Thoughts on NaBloPoMo

So. I did it again. Last year I was a little frantic about completing NaBloPoMo, but this year I tried to just enjoy it and I was pretty successful. In fact, just like last year, I liked the diversion from my more-or-less standard blog MO. I used to feel bad if I didn't post in the order of photograph, anecdote, headnote, recipe, but I think I'm going to have to let that slide for good. I'll still share recipes, of course, but would anybody mind if I post the occasional photo-only post? Or if every once in a while I tell you what I'm up to at work intead of telling you what I had for dinner?

I've been sort of bored with this space lately, which is why I was absent for, oh, all of October, but I think part of it is because the world of food blogs has become so saturated and I can't help but feel competitive. What if my picture isn't as pretty? What if my cookies aren't tied just so with perfect baker's twine or my story isn't as funny/poignant/heartfelt/tearjerking? What if my recipes include weird hard to find ingredients or make too-frequent use of leftovers and what if you don't have the same leftovers? If nothing else, NaBloPoMo has taught me that I still like blogging, even if none of my anything is "as good as" anybody else's. Does that make sense? The point is, I hope to see you here more frequently than I did over the summer.

Incidentally, have you oiled up your wooden spoons and cutting boards lately? It's winter, and just like you they could probably use some moisturizer (douse them with mineral oil, wait an hour, wipe off the excess with a paper towel).