My Blog Turns 15!
Fifteen years ago, when I was young and full of hope, I started a recipe blog.
It was called mykitchencafe.blogspot.com
If you recognize the blogspot address or either one of these original logos below, it means you’ve been around a long time…and…you probably deserve an award.
A few years after I started My Kitchen Cafe, I swapped out the blogspot address for a real, live dot com and it has been Mel’s Kitchen Cafe ever since (with no shortage of logo changes until I finally hired a professional, ha).
It would be impossible to describe all the changes that have occurred over the last 15 years. Both personally and in the internet/blogging landscape.
When I first started my blog, life looked a bit like this:
Whereas now, “life” has increased in the number of humans…and in wrinkles. 😉
Some days, it’s hard to wrap my brain around the fact that I’ve been sharing recipes in this space for 15 years. THAT’S A LONG TIME!
My kids don’t really remember life before “mom had a blog.” Sometimes, neither do I!
Funny story: when my kids were little, little, I’d spend our days doing kid/mom things and making a concerted effort not to be on the computer. However, the minute my kids went to bed, I would rush to my computer and do all the blogging “stuff” on my to-do list. Inevitably, as kids do, mine would wander out of bed and into the office to find me and ask for a drink or want to tell me a random story to delay bedtime or just sit on my lap for a minute (you know, because I HADN’T JUST SPENT THE WHOLE ENTIRE DAY WITH THEM). 😉 During this time, a teacher at church told me that one of my kids had announced to his class: “my mom likes to play games on her computer every night after we go to bed.” I didn’t know whether to laugh or feel mortified (both!). Turns out, all that time, my kids thought I was hiding in the office to play games when they went to bed! We had a quick family discussion about how mom goes into her office at bedtime to work on her food blog…not to play solitaire until the wee hours of the morning. 😂 But honestly, I think they still told their friends and teachers and friends’ parents for years that I was a late-night internet gamer.
Photo Growth
My kids’ shoe sizes and the number of animals we have acquired over the years aren’t the only things that have changed either. HAVE YOU TAKEN A DIVE INTO THE ARCHIVES TO SEE SOME OF MY OLD PHOTOS?
I mean, my goodness. Talk about before and after growth. 🤣
Things Change but My Motives Haven’t
I could write an entire blog post about how, outside of family life, things in the blogging world have changed so drastically over the last 15 years.
Over the years, the online world of food blogging has become less simple and more strategic.
Less relatable and more robotic.
Less carefree and more calculated.
It’s not all bad. It’s just different.
I started my blog as a way to share recipes with my mom and sisters who didn’t live near me. I never had any intentions of becoming a “full-time” blogger.
In fact, I was completely freaked out when a few months after I started putting recipes up on my blog I received a comment from a stranger saying they had made a recipe and liked it. I thought for sure that person was an internet stalker coming after my children.
Turns out, that first blog reader was a perfectly nice, normal human being who still follows my blog after all these years (hi, Kim!). Millions of readers have followed!
Years ago, I did a blog post called “This is Why I Blog”, and I could honestly repost that word for word because I still adhere to the same philosophies I always have about blogging. If you haven’t read that post, please do. It might give you some insight into why I am the way I am and why I blog the way I blog.
While blogging has changed infinitely over the years, my motives have not. Just like when I started putting recipes up on the internet late in 2007, my reasons I still do so are the same: to share my favorite, tried-and-true recipes with the world.
My blog started out as a hobby.
Now it is equal parts hobby and full-time job!
I never would have thought 15 years ago that my readership of about five people would grow into millions! What a tremendous, awesome opportunity and blessing it has been for me.
Some Fun Stats
For those who like geeky number-type stats, I thought it would be fun to share a few details/facts/numbers that help give a big picture look at Mel’s Kitchen Cafe!
