Time for an installment of Weekend Things:
1. I got a blog makeover! I cannot tell you how thrilled I am about my site’s new look and the functionality.
One of the things I’m most excited about is that I now have visual recipe indexing. Meaning there’s a photo accompanying each recipe, and the recipes are categorized better and by type.
Go to the top right hand corner of the screen, where you’ll see Browse Recipes and a drop down menu, where you can click on the category you want.
For example, if you click on cookies, you’ll be brought to this page, where you can see every single cookie I’ve ever posted and click on what you want. How cool is that.
Not every single category is listed in the drop down menu in an effort to keep things more streamlined, but the major ones are there.
If you’d like to search for things a little more obscure, say, avocado, you can type avocado into the search bar.
Or, use the drop down menu again. The last item that says Recipe Index on the drop down brings you to the Recipe Index page, which looks like this. From there, you can browse by ingredient.
It’s not perfect because I have 4 years of recipes, and was horrible about tagging them. And in the past month, I’ve been working behind the scenes trying to tag and categorize my recipes.
As time goes by and I notice things that could be tagged better, or that I missed, I will continue to tag and categorize as best I can.
If you are looking for a recipe and can’t find it by using the drop down menu, the search bar, or the recipe index page, email me and I can help you find it. I just posted last week that I have 300+ recipes on Foodgawker alone, and even I can get lost. There are also old posts from when I was on Blogspot that don’t have accompanying images that show up, but cest la vie.
All photos now have a hoovering Pinterest button in the top left-hand corner of the image for easier pinning. I know I appreciate this on blogs I visit so that I can pin the image I want to, and for selfish reasons, so that I can pin the recipe as a reminder to myself that I want to make it.
The other thing that has changed is that there is no more loveveggiesandyoga anywhere in my html or in any of the post titles or links. Anything that exists on other sites and refers to me as LV&Y or links to my site using LV&Y, such as other blogs or Pinterest, is now forwarded to averiecooks.
Goodbye old site, you served me well, but I’ve moved on. When I first started blogging 4 years ago, I loved veggies and yoga, and I still do; I just don’t choose to write blog posts about them and haven’t for the past few years.
I have anxiously been awaiting this makeover and launch for nearly one year.
None of this would have been possible without the help of Lindsay Landis of Purr Design. She’s also the blogger behind Love and Olive Oil
And she’s written two books in the past 18 months, The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook and Breakfast for Dinner
If you are at all thinking of a blog makeover, Lindsay is amazing. She’s patient as a saint, creative, a visionary, and at times, a mind-reader. Her waiting list is on the longer side, but she’s well worth the wait. I cannot tell you how much I admire her work, and how thrilled I am with it.
Needless to say, my situation wasn’t just a straight makeover because of the URL changes. Every other designer I had previously worked with or interviewed, didn’t want to touch it with a 10-foot pole. Lindsay jumped right in, and handled it all like the true and extremely talented professional she is. Lindsay is your girl if you need a bigger time makeover.
2. I’m a contributing Blogger, Recipe Developer, and Photographer on Pillsbury, a “Pillsbury Maker”
I grew up in Minnesota, home of Pillsbury, before moving to San Diego and it’s quite an honor with a touch of nostalgia for me to be on the Pillsbury site.
I made Pretzel S’mores Chocolate Cookie Bars
3. They’re similar to the Salted Caramel Pretzel Blondies, which I made after the Smore’s Cookie Bars, because I was loving the pretzel and salty-and-sweet vibe so much.
Marshmallows and a chocolate cookie bar base were swapped for salted caramel and a blondie bar base.
4. San Francisco 500 Square Feet Apartment Tour – Dad, mom, and two small kids living in 500 square feet and tt’s amazing what they’ve done with it and how uncluttered and functional it is.
For anyone with kids, you know how kid stuff multiplies. And for anyone with a food blog, or who’s a cook, or just who’s lived life and isn’t 22 anymore living in your first apartment, you know that kitchen stuff multiplies; it’s bulky, and hogs space. Between kid and kitchen stuff, I could fill 500 square feet easily.
5. We live in a 1200 square feet urban condo and it feels extremely cramped at times; other times not as much.
No yard, no garage, no basement, and no attic like the houses I grew up with make San Diego much different than rural Minnesota.
6. 10 Ways to Make Better Brownies – Including some I had not heard, like the number 9, “Chill them before baking. After spreading the batter in a pan, refrigerate it for at least an hour or up to overnight. The end result will be brownies with extra-crisp edges and a moist, fudge-y center.”
I have two recipes for brownies, and swear by both of them. They’re both one-bowl, whisk-together recipes that are as fast a a boxed mix and produce consistently stellar, ultra-fudgy brownies.
