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. 🙂
Mel! You are amazing and I am here for the recipe AND the conversation! Thank you so much for helping me feed my family and inspire my own recipes for years. Cheers to you!
I’m pretty sure about a million hits on your blog have come from me and the people I’ve sent links to your recipes to. You’re just so delightful and your recipes so yummy. If you ever did make a cookbook I’d 100% buy it. (I did buy that digital cookbook for the water donation years ago, I’d buy another in a heartbeat!) Thank you for what you do!
Or maybe it wasn’t for water… micro loans? I can’t remember… )
I found your blog on my friend shared the recipe for sweet potato, black bean burritos with me. Coincidentally, they are for dinner tonight!
Your posts about making bread helped me a ton when I was trying to gain confidence with doughs.
At a time when my life felt like it lacked purpose, your post about ministering through food made me feel like I could make a difference in simple ways. It inspired me to use my love of cooking to help those around me (And myself!).
Thanks for being you, and sharing your life and your recipes!
For mother’s day one year, my friend’s husband printed a ton of recipes from your site (which is where she gets most of her recipes from) and put them in page protectors and organized them in a binder. I did something similar. Bam, Mel’s cookbook!!!
Thank you Mel! I’ve been here for 10+ years. We eat alot of Mels recipes over and over again. You’re the best!!!!!! and don’t forget it.
Karen
Mel,
Thank you for all your recipes and sharing of your difficult and joyous moments in your life. Your recipes are my first go to when I am looking for good food to cook for those I love. You’ve saved the day at my mother in law’s house with your crockpot recipes as that was all I had to cook with in her spartan kitchen!
Show someone you love them-cook great food for them….and you do.
Thank you again,
Dani Wyrick
You’re my favorite person on the internet! Seriously. I cannot thank you enough for bringing joy into my cooking and life. “It’s Mel’s!” is the answer to almost every time someone asks me for a recipe. My kids know you and love you!
Please never stop blogging!!! You are great at it and I like your style. I have been a fan since I moved to Utah 14 years ago! I don’t even remember who introduced it to me, but I wish I could give them a great big hug! You are my go-to for all things recipes! I share your blog and recipes often (because I make your recipes often and people ask for the recipe). I admire you even more after reading all this. Keep it up, you’re amazing and thank you for all your hard work so I can eat wonderful food!
My girls grew up eating your recipes at our dinner table. Now that they have established their own homes, they are fixing your recipes for themselves! Thanks for all your hard work over the years – you have impacted my family and we have enjoyed everything
<3 Beautiful!
You are my favorite. I have been a follower for at least 10 years and I’d say 98% of my cooking and baking is from you. I have 5 young kids as well and I love that I can trust your recipes to be (mostly) kid friendly (their loss) and easy. I really enjoy your writing style as well. Thank you for your hard work and staying genuine!
I ditched all social media platforms two years ago, so I feel a little old school saving all my favorite blogs as tabs on my browser, but yours is number one! I love your style, and I love all your recipes! Seriously, every night when I don’t know what to make for dinner I go straight to your blog and I can always figure something out. Can’t wait for your new recipes this year! Thank you.
Mel, THANK YOU for sparking new life into my desire to try new recipes that my family has loved! I love hearing about your real life adventures, so please don’t change much if at all!
Thank you so much for all you do! I keep coming back because of the way you blog. I like that it’s not about the numbers game, but about the connection and yummy recipes. Thank you for being authentically YOU and sharing that with the world.
I think I found your site back in 2007 or 2008 and I have been following you ever since. I have some favorites (like sloppy joes and tri-colored pasta salad) that I make alot!
Thank you for sharing your recipes and your life with us!
Loved this post. I love the occasional posts you do called, “Recipes the world forgot” – I think that is the gist of it. Fun to look back and see some of those ones that slipped my mind or that I never saw. I also love when you showcase an older recipe with new notes and photos. Well done Mel.
MEL!!! YOU are for sure an ANGEL
You are much loved and appreciated for your service and efforts- you are really a blessing in so many lives!!! Here’s to another fabulous 15+ ❤️ love you to pieces
-your devoted friend Helen
Thank you for being here! I lived & taught overseas for 20 years and your recipes were a Godsend…no packets or boxes, just wholesome ingredients that I could (mostly) find. Everything I have ever tried has been a big hit with my own kids and in my classroom where I often share “American food”. Many of your recipes are family favorites in my regular rotation. Never quit!
Congrats on 15 years! I’ve been a long time reader—I can’t remember if I found you before or just after I had my son (who just turned 10!), but many of your recipes are on regular rotation in our house and your blog is one of the first places I go look if I’m looking for a new recipe.
Thanks for hanging in there for so long!
