names. I would send him a list of names. Repeat. Again and again. None of them felt right. When I suggested The Avid Appetite it was like the skies opened up and started singing ‘Hallelujah!’ because we found ‘the one’!

5. I often take many, many photos of every dish that I make. Like 10 from every angle. This has led to a serious overload on my Mac Book and I have since had to get an external hard drive just to house my photos. I hope that once I get better with the DSLR I can cut down on the number of photos I take. But using the DSLR is so fun, that it’s probably unlikely this will ever happen.

It took sooooo many photos to get this just right.
6. Speaking of photos, Shaun often has to wait extra long to eat dinner and sometimes dinner even needs to be reheated before we eat since it takes such a long time to get just the right photos that I want. I’m not crazy, I just like things the way I like them.

7. Readership has grown about 6 times of what it was last January. Yowzah! I’m so thankful for each and every single reader, I can’t even tell you how exciting it is to get comments on the site or in person about the blog. I do put a lot of time, energy and effort into creating solid content for you guys, so it’s extremely exciting and rewarding to see how far we’ve come in just one little year.

8. I’ve made lots of blog buddies! This is one of my favorite aspects of blogging. I have virtually met so many fantastic bloggers and I hope to one day meet some of them in person!

9. After cooking up 83 {!} recipes this year for you, I have a whole new view on celeb chefs. While some of them I admire, think are fab and just want to hang out with for a while (Ina Garten, Tony Bourdain, Mario Batali), others I’m a little over. They’ll remain nameless except to say, really?

Ina's chocolate cupcakes. She never fails me.

10. I’m always blogging - 24/7, even when I’m doing other things. I like to say that it kind of takes over my life at times. Though through any of the unmotivated moments, failure to receive comments, botched recipes, wasted money on said botched recipes, I wouldn’t give up this blog for the world. It has become the most rewarding and gratifying hobby that I could ever imagine enjoying! So a giant thanks to everyone who reads and comes back for more!!

Now for the giveaway part. To celebrate TAA’s birthday, I’m giving away something that I am currently digging: Rocco DiSpirito’s Now Eat This! Cookbook! I'm semi-obsessed.

I won this in Heather’s giveaway and I truly adore this book. I have made the buffalo chicken tenders and penna alla vodka and cannot wait to make them again and again. So I thought I’d do a pay-it-forward of sorts (but with a new book, you can’t pry mine from my cold lifeless body). I’ll also throw in some other surprise goodies as well, so be sure to enter. Here’s how it works:

You can enter the giveaway starting now!
The deadline to enter is Thursday 1/20 at 6pm EST.
To enter, simply leave a comment! Any comment ya like!
For an extra entry, like us on Facebook and leave yet another comment telling me that you did so (shameless self-promotion, booyah!) Oh, and if you already like us on Facebook, just leave a note about that too :)
The winner will be announced on Friday, with the giveaway shipping out on Monday morning.

So there you have it. A little Happy Birthday to us, if you will! I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading over the last year as much as I’ve enjoyed sharing with you :)

-Rachel