At the Beginning (from about 2007-2010):
- Revenue/Income: $0
- Blog Visits: 50-1,000 per month
- Additional Employees: 0
- My Time: 10-20 hours/week
The Middle Years (2014-ish):
- Revenue/Income: part-time
- Blog Visits: 750,000-1,000,000/month
- Additional Employees: 1 part-time virtual assistant (5-10 hours/week)
- My Time: 30-40 hours/week
Current Years (2022):
- Revenue/Income: full-time
- Blog Visits: 3,000,000-4,000,000/month
- Additional Employees: 1 part-time virtual assistant (10-20 hours/week) plus a few contracted employees to help with videos/projects
- My Time: 20-45 hours/week
A Note About Income and Revenue
Things can get kind of weird when people talk about money (and heaven knows, I don’t want things to get weird between us!), but lots of people have been curious over the years if my blog makes money.
It does! But it didn’t always.
For the first several years, I made approximately zero dollars.
Around 2010, I started putting display ads on my website (first just on my own with Google Adsense and then with a long since outdated company, Foodbuzz through Federated Media). I remember literally falling over with excitement when I got a check one particular month for $125. I couldn’t believe I was getting paid that much to talk about recipes I loved!
I later changed ad networks to AdThrive and then switched to Mediavine in 2016 and have been with them ever since.
A VERY simplistic description of how ad networks, like Mediavine, operate is that they work directly with ad exchanges and companies to service and display all the ads you see on my website (and they work on the ad technology and gaining new ad customers so I don’t have to!).
I am paid based on a revenue split – meaning, I don’t pay Mediavine directly for their work servicing ads, rather, Mediavine and I split the revenue that comes from the ads on my site.
I can choose which ads I want displayed. Although that system isn’t always perfect, which is why you may occasionally see a questionable ad, like an alcohol ad, even though I have alcohol ads disabled in my ad settings. Please feel free to always report those ads, by the way! You can do that by clicking on the Mediavine logo in the lower right hand side of the ad and selecting “report ad” (see screenshot below).
Over the years as I’ve worked hard and traffic has increased and my ad structure has changed, my blog has grown to provide a full-time income for me and my family.
My income comes from: the ads you see on the blog, Amazon affiliate links (and L’Chef affiliate links when Bosch mixers are on sale), and Prepear menu planning subscriptions. I know ads can be annoying – and because of that, I only run about half of the ads available to me through my ad network – but those ads serve a purpose to help pay the costs of running and hosting a website, pay my employee and contractors, and compensate me for my work on the blog.
My Virtual Assistant(s)
I’m blessed in that my sister, Emily, is my virtual assistant! She started working with me in 2013 and she is a lifesaver. She schedules posts to Facebook, answers emails, works on Prepear menus, does tons of behind the scenes work updating recipes and categories on the blog, and more.
Her help allows me to focus more on recipe testing, taking all the photos, writing the posts, answering comments, interacting on Instagram, occasionally taking a nap, and maintaining the authentic voice here on the blog.
And since I’m deep in the middle of this acceptance speech (?? kind of starting to sound like one! haha), I would be remiss if I didn’t give a huge shoutout to my faithful partner and best friend. He’s the unpaid assistant around here.
Brian has been my biggest champion since the beginning. And as the resident taste tester (all those pictures on my blog with one bite taken out?? Yeah, thank Brian for that effort), he offers the support, compassion, brain gasoline, and endlessly patient listening ears that keep me and this blog putting one foot in front of the other.
The Numbers Game + Blog Visitors
2020 was a huge year for internet traffic. Because of the pandemic shutdowns and increase of at-home cooking, my visits per month were at a record high that year – nearly 10 million per month! But things have gradually slowed down and my traffic is actually less than it was a few years ago.
The thing is, I rarely check my stats. I can’t really tell you month-to-month how many visitors I’m getting or if it is waxing or waning.
The numbers game can be debilitating (both in traffic and with social media), and I’ve just chosen not to play it so that I stay better focused on my overall intentions. I monitor and check things out now and then, but I don’t dwell on it.
However, I did do a fun little check for this post to see where my visitors are checking in from!
United States: 81.38%, Canada: 8.35%, United Kingdom: 2.53%, Australia: 1.35%, South Africa: .56%, New Zealand: .36%, Philippines: .35%, India: .33%, Germany: .29%
The Right Way to Blog…Or Not
Many bloggers in this food space are intensely savvy. They do keyword research and create their recipe posts strictly around what Google wants (with the goal to get high up in search results). They network with companies (and each other) and grow virtual empires. They publish books and videos and create products.
It’s amazing to watch and see. I love it!