You are the best! I always look for your recipe first and foremost. They always work perfectly. I love the details and all the in between to make it work. Once it fails, I give up, so thank you for details and pictures. I’m a visual gal.
I’m so grateful for your efforts. You are genuine, sweet and beautiful.
Love the pictures. 15 years is a long time to stick with it. Here’s to 15 more. Love you Mel and family.
I rarely post any comments on blogs I follow. But, you should know your blog is like a well-worn cookbook for me. When I need a good recipe for something, I ALWAYS check your blog first. I may check a few others, but most likely I come back to your recipe and I’m always glad I did. Thanks for being real and for providing a great place for ideas, even for people who don’t cook very much any more. You are appreciated.
Love your recipes and your blog. I have recommended your website to my mom and sisters. Every time they ask for a recipe the response is usually, “I got it from Mel’s Kitchen”. Your recipes never fail. I just printed off a few dessert bar recipes for a neighborhood Christmas party this weekend. Can’t wait to try them out. Keep cooking!
I don’t remember when I first found your blog, but I want to say it’s been about 10 years. (I think a mutual friend from church introduced me to the blog.) I still love making your recipes!
You have a unique ability to write in a funny, sweet, and authentic way that makes me feel like we’re good friends on a first name basis, even though obviously we’ve never met. When someone asks about the yummy food I made, I just tell them, I got the recipe from Mel. Thank you for being a reliable source of deliciousness. You are a nice “internet friend” to have. ❤️
Congratulations on your blogging reaching 15 years old. I love your recipes and especially the detailed notes. I enjoy the Friday Thoughts – you have a very entertaining writing style 🙂
Kickin’ butt and taking names for 15 years. Amazing! My favorite place on the internet. I think the number of comments you receive on every post speaks to your greatness. I like to think that I am your best virtual friend and other people just stop in occasionally but I am probably not the only one who thinks that. Every year, particularly around this time I want you to know how much I appreciate all you have done for me and my family. Words are insufficient. Thanks, Mel.
I love it. Thank you for ALWAYS keeping it real, even in this post! Most people shy away from talking money or numbers or business — but I love hearing about the inner workings of my favorite recipe website.
Me, personally? I appreciate that you’re a PERSON. And I’ve come to trust your website to always give me tried and TRUE recipes. No, you don’t churn out a new recipe every single day, constantly… but I am HAPPY FOR THAT. That means that I know 100% that what you choose to put up, you put up b/c you love it and you are really proud of that recipe. I’ll take quality over quantity any day!
I’ve said it before — you are a household name over here. “This is a Mel recipe” is said soooo many times. I’ve recommended your site on a zillion different mom group posts, I’ve used your strategies for picky eaters and recommended it to other moms as well…
Simply put: I’m a big fan. Thanks Mel!
Hi Mel, I can’t remember how long ago I discovered your blog, but it was a great discovery. Always love your style and recipes – the best out there. This was such an interesting post. Thank you for sharing this with your readers.
Always so appreciative of what you do and how much work it takes. Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday season!
I am so very thankful that I found your blog! I know that I can find consistently good recipes from your blog!!!! My husband and I particularly love your “bowl” recipes. Thank you for your hard work and PLEASE keep those recipes coming!
I must of found your blog shortly after your mission in early 2008 when I went back to college. (I got home right before Thanksgiving 2007.) I’m not the biggest cook (forget about baking), but roommates and boyfriends after my mission sure lucked out from what I made before my mission. I really feel bad for my roommates my freshman year of college. I do love reading your blog and hear about you and your life. Thanks for being there the last 14 and a half to 15 years for me. P.s. your sister looks familiar. Congrats!
*I meant my mission not your mission.*
I love your blog and how you write it! I’ve tried so many of your recipes and they’ve always been hits! I’ve appreciated your encouragement over the years; your voice telling us we can do it (don’t overthink it, do pay close attention, etc.). Your recipe notes are GOLD. Thank you for everything, for all these years.
Thank you ❤️. You’re style of blogging is everything to me; you’re recipes are my go-to’s (my friends & I say, It’s one of Mel’s, as a way of explaining greatness); you are loved & appreciated.
Um, just wanted to apologize for using the incorrect You’re a billion times instead of your♀️♀️♀️♀️♀️♀️♀️♀️♀️
What a fun story to read!!! I found you through friends back in 2009 when I had only been married a couple of years. I grew up in a meat and potato only family and though I loved a variety of foods, I didn’t know how to prepare many things other than what I grew up on. Your blog transformed me into an adventurous cook who loves to try new things. Your recipes are so consistently good that I will make them for guests without even trying them first! You are talked about in our home as if you are my friend, even though we’ve never met! (Hello – professional help?) I’ll make dinner and someone will ask where I got the recipe and I’ll just nonchalantly say, Mel. Thank you for staying true to who you are in this online world.
