One year. Well, one year plus two years of procrastination. I originally launched Brooklyn Locavore in the summer of 2010–just after I moved into a new position at work, on top of also getting my Master’s in Communication and becoming a newlywed (I might have written my first post on our honeymoon). It lasted about a month until I finally admitted I had no time or idea what I was doing. My schedule was overflowing and something needed to go. Not the job, that brought in money to cook all these fantastic foods. Or the Master’s degree, that was my escape from the real world and something I really enjoyed. And my husband? Well he’s pretty fun to keep around. So the blog became a casualty that I vowed to pick up once my life became a little less hectic. Last May I finished my Master’s degree (yay me!) and suddenly had a ton of extra time. It was time to blog again.

This time I was more focused and had a vision. I realized it wasn’t good enough (cruel in fact) to talk about local food and what I was cooking, I needed to share the ingredients and steps of my cooking. My first hurdle. I’ve never been the measuring type. A heap of this, a sprinkle of that–that’s how I’ve always cooked. So I learned to measure things to make my recipes became replicable. I’ve discovered this is a bonus for me too. I no longer wonder why my corn chowder tastes drastically different each time I make it. I simply reference my blog for the exact recipe. I might still edit here and there, but always for the better.

There was one major thing I noticed my site was missing–an index. So instead of baking a cake or making myself a treat to celebrate my blogoversary, I did some hardcore work. I finally made a REAL index. Click on the Recipes on the menu bar and no longer will you see a collection of tagged recipes, but an actual page directing you to your (and my) favorite recipes, searchable by dish type. Each category is then organized alphabetically, and in the case of Main Dishes, by protein or cooking method. And of course if you’re still not sure what you’re looking for, the magnifying glass on the upper right lets you search by keyword. Play around and let me know what you think!

What’s to come in the next year? Who knows! I have no intention to stop eating or cooking, I can promise you that. I’d like to bring more adventure into my cooking–local ingredients I’ve never used, new preparations and certainly more foraging. Plus I want to keep improving my photography skills,both taking and processing. I’m still working with my iPhone 5, which while pretty fantastic, doesn’t compare to a real camera. One day…

Thanks for reading and here’s to another year of great food and local living!

Happy Eating!