My strategy, which should come as no surprise, is more of the homebody, naturalistic, girl-next-door approach. Meaning: I don’t network all that much, I don’t do keyword research, I don’t do sponsored posts.
I make a recipe. I squeal in delight. I force my family to taste it and review it. I make it again. And likely, again. And then I post it for you, because if I don’t, I want be able to sleep at night.
That’s not to say I don’t work hard at this gig. I do! Blogging is a ton of work (certainly more than just taking a pretty picture of food and slapping it up online!).
I set priorities for certain projects (like email growth, etc), and I’ve always put high emphasis on staying up to date with SEO principles and technology updates, but at the end of the day, I’m still an old school blogger who just wants a space to share my favorite recipes with the world.
Which means sometimes I turn a blind eye to “best practices” and do my own thing. I don’t do this to be ignorant – it’s really just a survival skill to preserve my mental health and ensure I continue to keep blogging.
For me, this space, is about so much more than numbers and stats and money and notoriety. It’s truly about human connection and sharing good things with you.
A Day in the Life
My schedule has shifted and changed over the years. Now that all of my kids are in school full-time (and one has graduated high school), I try to get all my blogging work (particularly) computer work done during the day instead of staying up super late to tackle my to-do list.
I don’t set specific “work hours” but it naturally ends up that about two days a week are spent on the computer side of blogging. Writing and publishing blog posts, answering comments and emails, coordinating projects with my sister-VA, and working on other techy-stuff.
Once I get my kids off to school, I feed farm animals, do scripture study, write in my journal, exercise, and (sometimes) shower, before diving in to blog work from about 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. with laundry and other household/farm chores scattered in there.
Additionally, I end up spending another day or two a week bustling around the kitchen to test and photograph recipes (I use natural light, so right now during the winter, I have to get that done before 4 p.m.).
I usually make about 5-6 new recipes a week. Sometimes just for fun. Sometimes to test them (again) and/or take photos. I know, I need to get a life and/or diverse hobbies, but I can’t help it! I love food and making new recipes.
My kids always have Fridays off school, so I try to fit the blogging work in Monday through Thursday; however, inevitably there’s an evening or two that it spills over and I work in my office from 8 – 11-ish p.m.
I don’t shy away from saying I work from home or that I have a full-time job. But I do consider it a serious blessing that my job is this blog and that even though it requires hours and effort, I’m able to set my own hours and schedule.
And doing so allows me the flexibility to volunteer in my daughter’s class, do church and community service (right now I’m helping at a refugee organization, and it is life-alteringly rewarding), run errands when I need to, take a break from everything and help one of my kids or work on a house project, or just aimlessly waste time on the internet searching for watermelon carving knives.
To Sum it All Up
While my focus is mostly on really good recipes, over the years, I’ve also shared gift guides and Friday Thoughts (used to be Snapshot Saturdays!) and glimpses of real life.
At the end of the day, I’m a very average, real human who has a lot of highs and a lot of lows. And I don’t do a great job of pretending like those things don’t exist. Normalize real life. That’s my motto. 🙂
I have no idea how long I’ll continue to blog. If asked, some days my answer would be “forever” and other days the answer is more like “um, ask me tomorrow – I may have pulled the plug on the blog by then.”
The truth is, even with my laid back style, it’s hard work. Something is always going on (or breaking!) behind the scenes and there is a lot of management that blogging requires besides the delicious pictures of food and brand, new recipes.
I get tired and burned out.
But the reason I always, always end up sitting at my computer at midnight NOT playing solitaire 😉 is because of you guys.
Seriously.
It’s Because of You
If it weren’t for the real human connections I’ve made with you over the years, for the comments you leave and the stories and experiences you share, for the notes that tell me how a recipe has impacted your family or changed someone’s life for the better, for the hilarious anecdotes and the heartbreaking life experiences…if it weren’t for that, I’d be long gone.
I tell my family all the time that it’s ok I never leave my house because I have millions of friends online.
And, ok, I know that sounds completely weird, and if my kids said that back to me, I’d definitely get them professional help.
But.
It’s also true. Thank you for sticking around. For being my virtual friends. For making this a space that I want to come back to day after day.