I’ve been following you for probably close to 10 years or so and your recipes are my best, my go-to’s, my friends’ and families’ favorites. When I’m searching for inspiration for anything, I go to your site first because your recipes speak to me! Thanks for it all!
Discovered you in 2008 I think! I’d love a cookbook! You and taste of home magazine are my go to for recipes!
Thank you Mel for all your wonderful recipes! My family has sure appreciated them for many years!
Your recipes do not disappoint! I love the way they are geared toward family life. We have four kids and cooking is no small task:). It’s fun to search your recipe storehouse for delicious things to feed the family!
I love your blog spot and the recipes I’ve tried. One question, where do you get all the ideas for new recipes? Does something just pop into your head and you go from there?
I have been reading your blog for years and love it! Your posts always make me smile. Your recipes always turn out amazingly. Your name is a household name. Thanks for all your hard work. It has blessed me and my family!
I have been reading for a LONG time and it is because you have maintained your “blog” focus and continue to publish great recipes. I hope you continue for a long time.
Congratulations on 15 years, Mel! I’m not sure what my family would eat if it wasn’t for you. 99% of the recipes I make come from your blog and have for many years. I’d definitely buy a cookbook of yours if you ever decide to do it and I’d gift them to everyone who has been listening to me recommend this blog over and over again. Thanks for what you do!
Thank you for sharing all your recipes! The ones we’ve made have become our go-to tried and true recipes too!!
This was so great to read! You are, hands down, the best place on the internet. (Well, you and Sharon says so—which you introduced me to, so it’s the same.) Thanks for doing what you do!
Thank you for all of your hard work!! You have made my life easier, and better because I can go to your blog to get tried and true recipes! I love getting an email seeing you have posted. Thanks for being the best kind of internet friend!
Thanks for kicking it old school. I’ve been a reader for a long time. I even did some hobby food blogging myself and I often miss/feel nostalgic for the early days of blogging. Oh…and I love your food
I have used your recipes for years and even though there are literally hundreds of food bloggers out there, you always have the best recipes! You match my lifestyle and I can relate to you…..I love your honesty and transparency. Most of all, I love your recipes and have shared that love with my 6 daughters who also use your recipes in feeding their families now. Thank you for the time and effort you give to make all our lives better and for instilling the desire to cook delicious, doable meals for those we love. Your blog will always be loved and appreciated the most in our kitchens! PS…..I already have a “cookbook” from you in the printed recipe binders in my kitchen Thank you!
I haven’t been around as long as that logo, but I wish I could remember what recipe brought me here, I think it was vanilla bean cheesecake. I have stayed because of how amazing your recipes are plus the passion you have for the recipe you are sharing. I love the Friday thoughts posts, and other random things you share, Why do people complain about a recipes backstory? Isn’t that how it got here? I sometimes take for granted all the work that goes into what bloggers do. So many, including you have helped me become a better cook and baker. Congrats on the 15 year mark! Here’s to 15 more?! 🙂
Just found your blog, congrats on turning 15 cannot wait to go through and find some wonderful recipes. Blessings to you and your family
I feel like we’ve grown up together! In 2007 my hubs was in grad school and we had three little babies. Now we have five, but they’re growing up and leaving me! There are lots of options out there, but yours is the site I come back to time and time again. I don’t care for this growing old stuff, but in 10ish years I can 100% see me making cooking from your site with my grand babies! Love you, Mel!
Happy 15 years! I’ve been with you about 10 of them. I’m one of your 2% UK followers, I work in food manufacturing and I found your site when researching new product development for a brookie dessert. And I stayed ever since for recipes to feed my family. I love all your posts, even if I know I’m not going to make something I still read your lovely description, and posts about your family are also so sweet to read. Thanks for your dedication, you deserve every success x oh and P.S thank you SO MUCH for adding weights to recipes now! We don’t have sticks of butter etc here so weights makes life much simpler now I don’t have to google quantity conversions.
Congratulations on 15 years, Mel!!!! My family would be eating frozen dinners if not for you, haha! I find about 99.9% of all my recipes from your blog. They are always dependable, easy, and delicious!! Not to mention that I appreciate so much your style of blogging: you are always so personable, humble, and unafraid to share your faith. I can’t thank you enough for your hard work! I’ve been a visitor to your website for more than ten years!! Thank you so much for everything!!!! Ps: thanks for sharing your stats. I found them very interesting!
I have been a Mel’s devotee since 2009 when a friend suggested one of your recipes (coconut chicken curry!) to me. My kitchen skills have improved in so many ways since then and your website is the first place I go when decided what to make next and one of the only emails I’m happy to see in my inbox. Most of my kids are now grown and cooking their own food and they turn to you first too. Thanks for sharing your talents with the world and with my family. Congratulations on fifteen years of being a kitchen rockstar!