Things Look a Bit Different Around Here! (A Few Tips to Navigate the Changes)
Hey friends!
It’s been a long time in coming (and months in the planning!) but my little home away from home website got a much needed facelift. Both inside and out!
While you may see a slightly different color scheme and some new design elements, a lot of the improvements were updates made to the bones and structure of my website so it’s optimized, fast, and purring along nicely.
I wanted to specifically point out a few new features and design changes in case you had questions or haven’t noticed them yet.
I know change can be hard, but please know I made these changes very intentionally and thoughtfully. And I promise they really are an improvement to make your life (and mine!) better.
Homepage
You’ll notice on the homepage there are some new features, including a section of reader favorites (which could also be called the most popular recipes) and another section of MY favorites. Because, guess what, I have very strong opinions about which recipes fall into ones I can eat for the rest of forever. 🙂
The recipes in these sections will change every week or so to keep the ideas fresh!
And for you weekly menu fans, it’s still there at the bottom! The only change is combining Saturday and Sunday into one “weekend” day.
Recipe Format
One of the most notable changes is that the recipe card is looking a bit different! This improvement is being rolled out one-by-one to ensure the utmost quality control in switching over all the recipes to the new format.
I have over 2,000 recipes living here, so it’s going to take a hot minute to get it done, but you’ll start seeing a new format to the recipes as they get updated.
Old style:
New style:
Again, not all the recipes are in the new format yet, but they’ll be there soon(ish). All of the same features are still here PLUS a few new ones!
(If you are looking for the Save to Prepear button on the new format, it’s getting added today!)
Nutrition Facts
After hundreds of you asked (begged, pleaded, threatened) for it, I finally caved and added nutrition facts to the new recipe format.
I never planned to include nutrition facts, because even the best nutrition calculator can be off a little, AND, I’m a big believer and proponent of intuitive eating vs calorie counting, so I don’t look at nutrition facts myself.
However, I know a lot of you rely on them for counting carbohydrates (shout out to all my Type 1 Diabetes families out there!) and many of you DO track nutrition facts for your meals, and I know it’s important to you!
So consider this my gift to you. 🙂
I’m not going to lie, it pains me to add nutrition facts to recipes like donuts, but I’ll just take a lot of deep breaths and hope no one writes me hate mail because they found out via my blog that donuts actually aren’t health food and they feel like their whole life is a lie.
*If you don’t see nutrition facts on a recipe yet, it’s because that recipe still needs to be converted to the new format. Working as hard as I can to get this done!
Print Photo
I get that, like, only 3 1/2 of us are still printing recipes in this day and age (I’m a die hard recipe printer-outer), but for our awesome print community, you can now select whether to print the recipe photo or not.
This has been a long requested feature, and I’m excited to roll it out!
Weight Measures
I’ve included weight measures in ounces on all my baking recipes for several years, but many of the old recipes don’t have weight measures.
Using weight measures and a kitchen scale is an awesome way to level up your baking game in the kitchen! Plus, it helps recipes be even more foolproof since many of us measure flour, sugar, etc differently when using a measuring cup.
As I convert all my recipes to a new format, I will be adding weight measures to ALL my baking recipes – even the super old ones languishing in the cobwebby dungeons of the archives.
In the past, I’ve used OUNCES for all weight measures on my recipes. I did this mostly because I was highly influenced by America’s Test Kitchen when I first started blogging, and they use ounces instead of grams. However, I have gotten many, many, many confused questions over the years when readers see things like: 1 cup of flour = 5 ounces.
Many people associate 1 cup = 8 ounces, which is true if we’re talking fluid ounces. But 1 cup can equal a lot of different weight measurements depending on the ingredient.
To help clear up any confusion, I’m converting all my weight measures to grams, which is a more widely accepted and accurate method for weighing ingredients. And of course, I’ll still continue to use cup measures as well.
I know this may cause some of you consternation. Those of you, like me, who have gotten so used to setting your kitchen scale to ounces. But I promise, in the long run, this is the better way. Thanks for your patience as I roll this out!
Reviews
I’ve said this before, but it bears saying again: it means SO much to me when you take the time to leave an honest, unsolicited review on any recipe on the website.
These reviews help me as I continue this endeavor of food blogging (and as I create and test many more recipes), but it also helps give reputability to my recipes, as well as helps my content show up in google searches.
So THANK YOU to all of you who leave ratings and reviews. I appreciate each and every one of them! (Yes, even the ones who constructively and nicely say why they didn’t enjoy a recipe for whatever reason.)
In the new recipe format, there are several ways to leave a rating or a review. A rating is just selecting a star amount without leaving a comment. And a review is a star rating + a comment.