Fudgy Nutella Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting – This brownie base uses melted chocolate and I like to swirl in Nutella but the brownies are fabulous with or without Nutella
And The Ultimate Fudgy Caramel Brownies
7. I went to Big Potluck a couple weeks ago and am still thinking about how much fun it was.
8. I was named one of the Top 10 Desserts and Sweets Bloggers on Pinterest– “…We compiled the list based on Cision’s proprietary research, with results limited to bloggers who dedicate significant coverage to sweets.”
I’ve been given quite a few honors and awards over the years, but being recognized as a ‘blogger who dedicates significant coverage to sweets’ makes all of my sweet teeth very happy.
9. Eating All Organic Food On a Food Stamp Budget – According to the author, yes, you can feed a family of three all-organic food for the month. The author stayed within her monthly food budget of $526. She offers tips and suggestions what she does.
10. Buttery Sweet Dough Emulsion – “Buttery Sweet Dough Flavor is extra-buttery, with hints of vanilla and citrus; add a few drops of this flavoring to your favorite sweet bread recipe, and your family and friends will be clamoring for the name of the bakery you visited.”
If it could make everything smell like Overnight Buttermilk Soft and Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls I would be in heaven.
11. I got a Mother’s Day Care package yesterday from Sur La Table. They’re an amazing source for everything you need for your kitchen, and for things you don’t even know you need. I’m in heaven when I wander into my local store. They sent me a Le Creuset Teakettle
And a Cuisinart 7-Cup Food Processor in Metallic Red
Needless to say, this kicked off my Mother’s Day Weekend in a fabulous way. I can’t wait to put the food processor to use with a batch of my favorite peanut butter, Honey Roasted Butterscotch White Chocolate Peanut Butter (GF)
What are your Weekend Things?
Could you live in a 500 square foot apartment with your spouse/partner and child? For all of you with kids, remember that baby stuff and kid stuff multiplies in the closet.
Could you eat organic (or do you care to) and feed your family on $500 a month? I know plenty of single, childless people who spend that on themselves in two weeks.
If you’ve made anything, done, seen, or bought anything fabulous recently, feel free to link it up in the comments.
Have a wonderful Mother’s Day Weekend and I hope all the moms have a special day that’s exactly the way you would choose.
Stay tuned for an amazing giveaway. You won’t want to miss it!
Hi Averie,
First of all, the new features are awesome! I think it’s a must for food blogs. It’s on my to do list to have a visual recipe index but will not happen for a while now. It’s a lot of work and I would like a new template all together and many other reasons. But good for you!
It’s amazing how far you made as a food blogger and I would like to be there one day too. I’m sure it’s a lot of work! Good for you!
I come from Ukraine and back there people live in 300 sf apartments all their lives. That’s how I lived. So, yes, it’s possible.:)
Hmmm, in Canada, you can’t live on $500 a month to eat healthy food overall.:) Organic? NO! Maybe in the US, it’s a bit cheaper.
Thanks for the great comment and glad you love all the new features. Ukraine and living in 300 sq ft. I know that other parts of the world live like that; I just…cannot imagine. God bless you for being able to appreciate all the space you have now given your upbringing!
And $500 in the US to eat is $125 a week for groceries. I could feed my family on this but I also don’t buy meat and that would mean buying whatever is cheap and on sale, and definitely not being married to organic. We wouldn’t be eating mac n cheese out of a box, but we wouldnt be eating organic persimmon either :)
LOVE the new design!! There are so many things I’d like to update on my page, and seeing all your new pretty things makes me want to even more! Congrats on the Pinterest award!! And I love that buttery sweet dough emulsion–It really helps get the buttery flavor for me since I don’t usually use real butter!
Oh that’s awesome that you’ve tried that emulsion! Ive tried the Princess one and it was ‘fine’ but wasn’t thrilled. However, buttery sweet dough…I am in love with the name alone! Glad you love my site :)
I’ve only been a follower for a few months, and feel the change is so dramatic! For the good, of course! :-) The recipe layout is so simple, I’m loving it!
I lived in a small (900 sq ft) bungalow in Chicago, and now live in a huge American Four-square (3200 sq ft) in Northern Michigan. I went from a kitchen counter that was able to barely fit a coffee pot and a toaster, to a kitchen with empty cabinets. Altho, my kitchen is extremely outdated, it’s functional. My biggest change was spending almost a 1/2 century with a gas stove, and getting used to electric. Now, I can do either without a problem (but still *prefer* flames to coils:)
Thanks for being a newer follower Sharon & glad you like the change! Dramatic, in a good way :)
And we used to live in Chicago! That’s where my hubs is from and that’s where the two of us met. I used to have some apartments in the Gold Coast, Wrigleyville, and all over the city that were so old and small it was…laughable. So I do know what you mean with the old Chicago construction. And now you have 3200 sq ft…nice! We used to go to Michigan to ‘get away’ for long weekends some times…the memories :)
Hi! I wanted to let you know that I nominated your blog for the Bouquet of Three Awards at https://marinaskitchen.wordpress.com/2013/05/12/bouquet-of-three-awards !!!
