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. I already have your cookbook. Pages and pages of printed recipes in several notebooks. I have no idea how many times I have shared your blog with friends and acquaintances. I should make a card with your name etc. on it. Maybe I should list my favorites on it too. There would be many. So, thank you so much for helping me feed my family and friends. They might have gone hungry without you.
I think I want a cookbook so I can have something tangible to hug tightly and feel like I’m thanking you for the many years of beloved recipes.
This is how I feel too!
Happy 15 years of blogging! I’m so glad I found your blog years ago. It’s usually the first place I go when looking for a recipe. I use your recipes several times a week. Tonight it’s Chicken and vegetable dumplings.
Oh, and the watermelon knife we got from my MIL is amazing. I hope you found a good one!
Mel, I hope you are making heaps of money off this blog! I couldn’t have raised my four kids without all of your amazing recipes! Thank you for faithfully giving us amazing recipes and sharing a bit of yourself with us along the way.
I love you MEL!!!! Thank you for giving the world such a wonderful thing! I want you to publish a cookbook just so I can have a hard copy of all your recipes! I don’t want anything new or fancy – I want to give you money and I want a hard copy of all your recipes! Sure I could print them out myself – but man I would LOVE a Mel’s Kitchen Cookbook. Thank you for being such a bright spot – from a reader since 2007 ❤️❤️❤️
I’ve been a follower for years and love your content. Keep on cooking, Mel!
Thank you for your recipes!! I look at your site just about every day so I feel like we are old friends! I am a mom to 4 young boys and they know that the majority of what I make comes from good ol’ Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. A few months ago I was driving down a busy street in Layton, UT and my 3 year old in the back seat said excitedly, “Mom, I see Mel’s Kitchen Cafe!”. If only we could have stopped by and had some delicious food whipped up by the one and only Mel herself! 😉 Not only do my boys know you by name, but over the years my mom, grandma & a few sisters-in-law have gotten to know it as well and they also regularly make things from your site. It’s just too good to not share! So many delicious recipes in one place.
I’m so glad I found you all those years ago! I’ve watched your kids grow up, and I’m fed my own kids your recipes. Thank you!
I don’t even know when I started following your site but it’s been a long long time. I have loved my one sided friendship with you and the food that connects all of us! Thank you for helping me to be a better cook with these great recipes!
You are the absolute best and I love your guts (if I can borrow your phrase). My family loves your recipes so much! I hope if you ever do stop posting food recipes you will continue to pop in every once in a while to share your thoughts. You have such a kind, compassionate, real voice and I would miss that at least as much as your recipes.
I love your recipes, so good, so easy, so practical, and almost always, I have the ingredients in inventory.
Love seeing your family grow, you are even a grandma, and that is progress!
Keep recipes coming! I do not use or keep all; however, in my 2 each of 3-ring binder cookbooks, I have accumulated recipes over the years, Mel’s Kitchen Cafe has contributed many!
Love ya
Old Guy in Eugene, OR
You’re going to hear this a lot- but we’re good friends, you and I. I talk about you on a first-name-basis (as does my Husband). “Mel says these are amazing!” “It’s from Mel.” “Have you heard of Mel?” My husband will even ask if something doesn’t look familiar, “Did you get this from Mel?” He is reassured when I say yes.
Thanks for keeping my family fed (and me sane) all these years. (I’m looking at you, 30 min meals or crockpot meals). You are my FIRST website to check when I don’t have any clue what to make for dinner. You saved the Thanksgiving rolls this year. We’ve used many of your game recommendations – because clearly you have similar tastes as us! I am determined to never raise pigs- as cute as the piglets may be.
I’ve followed you for many years. So many years that anytime I make something new my husband asks, “is this from Mel?”. My daughter, who now has her own family, is also a huge fan. We both go to your blog first for dinner and dessert ideas. Thank you for hanging in there through the ups and downs. We consider you a part of our family.