Love your guts. 😘
Also, a special shoutout thank you to all of you who leave comments/ratings/reviews on recipes after you’ve made them. This makes such a huge difference! For me, and for those who scroll through comments to get ideas/variations/suggestions when they are planning to make the recipe. Thank you for taking the time to leave comments and reviews and ratings!!
What’s to Come
Well, first of all, count on the best of the best new recipes to continue popping up here! I have some exciting new recipes coming your way. My goal is to get you 4-5 well-tested, fantastic recipes each month in 2023.
Additionally, I’m planning:
- lots of updates to many of the recipes that have been on here for over a decade (not changing the recipe, per se, just updating photos and recipe notes, etc).
- some additional content projects that will likely involve hiring another assistant to help with marketing and development
- site updates and changes to make the website sleek, savvy, and even more SEO-friendly
- continuing with Friday Thoughts posts now and then
- and a few other things swirling around in my brain
I get asked all the time if I’m planning to do a cookbook. I have a cookbook started on my computer – some content, lots of ideas, etc. But every time I get close to signing a publishing contract or going the self-publishing (or hybrid) route, I can’t ultimately commit. It feels stressful and wrong. I think my biggest hangup is that my first priority is to continue to publish a wide range of amazing content on my blog, and I don’t think I can manage a cookbook and the blog. Additionally, I’m not sure I really have anything to offer the cookbook world that hasn’t already been done. So. We’ll see! Never say never!
Anything you are dying to see on Mel’s Kitchen Cafe? Let me know below in the comments! I love getting suggestions from you!
The End, Finally
And herein lies another extensive novel-like post about nothing all that important, which will surely garner some hate mail from those that “just want the freaking recipe already so stop blabbering,” but hey, 15 years in, it’s hard to change these long-winded stripes.
OK, BYYEEEE. 😘 Here’s to the next 15 years!
If you have any other questions about blogging or Mel’s Kitchen Cafe or just want to tell me about YOURSELF (yes! that’s a good plan!), leave me a comment below!
In case you didn’t clearly hear me earlier in the post: I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR YOU!
The Comments
Thank you for all of your heartfelt comments. They’ve made me laugh and cry. I’m just so grateful for each of you. For the good humans you are. The efforts you make in your own lives. The affirmations you’ve allowed me to feel that this blog is “more than just a blog.” I’m just very grateful to be here with all of you.
Thank you for all of your suggestions, as well! I keep a running list of things you would like to see on the blog, and I’ve taken note of all of them!
To answer a few questions coming through in the comments:
- Where do you get ideas for new recipes? I have so many recipe ideas swirling around in my head, it’s a miracle I ever get to sleep! I’m so anxious to share all of them with you! I find inspiration from recipes you share with me (I LOVE GETTING NEW RECIPES FROM YOU SO MUCH – thanks for sending them to me!). I also get inspiration from a few recipe magazines and social media. But a lot of my recipe inspiration just comes from me thinking about food nonstop and figuring out recipe mashups I want to make.
- How many times do you make a new recipe before posting it? At least twice, but for baking recipes, usually an average of 3-4 times (with some recipes taking a few more testing sessions).
- How many of your recipes are original or modified from other sources? There are a lot of both! Although I would submit that there’s probably no such thing as a truly original recipe anymore since there are so many recipes “out there” already. I always cite a recipe source if I’ve used a recipe as inspiration or modified it. But there are some recipes I’ve come up with on my own from all those ideas swirling around my head (and many other recipes from my childhood)!
- How adventurous are your kids when it comes to eating? My kids eat everything I make. They don’t always love, love certain ingredients (I have a tomato hater and a mushroom hater and a bean hater; they power through it), but they’ll eat it. I have two kids that love to try new things and will eat anything. They’re the ones at restaurants that order something unusual and fun and will dig into sushi with me and Brian. The other three go straight for the mac and cheese and chicken nuggets. 🙂
For just a moment I thought you were going to say you were done blogging. I had this feeling of panic – no, how will I continue to make good food. I’ve made pretty good food for most of my almost 60 years, but I’ve come to count on you for tried and true, really good recipes. May God continue to bless you for sharing your gift with us!
