Like any toddler, it’s hard to believe how Twice as Tasty has grown in a year. As 2017 winds down, indulge me in looking back at a second year of Twice as Tasty—or skip down the page to read about the year to come.
Twice as Tasty grew with 55 posts this year. The blog now offers 135 recipes and 25 pages related to techniques for preparing, storing, and eating well year-round. The number of email subscribers and WordPress and Facebook followers more than tripled in the last year, and membership in the companion Facebook group almost doubled. All I can say is “wow and thank you” for being so supportive.
Offline, I taught the first Twice as Tasty workshop in March and have followed it with a steady flow of classes. One of the most popular topics was beautifully featured in the local newspaper. The current roster boasts 16 workshops, including several seasonal ones, and I’m preparing to launch more options next month. With your participation, I hope to teach even more workshops in 2018.
2017 Highlights
So much happened with Twice as Tasty in 2017. Here are a few of the year’s most popular topics:
- Sourdough is a favorite Twice as Tasty theme, and January is devoted to wild yeast. In 2017, I explained how to get started with and care for a sourdough starter. Nine recipes offer ways to make and use sourdough creations, while two workshops focus on using wild yeast. And there are a few days left in this year’s Sourdough Giveaway Experiment.
- Cheese is the reason I’ve never been vegan: I love it too much to give it up—particularly since I discovered how to make cheese and other dairy products at home. Twice as Tasty devotes April’s posts to cheesemaking, and one of my most popular workshops teaches you how to make cheese and yogurt in about 30 minutes.
- Grilling, roasting, and smoking are techniques used all year at my house—and not just for a nightly meal. The intense flavors are essential in many recipes I shared this last year, including my favorite refrigerated condiments, scratch-made dips, canned salsas, and canned or frozen syrups.
2018 Upgrades
I’ve learned a lot in the last year—and not just about food. I’m planning to make technical improvements throughout the blog and test new ideas in the coming year. These three top my to-do list:
- More photos. Readers have spoken: You all love pretty food photos. So among my blog projects for the year is becoming a better and more prolific photographer. I’m redesigning the blog to show photos on the homepage, and you can expect more shots within some posts. But if you really want to see my photographic progress in the coming year, follow me on Instagram.
- Improved recipe index. The straight alphabetical index has grown unwieldy, so I’m revamping that page. Hopefully the changes will make it easier for you to find a particular recipe or explore new ideas.
- New features. The Twice as Tasty Facebook group hasn’t developed into the discussion forum I anticipated but should make an ideal testing grounds for new features. If you want more Twice as Tasty each week, join the group. Reader feedback will be key, so let me know what you like, what you ignore, and which features you’d love to see regularly on the blog.
Learn It, Love It
I’m always testing new recipes and techniques to keep a few steps ahead of what I share on the blog and in workshops. Here are a few topics and techniques I plan to add in 2018:
- Shrubs and syrups. We’ve been playing with drinking shrubs for a couple of years, and I’m ready to introduce some of my favorite techniques and flavors. I’ve already shared a few fruit syrups, but I’ll have more to say on how to use them in cocktails and nonalcoholic beverages.
- Fermented vegetables. Even though I use gallons of vinegar for pickling each year, my favorite pickles develop slowly in a salt brine and live in my fridge. In 2018, vegetables will join sourdough and cheese in the blog’s fermenting category. You’ll be surprised by what you can ferment and how easy it is to preserve produce using fermentation techniques.
- Coaching workshops. In January, I’m adding a new style of workshops focused less on a single technique and more on how you cook and eat. These workshops are designed to make you more confident and successful in the kitchen by looking at what you buy and grow, when and how you buy specific foods, where you store them—and why you can still walk into the kitchen and find nothing you want to eat.
These will still be interactive, informative Twice as Tasty workshops, in which I come to your home and teach you and your friends how to make delicious food. And they’ll still include a gathering around the table to sample your creations. If you’re new to Twice as Tasty workshops, you can learn more here—and then look for the first coaching workshop next month.
So as the new year approaches, be sure you’re fully connected to Twice as Tasty:
Thanks again for a fabulous 2017—I couldn’t do this without you. I’m looking forward sharing even more tasty treats with you next year.
Thanks for reading!
Julie
Twice as Tasty 