My Two Year Anniversary - Thank you!

This morning, I decided to double-check what my two year Blog Annivesary is.  With a gasp, I realized that it's today!  The cake photo is a "Tuxedo Cake" that I made a year ago.  It's made with my favorite chocolate cake recipe, and filled with a white chocolate mousse.   I never tasted the finished product, because I donated it to a church function. I have no idea why I don't post more baked goods on my blog.  I even took a cake decorating class, but I just can't seem to find the patience time to make fancy schmancy cakes!  See what I mean?

I have at least a dozen recipes I've photographed, but little time to edit the photos and write a post. So much for my brilliant plans I had-- like to post my favorite cake recipe... to write an updated bio of myself and to announce a CSN giveaway.  Alas, I have 15 minutes to write a post, and so my fingers are flying.   In case you've wondered (or not), I spend about 1 1/2 hours per post, creating a photo tutorial.  It's a labor of love, but I work full-time.  I just wanted to share some thoughts:

Like so many other food bloggers, I started my own blog as a place to store and share recipes with family and friends.  Little did I know that my blog would teach me so many things, such as:

• There are countless food blogs out there, and I have collected more recipes "to make" than I'll ever live long enough to make.  I'm so thankful for those of you who visit my blog on a regular basis.  The odds are, if you're on my SIDE BAR Blogroll (left side, towards the bottom), you feel like family to me. I'm so honored when I see myself on someone else's blogroll, too.  It is such an honor and thank you!
• There are so many food bloggers I am still getting to know.  If you leave a comment on my posts, odds are that I am coming to visit your blog.  I feel like I'm finding a treasure trove of folks who love baking, cooking, writing about food and photography as much as I do.  You inspire me to try new things. I love it.
• I am thrilled when someone tries one of my recipes, and takes the time to tell me.  It means a lot to me. Just so you know, I've been told that someone has made a recipe of mine and they didn't like it.  Interestingly, they usually are anonymous.  Otherwise, I wouldn't take offense, but it would be nice to find out what might have gone wrong!
• As I look back to my earliest photos, I'm determined to take new shots.  They are awful-- I have learned that flash photography makes food look ugly less appetizing. I have come a long way from using my inexpensive Fujifilm Finepix Point-and-shoot camera!  I am the owner of a spanking new Canon Rebel T1i EOS digital camera.  I'm still playing around with learning about white balance, ISO's and the bells and whistles that goes with it.  I can honestly say that as much as I love making a new recipe, it's photographing the process that I really enjoy.
• If I could afford to make a living at teaching people how to cook, I would.  Still I am thankful for my job, my salary and the benefits that come with it and I'll have to wait until winning the lottery retirement so that I can  blog more often. For now,  I'm lucky to blog once or twice a week.
• My husband has finally learned that when I yell "Dinner!", he waits for when I actually turn off my camera and put it away before he comes to the table.   Most every dish you see on my blog, is the "trophy plate" shot that ends up being served to my husband.
• My husband and son are the driving force behind my love of blogging.  I pour so much love into each recipe, and their opinion of how it tastes and looks carries so much value to me.  
• I'd love to go to a culinary school.  One day.  When my ship comes in. 
• Being a food blogger has opened me up to trying new recipes-- and particularly, something that challenges me to try an ingredient, or process, that is new to me.  I am retraining my palate to try eating things I thought I hated, for most of my life. I am completely self-taught, but I've learned so many of my tricks and tips from recording countless Food Network and America's Test Kitchen episodes.

(I've set myself up for the perfect way of saying that I want to share with you one of my favorite things-- in a scaled down Oprah Winfrey moment..)

I want to give one lucky winner a set of America's Test Kitchen DVD' s from Season 10.  I love this show! But, I also want to give the same lucky winner a one year subscription to Cook's Illustrated Online!  I have subscribed to Cook's Illustrated for years, and their recipes never fail me.  With an online subscription, you can look up, store and print the recipes you'll see on the DVD (and more).  I've posted several of their recipes and have more to share (back to the lack of free time problem...)  GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED!


I am paying for this myself, by the way. Nobody is sponsoring this giveaway! 

To enter, please leave a comment and tell me something most of us probably don't know about yourself-- that is,  tell me something funny kitchen disaster story, or about something that you've always wanted to learn how  to make, or even who is your greatest inspiration as a homecook or baker?  I'd like to get to know you a little bit better.  If you can't think of anything, just say hello, where you are from and why you like me. Okay, skip the third thing. Just say hello.  I'll give you an example about me-- something you don't know...until now... ready?

I have a habit of heating my dinner plates, in the oven, before plating food. Why? I don't like to serve lukewarm food! 

Okay, one more...

I alphabetize my spices.  Oh, c'mon, I know I'm not the only person who does that?! Am I?

Thank you for making these last two years so much fun for me. I have more giveaways planned, so if you don't win this one... there's more to come.

Back to work-- it's my 4pm to 8pm night shift.(Oh, and it took more than 15 minutes to write this, but under 30. Shhhhh)

Thank you for two years of friendship and fun,

****THE GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED AT 7PM PST****  I will announce the lucky winner tomorrow.