I'm finally here!

People who know me are probably thinking "what took me so long?" :) I know. I know. The whole idea of sharing food secrets didn't really sit well with me for years. In real life, I would cook and from time to time people would ask me for recipes. Some of them I would give out willingly but others I wouldn't. I especially remember a case when a good friend asked me for a recipe and I said "no, sorry." I typically have a hard time saying "no" to requests and favors to anyone but to a good friend? I truly felt awful but I explained why and as any good friend would, he totally understood and was cool about it. At least I think he was.

Fast forward about eight years later and here I am! About to do the one thing I was terrified to do: share recipes, my love for food, and even food secrets. When I do share that recipe that my friend requested, I will be sure to personally email him first :) So what made me change my mind? Why am I finally starting a food blog? Well, there are several things.

1. I am a very private person and at one point, I didn't even trust anything online. I was scared to create accounts and didn't feel comfortable shopping online and would have never dreamed of having any kind of regular online presence. For the most part, I was an invisible lurker. Slowly I warmed up to it all, especially in the past three years. The Internet has also come a long way too. So many people have joined in and sharing is what people do online now.
2. I have over three years experience blogging. I regularly blog 2-3 times a week. To date, I have 436 posts on my blog. Wow! Really, that many?! I'm even impressed :) In that time, I have also read plenty of other blog articles and commented on other people's work.
3. I started out as a "mommy blogger" so having survived that, I think this food blog will be no sweat :) By the way, I will still be blogging over there but will probably do a bit less now that I have this on my plate too.
4. Around a year and a half ago, I discovered a fantastic food blog by a professional chef with a very respectable background and it totally changed my view on sharing information about food. Food is for sharing. I'm sure the pros don't give out all their secrets but if you follow them closely, you will be able to learn A LOT from them.
5. One great food site led me to many others and I'm adding excellent food sites to my directory all the time now. It's like food blogs took over the Internet by storm! There may once have been very few great recipes online but now, there are too many great ones to choose from. There is so much to discover and I love it!
6. I used to think no chef would share their secret recipes because they were held sacred and they didn't want people to copy them. I mean if you could make it yourself, you wouldn't want to eat it at a restaurant, right? Actually, it's not true. As an Information Architect and business professional, I can also understand why it would be in the company's best interest to share this information on their site. I have encountered countless great recipes online now, many from professionals, and my opinion of the matter has changed. Also, just because you have the recipe does not mean you will be able to execute it successfully.
7. I've always been a self-taught foodie and didn't think I needed much help in cooking. I have a few cookbooks and thought that was plenty. Boy, was I wrong! Not only is finding recipes online faster and easier, I am now beginning to see that the Internet is just an open source everything-you-need-to-know-about-food encyclopedia! Or anything else, for that matter. Social media outlets such as Pinterest have sparked my creativity and made me think of food differently as well. I have learned a great deal from a lot of food sites in the past year or two that I feel like it's my turn to give back to the community now.