“For me, the kitchen feels like the heart of our home.
One whiff of my coffee brewing in the morning lifts and it soothes my spirit. The sight, smell and taste of a particular recipe has the potential for such an immediate reaction, doesn’t it?
I smiled yesterday as my niece, home from college, exclaimed to her sister, “Oh, Aunt Jen’s special french toast.” My tradition of making stuffed french toast evoked a warm memory for her. There’s power in a shared meal…so let’s make it both pleasurable and memorable.
My desire for Tasty Tuesday is to encourage each other in making meal time an occasion, rather than an event.
In our home, quite often it is just an event, a chore. The kids must be fed, and that’s a reality (and I admit that happened tonight as I wrote this post. 🙂
Once a week, we can spur each other on to try something new. If you’re a brand new cook or don’t have a lot of time, I’ll share lots of quick and easy meals. That’s my specialty.
If you’re a gourmet cook….please, let us learn from you.
I can’t wait to see what everyone brings to the table.”
My very first Tasty Tuesday post: Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle w/a peek into our Easter meal
Those words, penned April 14, 2009, marked my very first Tasty Tuesday Parade of Foods posts. At that time, we were the first and only Tasty Tuesday,really, one of the first food link ups of it’s kind. That’s when I feel like a grandma in the blog world. 🙂
Now, literally after hosting 220 weekly Tasty Tuesday’s, it’s time to end the link up, but I hope to continue Tasty Tuesday by featuring any guest posts you might want to share here regarding all things food and family meal time.
When I began, Link ups/Carnivals/Meme (all synonyms) were quite new. It was such a joy to reach out through the computer screen. We interacted and shared life each Tuesday about all things kitchen and cooking, not just food, but heart stuff as well. Hundreds participated and shared comments. My favorite part was asking the questions and then reading through all the wonderful thoughts from everyone.
Interaction with readers is my biggest joy, but with Pinterest and Instagram and so many unending choices, it’s just not as easy anymore, right? I miss that because there’s nothing I’d love more than to have a virtual coffee clutch every week right here.
Through the years, hundreds of food link ups have started, and as I scan recipe posts, I can often see 30-40 other carnivals that people are linking up to on one post. For me, it was about the community that we first built by clicking on each others links with the desire to help each other out and leave comments to cheer everyone on, so I feel as if I should let the others continue on.
I’ll never forget my first year bringing Tasty Tuesday straight from Ecuador: South American Style 2009. There was a nation wide power strike with electricity shut off periodically throughout the day. IÂ remember setting my alarm for 2 in the morning JUST to get my TT post up on time since I knew many were waiting to link up. Now, I never know when it will go up and it’s just not fair to those planning their day.
It’s sad to say good bye to this portion of my blog, but freeing. Please feel free to send in a guest post because I’d love to start featuring some of the other bloggers who have a heart for bringing families around the dinner table.
I started to list some of my favorite posts, but then realized with over 200, it’s nearly impossible to pick favorites, so I choose some of the first I started browsing from the early days.
Pour some coffee and pin this page for later because there’s lots of great reading about saving money in the kitchen (or just search the Tasty Tuesday category, which is missing about 1/4 of the posts. :))
A Few Tasty Tuesday Highlights
When Did You Learn to Cook? (Precious stories from readers are shared in the comments. Re-reading this years later reminded me of the importance of having the kids share life with me in the kitchen.)
(My baby girl has grown up before my eyes since I started Tasty Tuesday)
Easy and Odd Ways to Save Money on Food
My #1 Piece for Cutting Food Cost (for newbies) and the readers share there top tips.
What are Your Monthly Food Costs (readers chime in) (Fascinating how everyone handles their food budget)
My Evolution to Real Foods, Organic, Junk and In Between (for us, it’s all about balance)
Pinterest, My Top Recipes and Stealing Content (Now that pinterest is full blown, it’s still a struggle, especially since our life isn’t always ‘pinnable.”)
What’s Your Favorite Cookbook? (Great suggestions)
What’s the Weirdest Food You’ve Ever Eaten? (Ewww)
What’s Your Favorite Cookware? (Suggestions for Deciding on a set of cookware to purchase)
Sharing our Bedlam Kitchen Moments – (We all can laugh together)
No Spend Pantry Challenge – straight from Guatemala – (such a great reminder)
I think that’s enough reading for now. 🙂
Thank you for the years of challenging me, supporting me and helping me grow in all aspects of food and meal time.
I can’t wait for many more years together.
Jen, congrats on a great 220 post run for Tasty Tuesday! It is a great accomplishment. I look forward to reading more great posts from you whether it is Tuesday or otherwise. 🙂
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Jen, I know this was a hard decision for you. But it’s inspiring to see you making changes as the online culture changes. I loved peeking through those old posts, thanks for sharing them.
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I feel so badly that you are ending the linky! I just found you recently!! I will cont to follow you and I look fwd to your posts!
be well and God bless
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Aw, bummer. I always loved your Tasty Tuesday link up….not only for what you wrote but also but for the recipes that were linked up. I found some great ones that way.
At the same time I understand your decision….it’s one of those tough choices that we as bloggers have to make.
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Jen – I did not realize TT was coming to an end until today! I am saddened because when I first started following blogs, you were one of the first. Any I had never heard of a linky party. Over the past couple of years, I have gathered some great recipes from those who have linked up to your TT parties. Thanks for all your work each week. I will miss you but still plan on following your blog closely. Best wishes, Jill
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I totally understand how you feel. I only hosted one holiday link-up and was so surprised at how much work it was. Plus like you said, there are so many now, it is over-saturated. I actually have decided to participate less in them. I would rather link up to only a few a week and then be able to engage more with others who have also linked up.
I also agree about how time spent on social media can get spread thin. I am only on Google+ and Pinterest. I cannot possibly add any more on my plate, nor do I want to. No FB or Twitter or Instagram for me. Yes, I might be missing out on traffic, but over time, I will be happier with less on my plate and more relationship building.
Thanks for hosting.
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Oh, so sad to see it go, but it’s happening to many of my favorite linky parties as the years have gone by and the linkups got bigger and bigger and bigger. Thanks for hosting for so long!
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Hi Jen,
It’s sad to see your Tasty Tuesday link-up go, but I completely understand. Keep up the great work on your blog and I’m glad we have the resource of all your past TT link-ups and posts to revisit!
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I haven’t linked up in quite a while, but your Tasty Tuesday has long been one of my favorite places to find new recipes and tips. I’ll miss it!
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