Welcome to NeighborFood!

You’re here! Hooray! I am so excited you all made it to the new site! This site has been months and months in the making and I can’t even express to you how amazing it is for it to finally be a reality. There’s a lot of new stuff going on here, so I wanted to take a couple of minutes to show you around so we can all get comfy in this new space!

First, the new name. NeighborFood. This was a hard decision for me, because I’ve really grown attached to Bake. Eat. Repeat. It’s where I developed a love for cooking, for photographing food, and most importantly for sharing it with all of you! But after much deliberation, I finally decided to switch the name to NeighborFood. It’s the perfect expression of my love for food and community. My hope is that this corner of the web would be a place you can come to find encouragement, inspiration, and friendship. I honestly believe food tastes better when it’s shared, so I hope this place can inspire across not only fiberoptic cables, but across real life dinner tables surrounded by friends and loved ones. For more on the new name, check out the About page!

Second, some upgrades. Woot! Woot! From here on out each recipe will have a clickable “Print recipe” button so you can easily print just the ingredients and instructions without copying and pasting. You can check out the printable recipe feature on this recipe for Perfect Fluffy Pancakes and on many other posts as well. I’m slowly going back through old recipes to add this feature, but it could take a few days (months…years), so please be patient with me!

You’ll also notice the new recipe archives page. Recipes are broken up by categories and are displayed with purty pictures. If you click on any of the categories at the top of the page, it’ll take you straight to the list so you don’t have to scroll through all those recipes! Each category is further broken down into subcategories to make it easier to find what you’re looking for. If you click on the category link, it’ll take you to a page with excerpts and pictures of everything in that category, from most recent to least recent.

Next, a Facebook page. That’s right, you heard correctly. I’ve finally entered the 21st century and gotten a Facebook page for NeighborFood. Please head over there and like the page! You can also use the page to share pictures of food you’ve made from the blog, share ideas for new recipes, give a review of a recipe, or tell me how you snorted milk watching the latest episode of Parks and Recreation (me too). I’d love to chat with you!

Speaking of Facebook, see those fancy new buttons at the top? That’s how you can follow NeighborFood on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or through the RSS feed. You can also email me directly by clicking on the envelope. Drop me a line!

Comments. Thanks to Disqus, commenting just got waaaay easier for all of us! At the bottom of the first post on every home page you’ll see a link to the comments for that page. Just click that link if you want to join the discussion. It’ll take you straight to the comment box. Now you can comment by linking to your Facebook, Twitter, or other account, or you can simply enter a name and email! You don’t have to check the box to register with Disqus, but  I highly recommend it. Just one of the benefits of registering is receiving an email when someone responds to your comment. That way if you have a question, you don’t have to come back to the page to get an answer. You’ll just get an email letting you know someone responded to your comment. It’s a great way to keep the discussion going!

Finally, I wanted to let you know about some other fun stuff you’ll be seeing on the blog in the coming months. You may have noticed a new tab up top called “Love the Locals.” Starting this month, I’ll be sharing reviews of some of my favorite Columbus restaurants and businesses. This is my way of spreading the love to my real life neighborhood! My hope is that if you live near Columbus you’ll be encouraged to try out some of these hidden (and not so hidden) gems, and if not you’ll be inspired to check out some of the local hot spots near you!

There’s also a new tab up top called Leftovers. Occasionally I’ll be blogging about some non-food related things here on NeighborFood…like the funniest thing I found on the Internet that week, thoughts on Justice, Jesus, or marriage, or my super deep insights into the familial relationships of Modern Family characters. You know, leftovers. I’ve categorized these posts under Faith, Justice, and Life, so if you’re looking for some good old fashioned stress relief, something to make you think, or something to encourage your soul you can check those out.

Last but not least, the In My Kitchen tab. Ever been curious what makes my little urban kitchen run? (Hint: It’s more than just pounds and pounds of sugar!) That’s where you’ll find it! In the next few weeks, I’ll be creating an Amazon store that includes my most beloved and over-worked kitchen tools, cookbooks, and photography equipment. If you’re shopping around for something new (or want to add to your wish list), definitely check it out!

Whew. That was a whole lot of stuff to start us off here. I hope you all love this new space as much as I do. We’ll still be working out some kinks over the next few weeks, so I appreciate you hanging out with us while we clean things up. For now, grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair, and settle in. I’m so happy to have you here at NeighborFood.