1) Under the title of the recipe, you can select a number of stars to rate the recipe (without leaving a comment – although if you select three stars or lower, it will automatically ask you to leave a comment so I can learn from the valuable feedback!).
2) Down at the top of the comment thread, you can leave a comment and select a number of stars to rate the recipe there. Or you can leave a comment without selecting a star rating.
Search
I’m still working on improving the search function to return the most relevant results, but for now the best results will pop up as you type in your search criteria and wait for the dropdown box to load.
This is enabled on mobile and desktop.
A Few Last Notes
There are a few more design changes that are kind of fun: keep your eye out for the What to Serve With This box on main dish posts as well as cute FAQ boxes to answer the most commonly asked questions (and save time reading through the comment thread).
Thank you for your patience as I continue to update recipes and roll out some of the remaining changes!
One quick note about ads: you guys, I know ads are annoying. I don’t like them much, either. But ads are kind of a necessary evil as they are the revenue source that pays my bills and allows me to continue giving you my very best tried-and-true recipes.
As my blog has grown exponentially in traffic over the last decade+, it has turned into a full-time business, and it requires a lot of behind-the-scenes work to keep it up and running.
I think long and hard about ad placement and the amount of ads that appear. There is no magic formula. And I know many of you feel like you’d make different decisions if you were in my shoes.
But please take a moment to be thoughtful as you judge or issue criticism. All of the pieces of the blogging puzzle add up to an insane amount of work and costs associated with web hosting, design, contract employees, audits, plugins and more. I’m running only about 1/2 of the ads available to me in order to keep the user experience fairly positive.
With this redesign, I’m tweaking a few things ad-wise (and trying to eliminate some problematic ads that have popped up – I apologize for those; thanks to those of you who bring them to my attention).
Ok, I think that’s it!!
I appreciate you and your kindness, loyalty, and patience! I’m excited for these website changes and hope that you are, too! Thanks for being here, you guys.
I just want to say how much I love your blog and love your recipes! I use it several times a week, and many of our favorite recipes come from here! The new format looks beautiful, and I’m excited to print out some of our favorite recipes for my oldest daughter who is leaving for college in a few weeks (maybe it will distract me from the fact that she’s leaving). Thank you!!
I love so many of these changes! I made the banana bread today and was just thinking about how you do ounces vs grams as I’m so used to seeing grams.
And your ads have never once bothered me. They are not in the middle, they don’t pop up, for the most part I don’t even notice them.
I’m so appreciative of all the thought and work that goes into making this site a valuable resource for me (and so many others!) Thank you for all you do to make it the incredible resource it is. I was just thinking that as my kids age (much too quickly!) I should start printing out copies of all the recipes we use so they have them for when they are on their own (heaven help my heart!).
Thank you!
Mel, I think you are doing an amazing job. You are my NUMBER ONE recipe source. Hands down. My kitchen could almost be called Mel’s Kitchen Cafe Jr. 🙂 Lol. Thank you for all your hard work, your sacrifice, and your dedication to helping my family (and ME!!) enjoy what we eat.
Thanks to you, your family and the rest of your team for all of your hard work! Our family is grateful for all that you share! Well done! Excited for all that you’re doing!
Wow! That’s a lot of work! Thanks for continuing to provide trustworthy awesomeness.
You are so kind to explain all the new changes! Your website is my goto and we are so so so very grateful for all you do.
I love that you added grams to your baking recipes. Since I started making sour dough regularly I think grams so I love that change and all the work you have gone to updating your site. Thanks Mel!
I still print recipes!!! During COVID I consider it one of my successes as I used your templates and consolidated and organized all my recipes into different folders. I LOVE my new system thanks to you and you use it daily!!
Wow. You have been busy. I’m loving your new look. Excited about the pic or no pic option on the recipe printout. I’ve always loved your search option and has always worked for me. Not caring about nutritional value either, so I’m thinking you are super nice. You kind of know whether you are eating a green pepper or a chocolate brownie, right?!
I’m nervous yet excited for the new challenge of figuring out grams. I don’t weigh everything, but I weigh a lot of my food when baking. Just two days ago I was weighing 4 loaves of bagel bread to get them close to even in the pans and thought maybe I should learn something new and start weighing in grams, after all it is considered more accurate. So… I’m doing it with you!
I want you to get paid for your incredible work so I don’t mind the ads, especially when I know YOU don’t put an overload on. I won’t even look at some websites cuz I can’t figure out how to close out of the 3 pop ads before I even look at the recipe. So I guess I appreciate the limited use of pop-ups and don’t mind the ones that just stick in place.
I love what you do for my family. Thanks for being awesome. Gold star for you!
Cannot wait to see all the changes!
Will there be a button to double/triple the recipe?