I’ve told you maybe a million times how grateful I am for you and your recipes, but I want to tell you 1000001! My sister found you back in the blogspot days and I have trusted you so many hundreds and hundreds of recipes since. I told my BFF once she is “the Mel to my recipe book” to adequately express my love. Thanks for being here, sharing with us, making it all work behind the scenes and being you! Love to the end of the recipe rainbow and back, Mel!!!! xoxoxo
Mel, congratulations on 15years! I’ve been around for 13 years- so almost the beginning! I was newly married, and beginning the journey of making dinner every night 🙂 Now I’m staring at my 14th wedding anniversary coming up, and we’ve added 5 awesome kids to the family! It means I do an awful lot of cooking and meal making. Your recipes have saved the day so many times!
I love your blog not only for the recipes (which are always amazing), but because you are so authentic and natural. I struggle with blogs that “work the system.” It feels so inauthentic and pushy. You are the complete opposite of that! You can tell you care about people and good food- that’s what matters to you. Thank you for keeping it real!!
You taught me to confidently work with yeast, and now that’s become sort of my thing- making delicious bread. You’ve also added so many regular family favorite meals and treats to my house (like lemon garlic breaded chicken, sweet and sour chicken, berries on a cloud, little quinoa patties, I could keep going!).
Thanks for all your hard work! I appreciate how much you care about your readers. It shows! Thanks for being a light and spreading goodness- not in a blind, ignorant way, but in a thoughtful and purposeful way. You’re the best!
Loved reading this! I first found you in 2009 and have been faithfully making and loving all your recipes ever since!
Thanks, Mel, it is great to learn more about you. My daughter is an adventurous young cook, and she and her husband love to try new recipes. That is how I found you. I can honestly say I have never had one fail and I love them all. So many blogs and Pinterest recipes have errors or do not seem tested, which is frustrating for me. I will start leaving reviews, something I have not been in the habit of doing!
You’re doing great work, and I am totally appreciative of your focus on your family first. God bless you!
Hey Mel! Thanks for making home life better and easier. You are a household name in our family. Love your recipes and the goodness you share. I’m sure this added more undue stress to your life, but any chance Mel Swag will be coming back? The advertising may not do anything to help your readership- but I’m sure happy to wear it! Hope your family has a Merry Christmas.
Mel! This is soo great. I have followed you since the very beginning! I remember having mykitchencafe blog on my bookmark tab. I also remember when you were thinking of switching the name of the blog to the website you had the readers vote. Good memories. I’m still coming to you after all these years:).
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your blog! I have been following for many years now and realize I consider you my friend, of sorts. It’s your blog I turn to to find dinner ideas, dessert ideas, appetizers, side dishes for church parties, dinners for kids dances, etc. My kids simply know if they need a recipe, they need to check “Mel’s”. I have loved the recipes you have shared, cried when your friend passed, commiserated watching kids grow, and felt a kinship when I had a melanoma removed. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life, and you in mine, for so many years.
Wow, 3-4 million views a month! I started following your blog when I first got married 14 years ago so I like to think of myself as one of the OG! Mel is a household name around here. Thanks for feeding my family!
Just keep on doing what you are doing. I thoroughly your recipes, and YOU!!!
Mel, you are a light in this world. I have been here from the beginning and keep coming back not only for your recipes, but because of the genuine person that you are. Thank you for persisting when this gets tough, your goodness is so needed! Happy 15th!
Mel! Congrats on 15 years. I’m pretty sure I’ve been around almost since the beginning. My oldest, born in 2007, named MELANIE, was the reason your food blog caught my eye. Stopped in because of your name and stayed because we love your recipes, your sweet down to earth self and naturally we stick around now also for the pig/farm content. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your tried and true recipes with us.
I love you and your blog! My cooking skills have definitely improved over the years because of your delicious recipes I am always trying out. Thank you for everything you do to maintain this space! And I recognize your first logo. Got-to-love the blogspot days!
