Sunday, December 29, 2013

I Still Exist

Let's face it.  This blog has been abandoned.  I think it's been at least a year since I've posted anything and there are a few good reasons for this.

The first is that I've been very busy.  Turns out being an attorney and a parent (and doing both well) is really hard work.  Doesn't leave much time for cooking, let alone blogging.

Not to say that I haven't had some awesome homemade food lately.  Last night, we celebrated my mom's 60th birthday by creating a seafood fest that would put Red Lobster to shame.  Lobster rolls, grilled lobster tails, and clams casino were my favorites.  Speaking of which, have I showed you how to make clams casino yet?  Shame on me if I haven't.

The other reason I haven't really been writing on this blog is a little more complicated I think.  I didn't really like where the blog was going and I've been trying to decide whether I'm going to re-imagine it or just let it wither and die.  Indecision and procrastination has won the day (and perhaps the last 500 or so days before that).

My problem with Big Man with an Apron is that it is more or less a copy of other people's blogs.  The more I got into food blogging, the more food blogs I found.  Everyone is talking, and very few bloggers seem to be listening, or even trying out the recipes that are posted.  I sometimes wonder whether many of the recipes posted on the blogs I've read had even been tried out by the writers themselves.

I love the idea of sharing my culinary adventures with anyone who is interested.  I'm always happy to share recipes, and critique my own work.  But once I got to the point where I was wracking my brain to come up with a recipe, rather than having a natural conversation with my readers (however few) about what I was already making, Big Man lost steam. 

The model of writing post after post of new recipes, each and every time I write something, had gotten to be a chore.  Because, as my wife is happy to report, when I find something I like, I tend to stick with it.  I will eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day, because that's what I like.  I don't want a new recipe every day, or every week even.  That's not how I eat, and it's not how I should write.

So, if I give this another go, I want to try to do two things differently:

1) Fewer recipes

There are a lot of great food blogs out there.  They post lots of new recipes all the time.  I don't think I need to do that for you.  If you want new recipes, there are literally thousands of places to find them.  Epicurious is one of my favorite sources for reliable, well-tested and sophisticated recipes.  Orangette is one of my favorite food blogs that combines decent writing, good photography and interesting recipes. 

2) Engage more with existing food content

I would like to be more engaged with the great content that is already out there.  So much of what I see is the production of more and more content without any real follow up.

Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi have a new cookbook.  Would it be more useful to review his cookbook or make up my own half-assed babaganoush recipe?  I submit it is the former.  How about that wing recipe I saw on Nibble Me This last week?  Maybe I should focus on aggregating some similar recipes I've come across, rather than coming up the 993,341,243th variation on an old classic.

This is not to say that I won't share any recipes on this blog.  In fact, I owe you clams casino.  But, I think having some direction is important, and this is where I think Big Man with an Apron is going if it is going to go anywhere at all.

Let me know your thoughts, suggestions, hopes, fears, dreams, etc.