Love your blog. Love your recipes. Love your realness and your desire to be a resource and help to others. Been a follower for about 12 years or so! You’re doing a great work and your light shines bright in all you do – whether it’s posting recipes or sharing entirely different things.
Good job Ms, Mel. I love all your recipes when they via your newsletter. I love them all. Here is to another 15 years!
Your girl-next-door approach is exactly what my life needs. Thank you for bringing your life, light, wisdom, skills, and AMAZING food into the world every week! I’m a forever follower! ❤️❤️
Love love love this! I found you in 2010 when my house in the sticks only had dial up. I purchased a smart phone that year that had personal hotspot capabilities and felt so techy.
I spent hours in the morning after my husband left for work and before my 2 little little boys would wake up, looking through Google for recipe blogs. My sisters loved The Pioneer Woman, but with my slow internet (even on the smart phone) her site wouldn’t load because she had too many pictures. So I paged page after page on Google finding food blogs. I had 3-4 bookmarked back then, and truth be told, yours is the only one I ever subscribed too, and I don’t even remember who the other bloggers were.
We enjoyed (enjoy) your recipes, the banter, the long winded story telling. (I’m the same way)
My recipe binder is predominantly recipes from you!
Some favorites of the family:
Chicken with mushroom gravy
French bread rolls
Sweet and sour chicken
Buttermilk waffles
Super soft chocolate chip cookies
Drop Sugar Cookies
Sour Cream Banana Bread
And so many others. Thank you thank you! And if you ever quit, please give plenty of notice so I can print as many of these as I can! Haha
Congrats Mel! I’ve been here for a lot of the 15 years. The first few were drooling over your recipes in college and now I love trying new recipes from your site and sharing my favorites with my friends and family. I’ve learned so much from you!
I don’t know you, but I love you and your blog! You do us all such a service by providing us delicious, well tested recipes. And then inspiring us that we really can actually make bread, or cinnamon rolls, or whatever it is that we’re afraid to try. How wonderful is that?!
And, I love that you share your life experiences as they come – for good or for bad. Because that is what we are all going through, and it helps tremendously to hear that someone else is not having the greatest day either. By that I mean, that maybe we can get through it too. Even if it takes a while.
Anyway, your blog is the first place I turn when I am wondering what to make. You never fail me! So, thanks so very much and I’m excited to see what you bring us in the next 15 years.
I think I’ve been following your blog for pretty much all 15 years!! I love your approach to sharing the recipes, but more so, the genuine reality of life. I’m so grateful for all you’ve done, all you’re currently doing, and all you will do to help make meal times better for me and mine. You’re a good lady and I appreciate your efforts so much!!
Whenever I need a recipe for something I always check your site first. Our tastes are so similar and I credit you with helping me learn how to cook in the early years of my marriage. Thank you for everything!
Hi friend, I recognized every single one of those headers. My family and friends don’t even ask anymore for me to share a recipe, they just go straight to your website knowing it’s on there somewhere. Thanks for being my friend for, gosh I don’t know 14 years? Here’s to a lifetime of looking at your blog for those tried and true recipes. ❤️❤️❤️
Any time I make something new and it tastes delicious, my kids ask if it came from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. Even they know and love what you are doing! Always my go-to for every recipe.
Thank you for 15 years of yumminess and looking forward to many, many more.
What would we do without you, your recipes and personal posts?! I can’t remember how I found your site, but am so glad I did. All of your work is so very appreciated.
Congratulations Mel! I can’t believe it’s been 15 years! I know you were a few years in when I came along. Maybe 13 years ago? I know your site has gone through lots of changes in that time. Thank you so so much for all of your fantastic recipes! I basically search your site or Cooks Country (cooks illustrated) for a recipe and that’s it. Anywhere else seems like Russian roulette. It has been fun to watch your kids grow up. And live vicariously through you on your mini farm. I love the way you blog. If I had a food blog, I would do it the exact same way. That’s sort of how the philosophy I take with most things. With my quilting, my cooking, my gardening. It’s not worth doing if it’s going to cause huge amounts of stress. Thank you for putting up with the weirdos out there and continuing to show up and put out content. I don’t know how bloggers/people do it in this day and age. Some people are so weird and demanding. (Can I make 47 substitutions and have it taste the same?!) Sorry, I don’t think I would have the patience. Thanks for this space and still doing it long after a lot of others have thrown in the towel. If you ever did I wouldn’t blame you. I would be sad, but I wouldn’t blame you. We love your guts too! 🙂
Congratulations on your 15th year. I use your site frequently, and have never been disappointed with a recipe. Thanks for all you do!
