Happy Anniversary! What’s cooking? You tell me...

Well, folks, it’s been SEVEN YEARS since I began intruding on your food thoughts. Seven years and almost 300 postings. Ye gods and little fishes!

When I started this blog, I thought it would just be a fun thing to do, a way to keep my writing “chops” up to speed. I’d been writing personal essays for various magazines and newspapers, and moving from New Jersey to Texas made me think I should try something new. My most recent essays in The New York Times (click here: Essays to read them) had been food related, and I’d heard about blogs, so I figured, “What the heck? I’ll start a food blog.” It wasn’t until too late that I realized how hard I’d have to work to find and test recipes, stage and take the photographs, and then make a story of it all.

But it turns out that I really like this gig. I’ve learned an incredible amount – not all of it useful, mind you, but most of it interesting. I’ve enjoyed learning about the staging and photography bits, and I’ve met a lot of really nice people who, as it happens, are also food bloggers. And I’ve connected with many of you even when I didn’t know you before.

So here I am, 298 posts later, and still going. The energizer bunny of the over-50 (let’s be kind) blogging community. I’ve covered everything from allspice to za’atar (oh, wait – that’s an upcoming post), and from asparagus to zeppole. When I wasn’t talking about food, I’ve elaborated on napkin folding and candles and table decorations, on cast iron and rasps and glasses for dessert wine. And while I try not to get stuck on any one style of cuisine – ok, I’ll admit to an extraordinary fondness for Italian cooking – it’s hard to know if I’ve overserved you on desserts or soups or... whatever.

So here’s your chance. Tell me if there’s something you’d like to hear about. More desserts? More veggies? Some odd substance – kombu? pumpkin seed oil? miso? dried lemons? – that you discovered in your pantry and have no idea what to do with it? My grandmother’s apricot tart recipe?

Food has long been a way I connect with family and friends. Now it turns out that writing about food is equally important in connecting with you, my readers. I’m truly thrilled when I hear that someone reads what I write or makes a dish I feature. So if there’s something you want to see here, jump in. You can comment below, or on the Spoon & Ink Facebook page. And on we go...

P.S. I do have a post with a recipe coming this weekend. So stay tuned...