Back to my blog

I remember reading some “blogging rules” list way back when I started Life in a Skillet. The only one that stuck with me was “Never apologize for missing a post.” The reason was basically that we all have busy lives – things to do, places to go, people to see – and when it comes right down to it, no one will miss you if you miss a post.

I may have taken that a bit too much to heart.

I discovered that people DO notice. (Hi Mom!) Most recently my next-door neighbor stopped by and said she really loved reading Life in a Skillet, and why did I stop? Why, indeed. It wasn’t intentional; I got distracted. There was the work I was paid to do, then there are daily life things that I allow to take precedence. Then there was the Really Big Distraction: Kid One graduated from college, got a job, and moved out into a place of his own in a different town. My Food Mojo left with him. When I started Life in a Skillet, I had, living at home, an elementary school boy and one in high school and many assorted kid-friends stopping by. I enjoyed cooking with and for the crowd and chronicling it. Now I just have a high schooler at home, and his friends don’t hang out at our house like Kid One’s did.  Dinners that were often 5 of us, because Kid One’s Mija often joined us, turned in to dinner for 3. It’s actually been a bit of an identity shift.

And at the same time, I got tired of the click bait and chatter online. I got tired of tepid content. I started comparing myself to blogs I knew got loads of traffic and became mildly obsessed with seeing how a provocative blog post title increased my page hits, even if it wasn’t the title I wanted to write. I took offers to write sponsored posts, and those took me off the track of writing what I really wanted to. Because that’s the point of a blog: writing exactly what you want and putting it out there for the world to see.

I’ve been traveling quite a bit over the past year, which is one advantage to having older children. I find I still want to get online and share. So here I am, back to my blog, to write exactly what I want and putting it out there for the world to see.

Skimming over my photos from the past year to see if there’s one defining food continuum I can post here for a bit of color, I realize it was the Year of the Oyster. We ate dozens and dozens of oysters. At home, at restaurants, and at the Farmer’s Market. Mostly Kumamotos. Mostly raw. Here’s one of our at-home backyard oyster-fest creations: raw and topped with lemon zest, basil chiffonade, and a dash of Tapatio.

Cheers! to future Life in a Skillet adventures.