I hope you know how much you’ve enriched my life and the life of my family. I’m an empty nester now but I use your recipes at least three times a week and the confidence you’ve given me in the kitchen is immeasurable. That’s trickled down to my sons who now use your recipes in their college apartment. If anything yummy comes out of my kitchen everyone knows there’s a good chance it’s a “Mel recipe”. I’m just really grateful for you and your blog. And you’re always so kind when you take the time to comment or like a message on here or Instagram. I think you’re the bees knees and I’m happy you’re here!
What would I do without your website?!? I feel like maybe I should be printing out all your recipes in case of some bizarre event shutting down the internet. Your recipes are essential to my family’s well being haha.
An idea for you: I remember you saying you made a booklet of simpler recipes and how tos when your son left home. I would love something like that to give my kids as they leave home. My eldest is a freshman in college, and I think she could really benefit from something tangible like that.
Thanks for your friendship, Mel!
Your blog has been my go-to recipe site for YEARS (probably 10 or more years). The only other “food blog” I regularly search is Sally’s Baking Addiction. I know I can count on you for “normal” food that my family will like and that won’t take 2 days to prepare. You are the source of BOTH of my cinnamon roll recipes, and 2 or 3 other recipes that have made it to a coveted spot in my recipe box. Thank you for this food blog! I am so glad it is able to help provide for your family, but I really appreciate how it feels more like a blog to share recipes than a business. Thanks again!
Thank you for teaching me how to cook! Truly, your recipes have taught me so much of what I know in the kitchen. Your first recipe that I tried was the giant chocolate chip cookie- the original post in 2010!- and you are still my favorite and pretty much only food blogger. I always tell my family if I die before writing down their favorite recipe, just check Mel’s Kitchen Cafe, chances are they’ll find it here!
and I am so grateful for you!!! The majority of my recipes that I get online are from you. You are so appreciated!!
Hey Mel! I’ve been around since 2008! Probably one of those initial creepers, and I have love, love, loved your blog since then! I always share it with everyone and I cook from it ALL THE TIME! So glad you are still around!
I remember when your site was a blogspot. You are the only “blog” I still follow. I love it. If you do ever decide to do a cookbook I’d love to have all of your current blog recipes in a hardcopy book. An easy go to option where I don’t have to pull out my phone. I’ve been creating my own cookbook recipes using Familycookbook project. There is an option to copy a recipe webpage and then it inputs everything into the cookbook after that one click. Maybe there is an option like that where you can copy your webpage recipes really quick? I would be more than thrilled to help convert your online recipes into book form because your recipes are pretty much the only ones I make anymore. 🙂 I know they always will turn out beautifully.
Just wanted to thank you Mel for being here. You’re a bright light on the internet and I’m always excited to see what you’ve posted- whether it’s a recipe or gift guide or Friday thoughts or book recommendations or whatever. Thanks for all the hard work and time over the years! ❤️
So weird that you posted a comment at the same time as me. My name is Melanie and my last name starts with C too. 🙂 So funny!
Whenever I cook something new, my husband views it suspiciously and asks who gave me the recipe. When I say “Mel”, he relaxes a bit and gives it a try. Usually with good results! I think he thinks we are actually real life friends. I feel like we are! Congratulations!
Like others, you have changed my life in a positive way, and I count you as a friend. I think about you every time I make one of your recipes, which is often, and give thanks for the effort and work you share with the world. So many of your recipes have become family favorites and I always check your site first when I’m looking for something new to make or to use a specific ingredient and you have never let me down! And you always have great product recommendations also. You are a blessing to all of us “unknown to you” people that you touch everyday and that are strengthened by the words you share and the genuine person that you are. I’ve never posted here before, but I want to thank you and let you know how you have blessed my life! Congrats! You are a friend and sister to us all!
I can’t believe how big your readership is. That’s. So. Cool!!
You are my one and only go-to online recipe source. You never fail me. Thank you.
