Happy New Year. Another new year and the tenth new year for this blog. Gawd. Maybe it’s Holiday melancholy or maybe it’s life bearing down on me. But sometimes the thought of pecking one more word into this keyboard makes me wonder why I blog at all. After all, I’m the primary caregiver for my partner’s elderly mother. There’s an argument to be made that at this stage of my life there are things more important than a food blog. Even a food blog I love.
And yes, I do still love it, though it’s easy to look back over this past year and tell myself that there’s much to feel gloomy about in today’s crazy online world. Especially if this were a political blog. Or even a fashion blog. I mean 2017 is the year that brought us those tacky Trump ties that hang well below his belly, and of course Man Rompers…
Thankfully, however, this is a food blog. Most of us food bloggers, I’m proud to say, have done a respectable job presenting delicious fare. Good for us!
So to celebrate that fact I’ve decided to try something I haven’t done since 2009 and 2010. A “Top Posts” year-end roundup.
I know you know what those are. You see a lot of them this time of year. Usually, these posts are based on a bloggers analytics and they represent the most popular posts of the year for a particular blog. It can be quite interesting from my wonky blog lover’s perspective. However, I didn’t really feel like delving into my numbers quite so deeply, so I decided to present my own personal five favorite posts of the year. Statistics be damned.
You can see my choices at the end of this post. Which is a kind of lazy way to do it I know, but as I was working on this project I started to wonder – does anybody really care what motivates me to blog?
Do I even know why I blog?
So before I get too far into this post let me say that I’m not looking for affirmation. I write this blog because I want to. It’s really that simple.
I say this because, whenever I think about shutting down this little blog an enduring image pops into my brain. It’s a memory of my mother standing on one leg like a flamingo in our suburban Michigan kitchen about 1972. I’m just a shy guy in grade school, hanging out with my mother – trying to avoid the rowdy neighborhood kids.
I don’t know if her stance was some throwback to her childhood passion for ballet, or if she just found this pose to be comfortable. But there she was, in short shorts, standing in the kitchen left foot crooked up and resting just above the right knee. Forming her legs into a perfect representation of the number four. She’s leaning over the counter (still on one leg) reading a book. That book is Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
Long before Julie Powell began to teach herself to cook by blogging her way through this classic, my mother had decided to master the art of French cooking all on her own, with no audience (save me).
My mother loved to cook, no matter how much she complained about it. I mean here she was, a busy (doctor’s) wife and a (shy gay son’s) mother with all kinds of obligations I can only imagine, taking the time to read a cookbook. And I mean read it like a novel (bookmarks and all). I’d never seen anyone do that with a cookbook before.
Most of the kids I grew up with did not venture beyond meat and potatoes, spaghetti and meatballs, or mac and cheese. But that was not my experience, or at least the sum total of my experience. We ate everything. I mean considering the times, my brother, sister and I were kids with pretty sophisticated palates. But my mother could also be a bit of a pop princess. She dressed like Mary Richards (she and Mary had the same figure). She rocked to the Eagles, Elton John and Queen. To my pre-pubescent horror, my mother wore bikinis. Other mothers did not wear bikinis.
She was “with-it” in other ways too, even when it came to food. High trends (sake, sushi, fondue, Cuisinart) and even low trends (Jell‑O salad, smiley-face cookies, and crunchy tacos) none of these escaped my mother’s attention and curiosity. Hence we kids were exposed to all of this as well. Yes, even sake.
What I am trying to say is this: you don’t realize the imprint these things make on you. I mean, there I was just a kid watching my mother read a cookbook so I could avoid team sports and the beginnings of a long thread were being formed. It takes time and requires some distance, but eventually, you understand that the thread was left for you to pick up and follow. If you are able to knit that thread into the fabric of your life then you’ll know what happiness is.
Why I Blog
I come to this place in my life and this blog after doing so many other things – both professionally and personally. If ten years ago, someone had asked me why I blog about food I’d have probably answered, “I sort of fell into it.”
But that’s simply not true. I’d been preparing for it since I was a small boy.
I’d like to think my mother would have gotten a kick out of my blog. However, like an old-school journalist or some modern-day chef, she may not have particularly approved of my blog or even blogs in general. She was a woman of strong opinions. Though I’m sure I’d disagree with her. I’m a man of strong opinions. Sadly I’m left only to imagine what she might say if she saw these photos of my favorite blog posts of 2017. She passed away in 1993. Long before I ever saw the thread she left for me that led to this blog.
So, why do I blog? I don’t know, but I betcha I won’t quit in 2018. GREG
My five favorite posts of 2017 (plus one dessert!)
With no particular reason and in no particular order
Serve Swordfish (Again!) with a Simple Pan Sauce
Caprese Stacks with Candied Pancetta
Mexican Chocolate Made into a Tart
Resuscitated Breakfast Pizza: The Good, the Bad and the Delicious
Mapping Out Dinner: Scallops with Saffron Broth & Fennel
I know why you blog–because you’re too good to deprive the world! I bow to you, oh master of all creative media.
Greg, my mom read the dictionary the way yours read cookbooks — bookmarks and all.
know you’re not looking for affirmation, but like it or not, I must tell you that your blog has been one of my absolute favorites since I learned about it 7 years ago. Your five favorites from 2017 are all gorgeous and as with all of your recipes, I’m intrigued, impressed and hungry from your delicious ingredient combinations.