Wow! Has it ONLY been 15 years?? Because I thought I was subscribed to your blog for AT LEAST the past 15 years! I guess I must have subscribed in the early stages of your blogging career. Your blog has been my go to for so many recipe ideas over the years whenever I wanted to bake something new/different to share with family, friends, etc. It was especially a God send when we were missionaries overseas in Mozambique for 8 years and weren’t able to find many of the foods we (I!) craved. Thank you so much for your time and effort throughout these 15 years! Even though we’ve been back in the US since 2016 and I’m no longer looking for innovative ways to make stuff we couldn’t find overseas, your blog is still the one I go to first if I want to find a new recipe! Many blessings to you and your family!
Oh Mel, you’re the best! I think I have been around for almost all of those 15 years! SO crazy! You are a household name around my house. My kids and husband always ask if the recipe came from Mel. Little did you know, we are besties!! …although we’ve never met. 🙂 Your site is the first I go to for a recipe and I’m sure I’ve made and loved hundreds of your recipes over the years. Thanks for all of the hard work you put in to help make our lives easier in the food department! With love, from Utah! <3
Holy cow I love you. Definitely recognized the first logo!
I love reading your musings.
Also, I’m making peasant bread as I type this.
Happy 15 years of blogging! One of the reasons I love your blog so much, others than the fabulous recipes, is your down-to-earth, authentic approach!! I can only imagine how much work goes into running a website but I’m glad you’re still around. I looked forward to your gift guides and love to see glimpses inside your life. I’ve been following you for 13 of those 15 years! Thanks for all you do!
I love your blog and check it weekly. Your recipes always taste great and you keep the directions simple. Thank you and congratulations on 15 years. I appreciate you sharing your talent so i can pass this goodness onto my family.
Very grateful for you Mel, thankyou for all your hard work. My daughter sometimes makes fun of the fact that all my closest friends are through a screen you are so personable and honest.
We all love your guts right back! ❤️
Mel! I’ve been here since the blogspot.com days. You have inspired me to be the baker and cook I am today. 90% of the recipes I make on a regular basis come from you, your blog. If I need a recipe I always check here first. I love your Friday Thoughts, and your Faux farm life (although your Faux farm is feeling more like a real farm now a days). I’ve laughed reading your posts, I’ve cried reading your posts. I often think of your the Christmas cheeseball story. You inspire me. Thank you for always being so genuine and passionate about what you share. I loved reading the history of Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. No pressure but I have so many printed recipes of yours. If you do ever choose to make a cookbook. I’m buying it, and tossing my stained white paper copies. So much love to you and your family.
Mel!
I’m so glad you’ve stuck around with all the hard work and sacrifice these past 15 years. 99% of what I’ve been cooking for the past 11 years comes from your blog and I’m beyond grateful! If a cookbook every feels right (and it may easily be a collection of 10 books), I’ll buy them all 🙂
Huge congratulations Mel! Fifteen years of blogging is incredible and you continue to share recipes and your amazing life with grace, kindness, honesty and humor. Right back at ya – love your guts too! ❤️
How absolutely awesome! I, for one, LOVED your words. I didn’t *need* a recipe today (haha). I love how real you are; and that was a fun peek-in to how it is. You do it well. Take breaks when you need to and I hope so much it continues to fulfill you.
You are definitely one of my go-to sources. I love when I make one of your yummy recipes I can tell my family “this one’s Mel’s. she’s the one who biked the Hiawatha!”
also, you kinda haven’t aged!! (:
Just here to say that I too have been following you forever and you are my first stop when looking for a new, or a tried & true, recipe. I agree with all the beautiful comments already posted!
My boss mentioned your blog years ago so I looked it up. Right away I could see that you had a lot of really good recipes and I was sure we belonged to the same church. Lemon Chicken Orzo soup is one of our favorites! I often say, “This is one of Mel’s recipes”. Thanks so much for the recipes, gift ideas, and for sharing so many tender moments from your life.
You’re the VERY best, and the only blog I religiously follow. I even ran a half marathon a few (maybe more?) years back when you did! And I took my family on the Redwoods vacation that you blogged about! We are close to the same age, and my oldest son started his mission in Brazil a week after yours did! Some of your insta posts during those first few weeks were an exact mirror to what I was feeling (you just knew how to put it into words!) Like so many others, I feel like you are a real life friend!❤️ Thank you for making my life better!!
