For the love of cookbooks, food blogs and other thoughts

Blogs are funny things, especially when you’re just starting out. You have this space on the web where you can write about whatever you want (well, within certain limits of course but as long as you don’t harm yourself and anyone else in the process then you’re fine) and be whatever you want for that matter. A few days ago a lovely reader asked me for some advice on starting a blog and this got me thinking about how I started out. She didn’t want to know about the technical details as such, even though I think you need to know the basic stuff beforehand. What she was interested in is how to get going and how to get the message across. I gave her a few things to think about, which I listed below. I’ve been thinking about writing a few words on this but never got round to doing it. I guess the time has finally come.

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Project Blogging 101 with WordPress

I have been running Chorizo & Thyme (also affectionately known as C&T) for almost five years now and I loved every minute of it.  I still do mind you, although these past two years have been a bit of a hit and miss. Especially this past year I would say. There have been a lot of changes in my life and some major ups and downs, as most of us that actually live experience. I have been very regular in my posts on the whole and I am so pleased with that, but I feel I need to push myself some more to get even more motivated.

The Creative Blogger Award

Good morning everybody. I hope you are having a good start-of-the-day. I have been up early and just finished some house chores, but decided to take a break and talk to you about something really sweet that helped cheer me up today. Yesterday evening I was catching up on C&T’s admin stuff and as I was reading up on a few comments, I saw that one of my very favourite foodie bloggers Stephy from stephysweetbakes has nominated me for a Creative Blogger Award. I cannot explain how honoured I am for this. Being acknowledged by your fellow bloggers is an amazing thing. I really mean it. There are many fantastic people out there working hard at something they started as a hobby, posting great content and fantastic recipes. Some of these blogs have grown so much that they have managed to make a living out of it. But most of all they love what they do.

Fried Courgette recipe and a Life Update

Not writing anything on C&T for these past two weeks has been a strange experience. Last year I took a month-long break during all of August to focus on moving and trying to settle back in after the UK. This time things are very different and difficult. To say that these past few days have been tough doesn’t even begin to describe it. My maternal grandmother passed away early Sunday morning. Her funeral was held last Monday, giving us almost no time to process this loss. My grandma had been sick for 13 years – in fact, the last time I remember her being ok was at my wedding. I remember my mum asking me to go hug her before my going away. For some reason that comes to mind every time I think of her. Somehow I managed a reading during the funeral service and kept calm, but I couldn’t help feeling upset by the end of it. What I can say for sure is that I feel deeply thankful for being able to be there during her last days with us. She is now at peace.

Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton

Spring is here. (What, no exclamation mark, you say? I thought I might spare you one this time.) I hope you all had a lovely long Easter weekend. I am having quite a busy few weeks and it’s only going to get worse, but it’s all been good. Yesterday was the best day. We had lunch with my family (I made stew, which is sort of a tradition in my house, and took it over to my parents’ place.) Then we drove to Ħad-Dingli for a walk along the cliffs, and on our way back home stopped over to the wonderful Diar il-Bniet for a great coffee and something sweet. I took some snapshots with my mobile – no camera this time unfortunately – and will be tweeting some of them on Twitter later on.