2009

I have finally implemented tags again!  You will notice that every recipe and market post now has a list of tags at the bottom, if you click on one of these, it will take you to a list of all of the recipe and market posts that share the same ingredient.  

I have chosen not to include tags for salt, pepper, water, butter, most oils, and various other peppers because those things are ubiquitous.  

You will also notice a list of tags in the bottom left hand corner of the site.  At the moment, these represent the 50 most recently added tags.  

I hope that you all find this feature useful!  As always, I welcome any and all feedback.  

And, in other news, Thanksgiving was a success!  Pictures have been added to all of the Thanksgiving recipes and we will be enjoying leftovers for the rest of the week.  

The market season has also ended so market posts will resume in May 2010.

I apologize for the lack of posts.  I have been both busy and under the weather.  I hope that posting will resume by the end of the week.  I have been cooking and taking pictures, but haven’t had the time or energy to write.

I haven’t made a news post in a while but I’m happy to announce a few bits of information!

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Welcome to readers from the Waldorf Farmer’s Market!  All of the wonderful produce shown on my blog and used in the market season recipes come from the wonderful farmers who take the time every week to participate in the Waldorf Farmer’s Market.  I’m thrilled to have my blog included in the newsletter for the market and I’m pleased to welcome new readers looking for ideas.  I look forward to seeing all of you every Saturday morning and Wednesday afternoon at the Festival Shopping Center. 

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I also have the pleasure of announcing that my blog has been accepted to Urbanspoon.  What does this mean?  When you look at a restaurant I’ve reviewed, my blog post will be linked on the restaurant’s page.  I’m a huge Urbanspoon fan, so it’s pretty exciting to be included on a great site. 

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Food Blog Search is another great resource that I’m happy to be a part of!  At the three month mark of blogging I was eligible to submit my blog to this great search engine and it was accepted.  I recommend the site when you’re interested in searching the wide world of food blogs. 

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And last but not least, I’ve reached the three month mark of blogging with just over 150 recipes! :D  This blog has certainly helped me put my cooking into perspective and it’s been such a fantastic project so far.  I look forward to seeing what the next three months will bring.

This is what 5 pounds of garlic looks like.  

I had the pleasure of stopping by Pete’s Produce in West Chester, PA again over the weekend.  I love their garlic more than any other and I recently learned that I can freeze it with success.  My plan is to peel an entire head of garlic for freezing every time I need a clove for cooking.  In theory I’ll be able to get it into the freezer before any goes bad.  

Mmmm.  Garlic.

What’s New
The search feature is still being finicky.  It seems like it works from the main page with no problems at all, but it doesn’t want to work from any other page.  We’re working with the developers to figure this problem out.  It is, however, quite nice from the main page so I recommend using it to search on ingredients or anything else you want to search for.  Just remember to click on the site name in the top left corner before performing subsequent searches. 

I’ve upgraded both my camera and my lighting setup for pictures.  I’ve now got an EZcube light tent and proper lamps as well as a Canon Powershot SX10 IS.  You’ll be able to see a difference in picture quality due to the light tent, but most of the improvements due to the camera are all behind the scenes.  That said, it is a very sweet camera.  

In the Works
I’ve got some photos picked out for the banner, I just haven’t gotten the chance to do anything with them yet!  And the FAQ is still bouncing around in my head.  Thanks for your question suggestions.  

Since things are fairly under control, my next news update will probably wait until the search feature is working perfectly.  Thanks again for your support, it’s great to hear that people are trying these recipes and enjoying them at home!

What’s New
The search feature is much more robust now and has an advanced search option beneath that will give you even more flexibility while searching.  Edit: The new search feature still seems to have some issues, but I have it enabled so that the developer can help us figure out what’s wrong.  I apologize for any problems you might encounter while searching. 

In the information section, you will now find an Archives option.  If you click on it you’ll be able to see all the posts in a month, or a year, or a category.  In theory these two features (search and archive) should make it significantly easier to find anything that you’re looking for!  

In the Works
I’m still trying to figure out what to do for the banner, but I haven’t figured that one out yet.  Maybe with my lightbox I’ll take some pretty pictures of tomatoes this week and turn those into a banner!

I’m also going to start compiling questions, and answers, for an FAQ.  If you have any questions you’d like to see addressed, please email them to me at: [email protected]

What’s New
The login widget has changed both design and location.  If you’d like to login to comment, you’ll find the new widget in the top left corner of the site.  I think it’s much prettier than the old one, and requires a lot less space as well.  

The site also has a search function on the left side now.  This will help you find old recipes or posts more easily.  

Also on the left side, neat the bottom, you’ll see a section with links to the most popular articles on the site.  This dynamically updates based on what people have been reading.  

Links to individual posts are now a lot more concise than they were initially, thanks to Art’s hard work.  

In the Works
The main goal for the coming weeks is to improve the search feature and add archiving functionality.  I Think I’ve found a Joomla extension that will do everything I want, and then some, it’s just a matter of Art vetting it to make sure it’s acceptable to use.  Hopefully you’ll be seeing those changes in the next few weeks.  

Thank you all, again, for all of your support, comments, and emails.  Please keep checking back as I seem to be adding more content on a daily basis!

Since my blog is still in its infancy, I figured I would post the occasional News post to give visitors an idea of what’s new with the site and what’s in the works for weeks to come. 

What’s New
Commenting is now enabled on most posts.  This requires you to login to the site, but that’s a simple process.  The link to login is on the left side of your browser window and, if logged in, you’ll then see a comment link at the bottom of each post.  Feedback is so important, so don’t hesitate to share your thoughts. 

On the left side of your browser window you’ll also see a link to the RSS feed for the site.  This is a good way to keep tabs on the site on a regular basis if you forget to check the actual page.  Like I do. 

Also on the left side you’ll find helpful information not only about the site and the people involved, but about CSAs, other fun food blogs, and the ever-important link to the US government’s statement on recipe copyright. 

Every recipe and CSA post also has tags at the bottom.  You can click on any of these tags to see a list of all the recipes containing that specific ingredient. 

In the Works
Art is working on making the links pretty.  Right now, a link to an individual post is a jumbled series of characters, but he will be working some magic to make the links look more like real language. 

From there, we have plans to add archive and search features to make searching for specific recipes and finding old posts significantly easier than it is now. 

And, of course, more and more content is always in the works.

Thank you so much for all of your support in this endeavor.  I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it!