The 7 links project – Looking back at history

When I was invited by Jenn from Jenn Cuisine to take part in the 7 links project I said yes without thinking long and hard about it. I’ve been blogging now for three years (wow, has it really been that long??) and blogging in itself has brought me so many things. New friends and a whole community of wonderful people I would never have known if not for blogging, it taught me that food photography is really the thing I like most, it has improved massively on my web ‘designing skills (I know, being on wordpress is not really designing but at least now I understand a little bit about html and css codes… But I think above all, it helped me discover my true passion for food. I loved food before blogging, it’s not that I started blogging and all of a sudden realized ‘o, wait… cooking can actually be fun..’ No it wasn’t like that but it would not have learned the things I know today if not for blogging and reading all those foodie blogs out there.

The other day I was having dinner with two of my best friends and on the menu was an item called ‘Livar’. My friend looked at me slightly puzzled and asked if I knew what Livar was. Without any hesitation I could tell her that the name stands for Limburgs Varken (pig from Limburg) and shortened to Livar. I could have told her that the pig is a cloister pig and more such information that she didn’t want to know… So I kept it at the fact that it is really tasty pork meat… And she was utterly impressed that I even knew what it was. It’s just those little things that make you realize how much you’ve learned in those 3 years (and how much I still have to learn too!)

So looking back on my 3 year blogging history it’s quite fun to think of my best posts but difficult too! So many to choose from! 379 posts to be exact but I’ll give it a go! Here they are..

My most beautiful post

That  was a difficult choice. Not that all my posts are utterly beautiful (I wish!) but because there are a lot of posts I have fond memories about for one reason or the other. The one I ended up picking was the one that got stuck in the back of my mind and it’s the post on lavender macarons that I made for Mac attack.

As anyone who has ever made macarons can tell you… it’s not so easy!! So when this batch came out I was over the moon thrilled that they looked so pretty. Do you notice those gorgeous little feet?

My most popular post

If most popular means the largest amount of comments left on a post then it is definitely my post on tiramisu for the Daring Bakers. I can still vividly remember this challenge as we had to make each component for the tiramisu from scratch.

Yes, that also included the mascarpone!! It was a lot of work, although making the mascarpone turned out the be so much easier then I had thought it would be!! But still, while it was a fantastic challenge to do, making tiramisu this way was a one time adventure. There are many other ways of making tiramisu that are as tasty and soo much faster! As proven by my eggnog tiramisu and my limoncello one (technically called a trifle, but who’s counting right?). O and let’s not forget the special christmas tiramisu version we did last year. A bit heavy (understatement!!) but soooo good!

Most controversial post

Now there’s a tricky one… Initially I thought I had probably never done anything really controversial but then I started thinking back about that one post where I stated that the Dutch are seriously defeated when it comes to the making of ‘poffertjes’ by the Danish… There are several debates going on on the internet on the origin of poffertjes; some say it’s typical Dutch others say it’s typical Danish. I had taken it upon myself to find out the difference and that is when I discovered that yes, they are different and yes, the Danish ones are even better then our own ‘Oud Hollandsche’ poffertjes… There.. I said it again!

Technically the two are quite different; the Dutch version is flat and not filled and while enormously tasty and one of my favorites, the Danish ones called Aebleskiver are actually made in a totally different pan, with larger rounds. Because they are so big you can actually fill them with whatever you choose. I tried them with chocolate, banana, apples and loved them all! If you haven’t checked out the recipe and the requirements to make this mouthwatering beauties… Go and check it out here.

 

Most helpful post

Based on it’s popularity I would have to conclude that this must have been my post on controlling the light on your foodphotography (in a really basic way) There are many great foodblogs out there and there are also quite a few really good sites

that can teach you all about foodphotography and how to work with natural light vs artificial light so I merely tried to explain with a very simple example (aka my sandwich lunch) how I work most of the time. I think – as with many things in life – photography is a continuous learning process and I am still learning everyday. It also never hurts to look at how other people do their job. Where does the light come from? How did they create a certain mood and atmosphere? If you look for it there are lots of bloggers out there that give really good tips. Bring them all into practice and you’ll come a long way!

Surprising succes post

I had to think long and hard about this one as it always surprises me when a post is all of a sudden really popular but maybe even more so when the subject is entirely non food related. I think I was most warmly surprised by the responses when our two cats died at the ages of 21 and 20 yearsrespectively. I posted a little story after each post and all the responses I got where heart warming and I think in a large part show the strength of the blogging community. I was touched and

still am when I look at those messages. It’s good to know that there are people out there that care..

 

Post that didn’t get the attention it deserves

Another hard one… I mean; what is the reason certain posts do really well and others do not? The recipe? The content or just the timing? I think most of it is usually due to timing and all of the above reasons too..lol… Good thing I don’t make a living with analyzing stuff.. I would be horrible at it..   As for the post I think deserves a little more attention is a gorgeous salad with asparagus and halloumi. Halloumi is one of my favorite cheeses and you will be able to find quite a few really good salad recipes which are featuring halloumi here too… But this one didn’t do so well, so if you haven’t checked it out? Now is the time!

 

To continue in this tradition I have invited 5 bloggers to share their 7 links with us as well. Go and check out there blogs; you’ll love it. And thanks again Jenn, for inviting me to take this trip down memory lane. It was fun!

Valerie from Love through the stomach

Marthe from Baking Blue Finger

Soma from Ecurry

Ishay from Food and the Fabulous

Valerie from The Chocolate Bunny