I’m sorry it was a trying year for you — I wish you a peaceful and happy new year. xo Valentina
I’ve been blogging for 10 years too. It’s crazy. Sometimes I think about stopping, but then that would make the 10 years seem like they were for nothing!
Greg, I enjoyed reading about your mother and the thread she left behind for your to pick up. What a beautiful tribute. I also really enjoy your blog and the beautiful food and other subjects you post about here! I can only imagine the amount of enormous about of responsibility, work, and love required with being the primary caretaker for your mom-in-law, but I’m glad you reserve time for yourself to blog and get out and about sometimes too. I love blogging too and it’s an amazing feeling to be able to share worthwhile knowledge, skills and good recipes with people I know and many more people I don’t. I appreciate the faith my readers have in me so much! 🙂 People come back to read blogs because they like the authors and they trust the information written into their posts. I always know I’ll see something fresh and beautiful when I visit you at Sippity Sup! <3 Somehow I missed that resuscitated breakfast pizza post…I’m totally gonna check that one out! Happy New Year!!
“If you are able to knit that thread into the fabric of your life then you’ll know what happiness is.”
A beautiful thought, gracefully shared. I stand like a flamingo, too. I am actually glad to hear I am not the only one.
What a lovely description of your mother. You have such wonderful memories, and you write about them so vividly. No wonder you have such a way with food.
I’m happy that you will continue with your blogging and this post is a perfect example of why I enjoy your blog. Not only do you have wonderfully photographed and delicious recipes, it is the stories that make it special.
Happy New Year! What a terrific post. And I question I ask myself often! Julia Child is responsible for a lot — it was her TV program that got me interested in food as a source of flavor, not just fuel (most cooking back in the 50s and 60s was pretty boring — at least the food I was exposed to). Great selection of recipes, too. Thanks!
Happy New Year to you! Believe it or not, I use to stand like your dear Mom in the kitchen throughout my teen years; my family called it a stork stand! But it sure does look like the number four!
I started blogging in early spring 2007 to document our kitchen reno, I discovered that I loved it so much, that in the fall, I continued under kitcheninspirations! To date, I have many dear blogging friends and have personally met 10 bloggers in person! It’s been quite a beautiful ride. In my humble experience, my blogging friends are polite and genuinely wonderful people. The weight of producing a post a week can be heavy but the times I can, I usually ramp up a few posts in advance that I can launch when I have a busy or stressful week; for example when we were in Arizona for November, I’m so glad I prepared four posts in advance because I ended up not having time down there!
I have thoroughly enjoyed your blog, recipes and word craft, you truly have a gift. Being a primary caregiver also means you must take time for yourself because if you don’t want to burn out, blogging is an excellent way to do it. I hope you can gain strength and feel the love from your many lovely readers. Here’s to a wonderful new year filled with love, happiness and your blog!
I’m glad you won’t quit because you’re one of my favorites…and it sounds like your mom was hip and cool. 🙂 After being away from blogging for a year it feels new and exciting again. (BTW, I need to upgrade my photo editing software–your pictures are so beautifully crisp and sharp on my screen!)
I’m going to carry that image of you watching your flamingo-stance mother reading Julia Child for a long time. 🙂
Love this post, Greg! Don’t give up blogging, and certainly don’t give up writing your wonderful stories. Hope you have a wonderful 2018!
Beautifully written! Thanks for the images — I thoroghly enjoyed this little vignette.
I hope you find time and energy to post in 2018!
Happy New Year!
Great post Greg, I can see your mother standing on one leg while cooking. I know she would have loved your blog and be so proud of you.
Happy New Year Greg! I love your post. It resonates with me as I ask, why am I still blogging and creating cookbooks at Bijouxs??
Quite frankly, I have been cooking my whole life, like you, and food runs deep.
I am happy you will still be blogging. Your recipes and insights are wonderful!
Here’s to 2018. Best from ~Bijouxs
Love that you wrote this post. I ask the same question most every day. Yet, you have expressed the exact reason I blog, to tell the stories that surround my food. Thanks so much for the perfect way to start the new year.
Your mom reminds me of mine. Unfortunately, she was in the throws of Alzheimer’s when I started blogging, but I know she would have loved reading it. P.S. Now I’m craving scallops and Caprese anything!!!
It’s so interesting the roads we travel that lead us to blogging — I’m so glad our paths crossed in these crazy 10 (8 for me!) years. I also think that our moms would have gotten along very well 😉
What a great post! I know why I blog — it actually combines all of my passions — cooking, writing, photography, and eating! When I think I can’t possibly come up with new and different recipes, all of a sudden stories come flooding into my brain. And then I have a dozen or so new blog posts based on those stories, experiences, or just another recipe from a new cookbook, or one I’d forgotten about. Blogging feeds my soul, despite the pun! Happy 2018 to you!
Oh, so many things to say about this post. I think our mothers were alike. Sometimes I think we are, too. My mom wasn’t as hip as yours, and I not nearly as much as you. But we both love our blogs and we both have great fun with food, and think it gives us a modicum of sanity. I am grateful for yours, and mine.
How did I miss the swordfish?? That looks fantastic. I did make the scallops, and the ragù (although I admittedly cut the pasta into pappardelle… mi dispiace!). I should have commented back on the ragù — it is so different from mine. Loved the use of tarragon (so underutilized in Italian cuisine — but it’s only grown in one region) and the fave. Quite tasty.
And I make a version of the caprese stacks. So, my resolution for the year is to make the swordfish and the tart. I like making resolutions on which I know I will make good. Thanks for a tasty year!