Marina
Thanks for the nomination :)
So many congrats’ on everything! I LOVE the new redesign, it’s so you (and I adore the new recipe index with photos!) Lindsay is amazing, it looks like she did a phenomenal job!
I like this upgraded look too. :) It’s very clean and easy to follow.
I’m absolutely loving the redesign – it’s so gorgeous! Congrats :) I know how time consuming it can be.
And your design is one I have ALWAYS loved! My very first WP blog (after transitioning from blogspot) were your colors – teal, white, and a hint of black/gray. Love those colors!
The Buttery Sweet Dough Emulsion is key in Gooey Butter Cake Ice Cream. The stuff is so fantastic…I swoon just thinking of it. I have the Princess Emulsion, too, because you never know when you might need it, but no recipe to put it in! So far, anyway.
And a huge congrats on the Pinterest honor! I know that’s how I discovered you. So glad I did! :) I made the Honey Roasted White Chocolate Butterscotch Peanut Butter last night. It is to die for. Wowza.
Thanks for finding me on Pinterest! And for making that PB..it’s my FAVE Pb recipe I have EVER created. Better than chocolate. I love that stuff…so much :)
Gooey Butter Cake Ice Cream = just the sounds of that makes me weak in the knees. lol
Ok so I have the princess emulsion and I used it in cookies or bars, maybe like a year ago, and there is a note in it; I can’t put my finger on it, but a close friend of mine also has it, and she can taste this same note/element/flavor and I will be super honest, I didn’t love it. Nor did she. Maybe I haven’t found the right use for it but it really overpowered everything. If you use it successfully, please LMK! I am dying to give it another go!
Congrats on everything you have accomplished!! You need to teach me your Pinterest tricks. :-)
The blog makeover is beautiful! Everyone has a lot of great things to say about Lindsay… looks like I’ll be adding myself to her list real soon. :-D
Thanks girl; yes, she is amazing and you will looooovvvve working with her!
Kudos on your comprehensive upgrade! As a past and future small business owner, I fully understand how much behind-the-scenes work this kind of thing entails. Here’s hoping this terminal transition will be (realistically: “relatively”) bug-free :)
Glad you can appreciate the workload. Yes, it took more than an hour or two to toss this little thing together :) Thanks for the support and ‘getting it’ :)
Your new site and all its beautiful features are incredible! I love it! The photos that accompany each recipe is the best part, I feel. It is something that helps so much in finding a recipe if you forget what it’s called but remember exactly what it looked like. Searching by ingredient, however, is also pretty darn cool. Wow! Amazing makeover!
I love that you are a Pillsbury contributor and that it is nostalgic because of where you are from. Congratulations! Also congratulations on being named one of the top 10 desserts and sweets bloggers on Pinterest! You have the greatest desserts and they are easy, too. Gorgeous photography for every recipe and can be made in a jiffy.
As for $500 a month, no way. We easily spend much more than that in a week with the amount of food we go through. Not always, but often. I imagine we will be able to travel around the world and back when our boys move out and are on their own. The majority of our income is on food! And as for 500 square feet, ugh. I mean, we could probably do it, but we might kill each other! :-)
I can only imagine your grocery budget and yes to traveling the world on that alone, once the boys are out of the house :)
And thanks for the sweet compliments, as always, and for always being such a positive voice, Michele! Glad the pics/with recipe will be helpful…I agree! :)
Happy Mother’s Day!!!
I love the look of your site! It’s just beautiful!!!
Congrats on the site upgrades and wishing you a happy (early) Mother’s Day. Enjoy :-)
Thanks, Bria!
Love the new site! It looks great! Congrats!
What a great week for you full of so many good things, congrats x a million, you deserve it!
I’m late to the party, here, but congratulations, the new site looks awesome. You of all bloggers will really benefit from that visual index. I’m in the midst of a blog re-do myself, and this is very inspirational.
You have been so busy, I don’t know where you get all your energy, I don’t even have the energy to COMMENT on everything mentioned in this post! Suffice it to say…go girl! I’m very happy for you :)
Good luck with your re-design, Sue. It’s SUCH a long, detail-oriented, technically-oriented process and seems to drag on forever at times, even with the best possible person working for you. Hope yours is coming along! And thanks for your support! I work like a dog around the clock but when I’m old and too tired to do it anymore, I will look back on this chapter in life and be glad I gave it all I had :)