Break out the bubbles because this blog turns 10 today!
That’s right – on May 15th 2009, this blog was born…
If you want to read the full story about how and why I started a blog all those years ago, you can sign up to receive my brand new newsletter! The first edition comes out today (where I’m sharing that story!) and then it will be monthly(ish) from then on!
To celebrate, I’m taking a trip down memory lane looking at my top ten posts. Some of these are YEARS old but are still super popular!
Top 10 posts on eat. live. travel. write.
1. Why do my macarons have hollow shells? A work in progress.
I spent years troubleshooting macarons and this is my all-time most popular post!
2. Toronto to Vancouver by train on VIA Rail’s The Canadian: what to expect.
Seems people are still interested in travelling across the country via train, even 6 years after this post was written. One of my favourite Canadian trips!
3. Braised chicken with creamy mushroom sauce
One of those “easier to make than it looks so don’t tell your friends!” dishes. A favourite in this house!
4. How to make macarons: what’s working for me now!
Back in 2011, I stumbled upon Stella Parks’ recipe for macarons and I’ve never looked back!
5. How to make canelés in silicone molds
In 2014/2015 I was intent on “mastering the canelé”. I wrote a VERY comprehensive post in 2015 and just recently updated it completely. You don’t need those fancy copper molds to make canelés!
6. Cookbook Book Club: Lunch with Ina Garten (not literally!)
For over three years, two friends and I met monthly(ish) to cook from a selected cookbook or cookbook author’s body of work. This edition (a little inexplicably to me) is up there in my top ten most popular posts. Speaks to how popular Ina is!
7. How to make rice cakes (not the Quaker ones!)
Back in 2009 before I knew anything about SEO or writing so that my stuff would be picked up and popular in Google searches, I named this post “How to make rice cakes” and I’m sure everyone’s disappointed when they see it’s not a “how to” but a travel post from Laos! One of these days, I might get around to figuring out how to make these at home!
8. French Fridays with Dorie: Hachis Parmentier
This speaks to the power of the roundup post. This was included on a Buzfeed post about French foods you need to try before you die (!) many years ago and I guess THEY know their SEO because I still get a ton of traffic to this post today!
9. Kale, spinach, pear, banana and celery smoothie
The green smoothie. It never goes out of style!
10. Breakfast Pasta Frittata Bake
Pasta for breakfast. It’s a (popular) thing!
Ok so those are the most popular posts by pageviews. But pageviews can be affected by so much – SEO/ if the post was shared from a big site etc… and while I love ALL the posts on my site, there are many, many others (like 2196 other posts apart from this one!) that I’d love to get some more airtime so since we’re in throwback mode, here goes…
Highlights from the first 10 years of eat. live. travel. write.
1. I’ve taught hundreds of kids to cook through my Petits Chefs after-school cooking club
Honestly, one of my all-time career highlights was stumbling on this passion for teaching kids to cook.
Writing a book on its own is a big enough feat but I held down a (very) full-time job and continued to blog over the 2+ years it took to write the book. Go me!
3. Less than 6 months into blogging, I won a trip to San Francisco to demonstrate a recipe I developed in front of a live audience!
4. After just a year blogging, I entered an international food blogging contest and made it to Round 8 of 10!
5. I cooked my way through Dorie Greenspan’s cookbook, Around my French Table. Took nearly 5 years but I didn’t miss one recipe or one week of posting!
5. I’m FOUR recipes from finishing David Lebovitz’s My Paris Kitchen (stay tuned!)
6. Neil and I cooked our way through Michael Ruhlman’s Charcuterie over the course of a year.
So. Much. Meat.
7. I was a Jamie Oliver Food Revolution Ambassador from 2012 – 2018.
Read about what the Food Revolution means to me.
8. I’ve blogged every step of the Camino de Santiago so far (2 stages to go!)
9. I co-founded Canada’s only dedicated organisation for food bloggers and co-organised Canada’s first dedicated conference for food bloggers. I left FBC as a director in 2013 to pursue my writing (see #2, above) and other projects (see #10 below)
10. Because life’s not busy enough, in 2014, we bought a house in France (psst: you can rent it for your holidays!)
I could go on, but I won’t. There’s lots of reading here for new readers and lots of trips down memory lane for longtime readers. Thank you all for being here, for reading and your support. I honestly wouldn’t still be here if it were not for you.
Now – go sign up for my latest project – my newsletter !
An amazing decade!
It’s hard to believe it HAS been that long…but looking at all that’s been done, and some of it seems very much the distant past (FBC, Ruhlman).
I think the bonus “Top 11” is that Cleo’s been here supporting you (and making guest appearances) all along the way. 😉
BIG CONGRATS. Bubbles aplenty this weekend to be sure.
N. xox
Congratulations Mardi! I’m so glad to have met you along your journey. I enjoy following your wonderful adventures every week. You’ve achieved so much in the last decade and you’ve only just begun! Cheers! XO
Thanks so much! Meeting friends like you is definitely one of the perks of blogging!
Wow!! Congratulations!!
Fantastically proud of you, Mardi. Your posts are invariably interesting, mind opening and inspiring. In particular, what you’ve done with the LPCs is a very large feather in your cap. You would have made a good journo, but you’re very obviously a better teacher. Long may it continue.
Aw thanks so much XO So glad to have you as a reader !
Congratulations, Mardi! I’m always so amazed at the amount of energy and care that goes into your posts each and every week. You are inspiring! Thank you and cheers!
Thanks so much 🙂 Glad to have met you along the way!