I’ve been here almost since the beginning, and definitely love this blog. I’m always directing people here. My goal in life is to meet you in real life you’re famous in my house, since my kids know Mel is our go-to. There’s things I haven’t tried making yet, because you don’t have a tried-and-true recipe on your blog you’re the best!!
CONGRATULATIONS ON 15 years!
Cheers for another 15!
I enjoy your site very very much.
Fondly,
Connie
Congratulations on your acccomplishments over the past 15 years ! Thank you for all your hard work and sharing your love of cooking and baking! Thank your family for sharing you with us as well! Liz
Food Network, film this girl!
Mel! I found your blog probably about 7 or 8 years ago. It remains my go-to site for anything food related. We’ve been through a lot of food intolerances over the years and I have learned how to tweak your recipes to fit our dietary needs. Your blog really helped shape our family culture around meals + family time together! I talk about you to others like you are my friend, which is weird, but I know you understand 🙂 Thank you for this blog. It means so much to my family and me!
Favorite recipe on the blog:
Savory-Meatball subs with homemade french bread shaped into sub rolls
Sweet-Cheryl’s cinnamon rolls
Congratulations on 15 years! I found you through my sister-in-law in 2010. So glad you are here and that this little happy corner of the internet exists! All the best to you and your family!
I’ve been following your blog, and loving and recommending your recipes for ten years now—when we had a little one year old and were new home buyers—me still learning my own style as a cook and as a mom. Now we have five busy kids (11 on down) who have grown up on your ever-consistent delicious recipes and have benefitted from your relatable, encouraging words. Thank you for shining light from your portion of the internet. (A highlight was meeting you when you spoke at BYU. You are always welcome around here!)
I have been following your blog for a long time—not 15 years—I don’t recognize all of those early logos! We have really enjoyed so many of your recipes over the years. Thank you for doing this blog! You’ve truly made me a “rock star in the kitchen”! And my kids and husband know it’s going to be good when I tell them “It’s a Mel recipe.”
Congrats on 15 years! I feel like I found your blog from the beginning, when I was just starting my stay-at-home mom journey. My son turns 16 in May. 🙂 I love your authenticity, your spunk, your love of board games (I trust your gift guide suggestions implicitly!) and most of all – your recipes! If I’m craving something I can just search your site and most likely find what I want. Plus have all the ingredients in my house. I just made 2 batches of buttercrunch yesterday (my go-to Christmas candy) and I asked myself again why I don’t make it all year. Thanks for sharing a part of your world with all of us! Love from WI.
Hi from Canada! I’ve been reading your blog, and making your recipes for probably 10 years. I appreciate all the hard work you put in, so that my family gets variety on the table :). Congratulations on 15 years!
I send your recipes to people all the time. They are the best! And I love your Friday Thoughts. The internet and social media can feel so out of touch, especially when someone makes it as big as you have, but you still live a normal life. Thank you for your love of food, family, and God.
Love, Sarah from Pullman, WA
Love ya to pieces and always will!!! You have made me laugh, you have me cry and through it all, you’ve helped me put dinner on the table as well. Mel, you are the best…..
judi
P.S. I remember the post when you put the picture up of you and the kids on the couch….has really that much time gone by??? Or can we just say, it’s just you imagination!!! Merry Christmas and blessings to you and your family this holiday season and the New Year ahead!!!
Mel,
I’ve been around since the beginning. I definitely remember My Kitchen Cafe. I remember sending you an email a million years ago telling you how I had tried your honey lime enchiladas and my husband LOVED them and how he’d take leftovers to work the next day for lunch and tell everyone (on a construction site) how amazing those enchiladas were. He’d share his leftovers and all of his construction worker buddies would ask him to go home and ask me to write down the website address for the recipe so they could make them too.
I was a young wife/mom when I started following you, trying to teach myself how to cook and gathering recipes. I would print off your recipes and try them, then keep all the recipes in a big binder. I still have the recipe binder and probably 85% of the recipes are yours— most still with the original pictures. (In fact, my 15 year-old just made your baked oatmeal. I just put the recipe back in the binder and noticed it had an old picture on it.)
Anytime I need a good recipe, your blog has always been the first place I check and my #1 recommendation to others for fool-proof, delicious recipes.