Oh Mel, add me to the list of people who love.your.guts too!! Beautiful woman, beautiful family, beautiful blog. You’ve been an inspiration to me for a reeeaaalllly long time and I absolutely love that I can keep checking in on you! I’ve learned so much from you in life and in the kitchen. You make me want to be a better person. Although, I can’t seem to find a recipe for abelschnockers anywhere on here.
I’ve been around since near the beginning- Love your recipes & I consistently check “Mel’s” first if I’m looking for a recipe – I feel like your tried and true are also my tried and true – please keep doing what you’re doing & keep being you. You’re the best of the best!
Love your blog, you really do have the best recipes out there that my sometimes picky family will eat. You are my go to every time I need a recipe or just inspiration. Please never leave us☺️
thanks for doing what you do how you do it-without all the “false” blogging for the analytics. I’ve been following 14 years I think and I’ve referred more people to your blog/recipes than any other one combined. Not sure I’ve ever made a recipe of yours I didn’t like although sometimes if I’m honest I add a bit more sugar to things when I make them again 😉
Mel! What can I say? You have nothing but love, appreciation, respect, admiration, and thanks from me and my whole family. We have been eating your food for so many years, and like others have said, you feel like an old family friend that we have never met. Congratulations on your blog and thanks for sharing all the behind the scenes, so interesting!
I typically don’t comment l, but this post inspired me to pop in and say how much I love this blog. This is my favorite place for simple weeknight meals and instant pot recipes. Anytime need to take a dish to a party I stop by here to find a recipe I know I can trust to be delicious. Thanks for all your hard work, it very much appreciated my me and my family (I can’t think of any of your recipes my kids won’t eat).
I discovered you as a newlywed 12.5 years ago and your recipes helped me dive into the world of adulthood and making “real meals.” All this time later most of the recipes I make are from you! Thank you for all the good food you’ve helped to bring into my family’s life!
Gotta say, I would probably buy a cookbook of all your “best of” recipes, even if I can get them for free from the blog. I can’t tell you how many stained printer pages I have of your recipes: There’s a pizza casserole thing, swig cookies, a carrot cake, rolls, potato rolls, breadsticks, bread knots, bread, (clearly a carb queen), and your cinnamon rolls are tradition on Christmas Eve Morning. Thank you for being around!
Also, I’ve bought many many many games from your recommendations. I only have one kiddo, but we take card games to our group campouts and they are always a hit.
I don’t recall how I stumbled onto your blog, but I have been following it for years and I just love that the recipes are family-friendly recipes that are easy to make. Your pictures and directions are so helpful and easy to follow. I also really look forward to your gift-guides, particularly your game recommendations! We have discovered so many fun games over the years thanks to your suggestions. Thank you for being awesome and sharing your recipes with us!
A little over a year ago, my husband was called to the Stake High Council and I was called as our ward Primary President. My husband works full-time from home and I work part-time from home, and we have two autistic children who keep us very busy! I was feeling particularly overwhelmed last November with everything going on (I also have anxiety and depression), so my husband offered to start doing laundry (), create a monthly dinner meal plan, grocery shop, and cook 4-5 dinners each week. To help him out, I sent him to your blog. We now always start here when meal planning (which we now do together) or when wanting to make a specific thing we don’t already have a recipe for. You are our go-to every time! With so many recipes out there and so many bloggers, it’s hard to trust just anyone…but we have 100% trust in you. Thanks for making real food for real people with normal ingredients, and thank you a million times for your service to our family!!!
This blog MIGHT be the only reason my husband agreed to marry me. Well over half of the recipes I make come from your blog. Your blog is different because of your ability to stay true to the reason you started it. It is authentic and real life. Also your life motto of “normalize real life” needs to go on a t-shirt!
Thank you for giving of your time and talents! I was introduced to your website back in 2009 when we lived in Wisconsin Rapids. Many people there insisted that I take a look at your site. They were right. I always go to your site knowing that the recipe is going to be good no matter what that recipe is. I hope to continue seeing your recipes for the next 15 years. Thank you again!