I intentionally left that off because it can yield some REALLY weird results (like 7/8 of an egg and things like that), but if it proves to be useful rather than causing issues, I could be persuaded to add it.
Thank you for all of your hard work Mel! I have been a follower for 10+ years and have loved watching your site grow, as well as your cute family through the blog posts. Your recipes are always my go-to, and I have converted friends and family to your fabulous blog as well. Just wanted to say “thanks”!
Hi Mel! Great job with the new updates to your website! I think it looks great and I’m glad to hear it’s going to be better for you! It has a nice crisp, clean look, the text font is easier to read, the headings stand out better. I look forward to utilizing the new/updated features you mentioned. And I appreciated reading about what all it takes to run a blog site! I didn’t know it was so involved and it’s good to know what goes into it. And, compared to a lot of other food blog websites, your ads are the least intrusive/annoying!
I continue to look forward to every new post!
Wow, what a lot of work you’ve done! The changes sound good and I look forward to checking it all out. I’m going to start with those Extra Fudgy Brownies you show in the Mel’s Favorites screenshot above!
Wow! Looks and works great! Thanks for all you do for me with such great recipes. I’m a longtime fan and appreciate all your hard work and business/blogging methods!
Mel, thanks for all of this hard work! I’m excited about the new rollout, and love that you are converting all the recipes to weights (grams). Kitchen scales are so great for accuracy AND fewer dishes! Thank you!
On the ads – like others, thank you for carefully doing ads even though I’m sure you could make more money if you utilized the full rotation. If it bothers folks when they’re cooking, they can use the Reader Version of a browser and the ads won’t show. I often switch to that format on my ancient iPad when I’m standing in the kitchen to cook the selected recipe, so that the old device doesn’t slow down too much when I need to scroll!
Mel, you are a rockstar! I am loving the changes and am especially excited to see the metric measurements on your baking recipes. What a herculean effort you are making on our behalf. Thank you for keeping the site going and for all you and your team do behind the scenes.
I’ve always loved your website (it’s definitely my go-to when I’m looking for something fun or in a pinch. haha!) I think the changes look great. I love the color contrast. Makes it a little easier on the eyes, I think, to find the recipe inside of a bold color. I can’t imagine the amount of work you’ve gone through to make your recipes more accessible to everyone. Holy Cow! THANK YOU! You are obviously a very talented cook, but I enjoy even more how your personality shines through each recipe and blog post.
I’m excited for these changes! I also want to let you know that I find the number of ads on your website tolerable. There are some cooking blogs that have an overwhelming amount of ads and pop-ups; I end up clicking out of those sites immediately because I can’t take it. Thanks for being thoughtful about that component, and really, about every other aspect of this space. That’s what makes you the best!
It looks great Mel! As a type 1 D Mama that is so sweet of you to put the carb counts on the recipes. I completely understand about the ads. I can’t imagine how much time the administrative stuff takes. I am sure the food side is much more fun for you. On a different topic, this week I made your baked ziti instant pot recipe for about 70 kids at hand camp. We had instant pots lined up. It was definitely the highlight of the week. I took a shortcut and just use pizza sauce instead of the tomatoes and seasoning. I then mixed in mozzarella in half and pepperoni in half to continue the pizza vibe. The kids loved it and the other band moms were asking for the recipe. Thank you for putting out such amazing recipes! And I am definitely a recipe-printer-outer. 🙂
I’m not one that likes change, but I like your new format!!! Thanks for allowing the photo option, I’m a recipe printer also. I have made copies of your recipes for my granddaughters that are learning to cook. They love their very own cookbooks! Thank you Mel for this great blog!!!
i love the new format, especially that the search box is much easier to find on an ipad. The search algorithm seems to have changed though. It’s really not that good. It used to pull up some close options before when I didn’t type in exactly the name of the recipe. Now if I get somewhat close but not right on the nose it just tells me there are 0 results. I find it very frustrating. Like I typed in French Rolls because I couldn’t remember the exact name and it told me there weren’t any results, but I know I’ve typed that in before and found French Bread Rolls. Just a minor criticism from a big fan.
Yes! I agree on the search results. It’s a problem I’m working on to get fixed!
Wait, there are people out there who do not print the recipe? I don’t understand!
Another printer-outer here! Love all the new updates…especially the nutrition information.
I’ve been a reader since the beginning and every morning I check this site. I can’t believe how many years have gone by since I started using your wonderful recipes. You’ve been a blessing to me and my family. So, thank you! The new changes are great. I’m so happy you’re keeping the print feature on the recipes. You’re the best!
How exciting!! I’m looking forward to continued recipes and life stories from you!
