The first Eat Up! Kitchen recipe was posted on March 5th, 2017. The first email went out to thirty one subscribers on March 31st. This is the one year anniversary of Eat Up! Kitchen but it’s neither the beginning nor the end of my journey.

I’ve posted nearly one hundred recipes this year. I’m proud of each of them and the photos I’ve taken. Dozens more were poorly executed or photographed and never made it to the blog. I was really excited about my 2017 Game Day Snacks for the NFL season (check out that logo!) but had difficulty maintaining momentum. Learning to build a website cost more time and money than I had planned. I wish I had posted even more recipes… and had a bigger kitchen.

I’ve encountered dozens of people who have made my recipes. Friends and strangers have engaged me to talk about what they’ve made for dinner or why they eat differently now. I love when people just talk about food not knowing about Eat Up! Kitchen. Food’s a commonality we all share and we all have something to say about it. Even if you hate cooking or resent your family or career because you don’t have time to eat properly, that’s still something to talk about.

Eat Up! Kitchen was never intended to be a short term success story. It’s a long-game to get myself out in the world to discuss food and take photos with people. To be part of and report on food culture. I was inspired by chefs and purveyors and authors and humanitarians (and my sister). I’m cool with posting recipes as I still stabilize myself but there’s more to it down the road. In what manner do we eat and with whom? Does it matter where our food comes from? What’s sustainable farming? What does it feel like to cook or provide food for people?

I have a ton of work to do. As I glance back at this past year I’m even more focused on what’s ahead. I’ve struggled recently to post more than one recipe a week and that has to change. Without needing to spend much energy on the guts of the website, perhaps I’ll have more time to expand on research and stories. I’d really like to get back to hosting dinner and cocktail parties. If nothing else, I hope to increase the quality of each post.

Thank you all for following my journey. I don’t know how committed I would have been a year later if it wasn’t for your encouragement and engagement. I have so many things I want to do, to see, and try in the months ahead. I’m so excited to see where we’ll be a year from today. I hope you’ll continue to join me in the Kitchen as we Eat Up! together.

– Anthony