Sweetpaprika Turns Two

Victor, Phyllis and Bill

Saturday marked the second anniversary of my food blog.  Two years ago, June 4, 2009, after thinking about it, moaning and groaning about how to get started, procrastinating and urging a couple of computer savvy friends to walk me through the steps to  kickoff, I finally published my first post, a Blood Orange Martini along with a so-so photo which I thought was very good at the time.

So here it is two years and 160 posts later, and honestly, I am somewhat amazed that I feel like the Energizer Bunny that keeps on going.  I don’t want to focus on the number of visitors I’ve had because I’ve come to realize that what’s important is the quality of my blog.  I think that translates to nobody’s reading my blog.  I honestly don’t know if the 22,000 hits I’ve received is impressive or, by other bloggers’ standards, a drop in the bucket.  I love receiving comments and I respond to them, but I don’t get many.  I’m really thankful to the visitors to my blog.

I read articles about successful food blogging.  One piece of advice is to be chatty.   My blog seems to be a little more formal than most in that respect.  It’s just my style.  I like to get to the point.  I’m enthusiastic about my recipe and I want to get on with it.  I pretty much stick to a once-a-week schedule, although I’ve averaged greater frequency than that.

I only post recipes I consider blogworthy, that is, nothing run-of-the-mill, but above-the-cut.  I post recipes I consider special. I like to take a familiar recipe and improve it and explore cuisines that are new to me.  If I adapt a recipe, I document and give credit.

I know my recipes work.  They inspire me to make them again and again.  Marketing is not my forte, but cooking, developing recipes and writing are.  I love blogging.  I’m not looking for it to “pay off” eventually.  It’s the process.  That’s what it’s all about.

My blog has been bolstered along the way by the awesome photos of Bill Brady and the food essays of Victor Ribaudo.  The three of us developed a partnership about a year ago.  Their contributions have truly raised the bar and given me a challenge to rise to their professional standards.