Just a few months ago I bought a kitchen scale, and I can’t believe how convenient it is to weigh ingredients! So easy, and fewer dishes to wash 🙂 Most of my recipes use grams as a measurement, so thank you for the change. Also, I love have a print-out of a recipe.
I love, love, love (!) the new recipe format!!! I’m not one to submit comments very often, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy each and every one of your posts. Love seeing a Mel’s Kitchen Cafe email in my inbox!
Oops! I forgot to say that I like to print out recipes, too! 🙂 Something about having that piece of paper in front of me….
Mel –
This is so awesome. And your post explaining all of it makes me love you even more. I’ve followed and loved your recipes for a decade plus. Thank you for sharing and putting so much love and food into our world.
You’re amazing Mel!! I print out recipes too . I have my own “Mel” cookbook! The changes sound incredible. Thank you for all the effort and countless hours you work to bring us amazing food!!!!
Thank you so much for adding the nutrition facts to your recipes! I have a child on a low sodium diet and if I can see the sodium content of a recipe I can make a quick decision to keep it as is, alter it or just skip it altogether. It really is a blessing to have that available for your recipes since they make up a large part of my recipe box.
I’m glad it’s helpful, Emma! Any other nutrition facts you’d like me to include in the lineup, just let me know.
Thanks for all you do to help keep my family fed! I’m sure to love the new changes. And FYI- I still print out any recipe I make and seem a winner! I’m old school like that.
Wow!!! Thank you so much! I’m a calorie counter ☺️
Awww. Mel. It’s beautiful and so many cool new features. I know it is a crazy amount of work. You’ve been saving my food loving life for years and now it will be even more efficient for me to maintain my hidden pantry stash. Thank you!
How kind and awesome are you to explain all this to us? I can only imagine the hours required to update everything- pace yourself, ok? I never doubted there were good, thoughtful decisions behind every change. Thank you, truly, for all that you do. I’ve stopped bumping into the coffee table, and your house is still my favorite place to visit on the internet. 🙂 We appreciate you!
So many cool things! The design elements look great! Looking forward to using all the other updates. I am a bit nervous about grams…. but if you say it is for the best, I believe it. Thanks, Mel!
I was nervous, too, Angela! But I think we’ll both love it!
This is a huge undertaking; please know your community appreciates you!
Your recipes are good and your new format show lots of very well thought out changes to make them even easier to follow and to share. I look forward the new system. Mary C.
Thanks Mel! I’ve been following you since almost the beginning and I love all of your posts and almost all the recipes. Thanks for all your hard work-the new website looks great and you’ve done a fantastic job of adding some pretty neat features.
I’ve been a reader of your blog from the beginning, and the updates look and sound amazing
I LOVE IT!!! Your changes are beautiful, more informative, and have a sleek design. Furthermore, one can tell the tremendous amount of thought and work you put into the new change, thinking of all of us! Bless your wonderful giving heart! I look forward to your new site, how exciting. Many hugs to you dear heart and thank you for all you do….. Claudia
Way to go Mel. That’s an insane amount of work and I can’t wait to try it all out. Keep up the great work. Your recipes are awesome!!!
Just here to say that your website is (and was!) so user friendly! It’s part of why I love coming here for recipes- I know I’ll be able to find what I’m looking for quickly thanks for all your hard work!!!
I love all the changes you made. Don’t know a lot about web sites but it must be a lot of work to do this.
Thanks
Linda from Winnipeg Manitoba
Mel, thanks so much for all of your hard work! I hope you know how much joy your recipes bring to your readers and their families!! The changes will be much appreciated & helpful, and the new site looks amazing! A million thanks to you and all do you, because your recipes are a priceless treasure!
I’ve been following you for years. This new format looks incredible and is quite streamlined. I’d love to know how to measure baking ingredients in grams. I have dismissed many a recipe because I don’t know how to convert.
I am a recipe ‘printer-outer!’ I print out all the new recipes I try, and if they are keepers (as 90% of yours are), they go in my files sorted by category. If they aren’t I just throw the paper away.
I learned from my many early baking failures that resembled nothing more than sad hockey pucks, to weigh my ingredients, so I am dancing the Mel’s Happy Dance of The New Gram Measurements! Thank you so much for every minute of the incredible effort it is taking you to make all these wonderful changes that are only making a truly extraordinary blog even better…….
Thank you mel for all that you do….you’ve made me a rockstar many times….
You are the best!
Mel!! Run all the ads!! Seriously, you should be making every cent possible off of this amazing site. Longtime reader here and I’m here for the quality of your recipes and I will scroll as long as I need to scroll.
Thank you for investing in a great website for us. You are my favorite blog and have blessed our family greatly! As long as the ads aren’t the sexually perverted alphabet soup or Marxist, I am good. 🙂