Over Thanksgiving, I followed your pie crust tutorials and made my first completely amazing and totally perfect apple pie!
I completely credit you with my ability to cook!
Thank you for all of your efforts to share your talents with me and a million others! ❤️
Thank you for doing all you do. Your website is a staple in my kitchen!
Thanks for sharing so much goodness with the world! I remember your first logo when I was a mom to three little ones in Michigan. Now I have 6 kids and have lived in Wisconsin & Utah, making your recipes all through the years. Whenever I make something new, they all say, “Is this Mel’s?’
Love you so much, Mel! Happy blog birthday!! So glad it (and you!) were born!
Real conversation with my husband last night: “I need to start writing down recipes on cards. What if Mel’s website disappeared?! That would be a tragedy!”
For real though, I think it’s been close to 10 years since I first discovered your blog and I feel like you’ve made me a better cook and taught me various life lessons along the way! I’d say a week rarely passes when I don’t make one of your recipes (I think I’ve made 5 in the past week!) So thankful for your willingness to share your life, family, and recipes with the world. You are a blessing to me and many others!
Love you, your recipes, and your occasional long-winded updates! Keep up the good work. We’ll be right here with you❣️
Hi Mel, I have only commented a few times in the probably 10 + years that I’ve been coming to your blog, but I have to say that I’m so grateful for you, and I hope you keep going for another 15 years! There were many years that pretty much every time I made something new, my husband would say, this is good, is it Mel’s? and of course the answer was yes. I don’t use as many of your recipes anymore because we eat more vegetarian/vegan the last few years, and I would love to see more of that kind of main dish recipe in the future if you have any up your sleeve! Also, I would love to see more sourdough recipes, I make your pumpkin muffins and peasant bread all the time!
Thank you for family testing the recipes for us so we know we are going to have good results. Congratulations on 15 yrs! What an accomplishment!
Congratulations on 15 years!! I can’t tell you how much my family has enjoyed your recipes over the years. A LOT!! So many of our go-to recipes are “Mel’s.” Thank you for all your hard work. I get so excited every time you email a new recipe.
Happy Happy 15th!!! I think I’ve been around for most of, if not all of, those fun years. We’ve laughed. We’ve cried. We’ve had rave reviews and epic fails. Ok, that last one was all me. (Sometimes I get in a hurry and miss a step or ingredient or something else of great importance.) I truly love your guts and love that you use that phrase. (I 1st heard it from my BFF that passed 2 Thanksgivings ago. It always brings the biggest smile to my face when you use it. Thanks for that too!)
Thank you for being my go-to place. Thank you for being such an amazing instructor. Who knew I could make rolls?!? Never happened before some of your step by step blogs. I am a better cook, a better baker and even a better person because of what I glean from what you share. I think we could be great and crazy friends but I work really hard at not stalking people so chances are I won’t bump into you at the grocery store or anything like that. Though that would be crazy cool! Ok, I’m gushing on a bit (see why you wouldn’t want to bump into me.) Keep up the great work! Here’s to another 15 scrumptious years! Whatever they’re paying you they should at least triple it! Love your guts!!!
Sometime around 11 years ago your blog became a part of my life. Throughout that time, I have followed/unfollowed/discovered/forgotten so many various bloggers and social media people. You’re the only one that has stood the test of time! You have helped me keep my family well-fed. Thank you! Keep up the hard work – I appreciate it!! Kristin
So much I want to say….to keep it brief: Thank you Thank you Thank you—I love this blog so very much!
I love sharing your website! And I cook from your site nearly everyday.
An idea: share with us how you organize your physical copies of recipes or how you organize your kitchen or your pantry. I need help with organizing. ♀️
Also, can we be friends in real life? Ok. Bye!
Love you Mel! We were invited to a friend’s house for Thanksgiving, and they requested I take potatoes & a salad. I went to your site for both, & they, of course, turned out fabulous. I used to be nervous to try new recipes to take places, but I know with yours I am good to go! Thanks!
Thank you for a look into your life! I have always wondered how it actually works. We are blessed by your efforts to share your recipes with us and I appreciate reading your blog content. Thanks for hanging in for 15 years!