Classic Pumpkin Roll with Orange Cream Cheese Filling

It has been almost five years, since I began my humble little food blog. This coming Thanksgiving weekend will mark the official five year anniversary of "A Feast for the Eyes".  Being a food blogger can be a very time-consuming hobby/business. If you've read my "About me" page, I share who first inspired me, and why  I  wanted my own food blog, .  For the first year, I became obsessed with writing posts. I spent countless hours scouring cookbooks, watching Food Network and reading dozens of other food blogs-- on a daily basis.

Then the unspeakable happened to me, a few weeks ago. I found myself uninterested in my food blog. What???!!  Yes, folks, I lost my mojo.   I realized that I needed to devote what little free time I had to my marriage, and health, first. I began to feel as though I was a failure as a food blogger. I actually pondered quitting this blog. Yes, it's true.

Fortunately, my mojo is slowly coming back. I think that my June "Total Knee Replacement" threw me completely off.  For three months, standing for more than a few minutes was uncomfortable. Instead, I got hooked on Netflix TV series marathons, like "Breaking Bad" and "Scandal". The good news is, I'm back in the kitchen. I've regained my physical strength and most of my knee mobility again. There is no more pain, thank goodness.  All I need, now, is to find a better balance between my job, physical therapy, marriage and girlfriends that still allows me enough time to write blog posts.  Most likely, that means that my recipe posts will be fewer and farther in between. That means less blog income, and most likely, less sponsors for giveaways. But, we make our own choices and I think I've made the best decision for my family and health.

This pumpkin roll is something that I baked last year. The reason I waited a year to post this has two good reasons-- #1 - I was not happy with the finished photo.  This happens when it's Thanksgiving and there's family and friends around. I can't set up my photography lights, and find room to better set up a shot, when the counters are filled with dishes and leftovers. It doesn't help that I forgot to set my white balance, and the pumpkin roll photo was very yellow... it took a lot of photo editing to try and fix the shot. Not perfect, but it will do.  #2 - I completely forgot about this recipe, until I was organizing my hundreds of food photos, last week.

Back to my journey as a food blogger: I finally took the bold leap of upgrading my camera from a point-and-shoot to a fancier (and much more expensive) camera that had all kinds of dials and settings to learn. I have a mental list of my earlier photos that desperately need to be redone. Someday.  I found myself longing to be a better photographer, and buying food props, but I still felt that my own work never quite measured up to the Big Time Food Bloggers.

I've attended a few Food Blogger conventions, and taken classes in food styling, photo editing software, writing, social media-- and I've had the opportunity to meet celebrity chefs. It's been a lot of fun, but...  

... I've had to rethink what my goal is with this humble little blog of mine.  I realized that I was focusing too much time trying to build my audience, and would gauge my success by how many comments I had.  I began to feel guilty for not blogging several times a week, and that I would lose traffic because of it. I know food bloggers who make their living doing what is only a creative outlet for me. There's a lot of money to be made, as a food blogger, but it's a full-time job and a lot of hard work.

I think I've refocused my goal with my blog. At least, I hope so!  I want to cook and bake what appeals to me. I want to challenge myself to try techniques I've never done before. One of these days I'm going to bake macarons. Pinkie promise.  This pumpkin roll was the first time I've ever baked a cake and rolled it. (Where have I been?) Yes, like a jelly roll. Or a Roulade, if you want to sound fancier.  I couldn't believe how easy it was to make this cake! Until...

...I realized that I did not put enough powdered sugar on the towel, and the cake stuck and broke. However, frosting is like wall spackle. Frosting can hide a lot of flaws, and the evidence is delicious. In this case, I added orange zest and a little pure orange oil.  I love the combination of pumpkin and orange. Come to think of it, pumpkin and chocolate pair well. Pumpkin and ginger does well, too. Of course, I love pumpkin sweet or savory anyway.  Which is why it was easy for me to recommit to baking and cooking what I like. It's my blog, right?

So, here's how I repaired a cooled and broken pumpkin cake, by slathering it with orange cream cheese frosting. The baker's reward for slicing off the uneven edge is that it becomes your private tasting. I love this classic recipe.  So delicious, and this will become my annual Fall dessert. Love.

If you've managed to read all of my post, or just scrolled through the pictures, what I'm trying to say are two things. #1 - if you love pumpkin, and have never made this classic recipe, do it! It's one of the simplest cakes I've ever made, and it looks so pretty and festive. #2 - I don't plan to give up my food blog anytime soon.

Yes, I do make a modest amount of "pocket money" by having ads on my blog . I make a few dollars when people shop through my Amazon store.  I use this "allowance" to help offset the cost of ingredients, food props and to buy cooking and baking tools. I turn down a lot of offers to host a "giveaway" if I don't believe in the product, or I don't think it's a good match for my blog. Once in a while, I get lucky, and I have fun hosting a giveaway.  Still, these things don't pay my bills.  I can't quit my day job.  I'm not willing to give up paid vacations, holidays and my pension. 

I still want to work on improving my photography and I still plan to challenge myself to learn new cooking and baking techniques. I appreciate any comments that are left-- be it one or twenty. I've stopped feeling inadequate that I don't have 2000+ comments or have expensive prizes to giveaway. I need to get back to the heart of why I have this blog. It's not the traffic count, comments or monthly check.

This blog is for me-- to have fun with it. This blog is my creative outlet and as long as I am enjoying this, then it's this is the big payoff for me.  This blog is also for you-- I hope to inspire someone to try a recipe or technique that is new to them.

Those of you who have food blogs, I appreciate your support and love reading your recipes. Those of you who aren't food bloggers, but are thinking about it, do it!  Just have fun with it, okay?

I'm on vacation all of this coming week.  I hope to use my Staycation to get back into the kitchen, with my camera, and share some new recipes with you.  That is something I can get excited about!

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If you still can't view the recipe card, all of my recipes are stored on Key Ingredient, by clicking here.

Happy Fall!