Bon Appetit

It's been nearly a year since I started this blog. Admittedly, it hasn't turned out exactly as one might expect from the description beneath the title. Originally, I envisioned more discussion of the trials and rewards of trying to enjoy food when there's one strict vegetarian and one meat-loving omnivore in the family. There were even supposed to be some restaurant reviews but that hasn't happened.

With the arrival of the water buffalo, the blog quickly became a handy way to keep friends and family up to date on what's going on around the farm and in our kitchen. Since I never had any interest in trying to make a living at blogging, I've resisted the urge to try to monetize the site or pump up traffic. Still, I love looking at the stats and seeing how folks find the blog. That effort has revealed some of the unsavory side of blogging (e.g., traffic manipulation) but also some of the fun (e.g., getting to know people from other blogs).

One source of traffic to my blog surprised me: Bon Appetit. I subscribe to the paper edition of the magazine but wasn't sure why my blog kept getting hits routed from their website, so I followed the trail back and discovered this. Apparently, my version of their mushroom and lentil pot pie recipe got picked up in a column they run called "What People Are Cooking." Their people pick a recipe which had been featured in the magazine and then look around to see which blogs have featured the dish. A few of the best examples are featured in the column. It all feels vaguely incestuous but still I was flattered by the attention.

I may yet get around to talking about some of our favorite restaurants in Asheville and places we find when we're on the road but I think I'll leave the formal reviews to the pros. I really like enjoying my food when I'm eating it. If I had to remember the details accurately some hours or days later, I would have to take notes during my meal and that would just ruin it. As with a good book or movie, analyzing it--even after the fact--often takes something away from the emotional experience of it for me. Instead, I think I'll just put up some posts about our favorite places and why we love them. That is, unless I get distracted by some cute buffalo.....