I can’t believe it’s been three years since I hit publish on my first post. When we first started this blog back in 2011, I had no real goal or agenda in mind—I just thought it would be fun to cook vegan food and write about it. And it instantly became an unexpected creative opportunity for my husband, Jeff, to pick up his camera on a regular basis and experiment with and develop his food photography.
At every step—from doodling ideas, to executing recipes and plating them, to washing dirty dishes after a shoot—this blog has always been something that’s purely fun to do, so it’s never felt like a chore or work.
But this blog wouldn’t really exist without an audience, so I can’t express enough how overjoyed I am when I get comments or other feedback about a specific recipe or technique that’s been tried here, or seeing page hits grow from month to month. I love connecting with other vegan and veg-curious folks, and this format is a beautifully perfect way to do that. So, thank you, dear reader, for visiting and returning to this site—it makes my heart swell to know that you like what we love to create!
With the three-year anniversary of this blog and cranking out more than 250 posts, I thought I’d use this milestone to ask you: what would you like to see more of on Olives for Dinner in 2014?
To thank you for your feedback, I’ve decided to hold a giveaway of one of my favorite cookbooks, Great Chefs Cook Vegan. This large-sized, softcover cookbook holds a staggering array of gorgeous food porn photographed by Linda Long, accompanied with recipes designed by more than 20 well-known chefs like Marcus Samuelsson, Thomas Keller and Eric Ripert. Everything inside is plated and arranged beautifully, with an emphasis on fresh produce and intriguing techniques, making it an inspiring resource for any home cook.
To be entered into the giveaway for a chance to win a copy of Great Chefs Cook Vegan, just leave in the comments section below what you’d like to see more of on the blog this year, and/or what kinds of things keep you interested in returning to Olives for Dinner or recommending it to someone else. You can also contact me at erinwyso [at] olivesfordinner [dot] com if you want (you’ll still be eligible for the giveaway).
On January 12, I’ll randomly pick a winner. Please leave your email or some way to contact you in your comment in case your name is drawn. Thank you kindly for visiting this space and for your honest feedback!
The winner of this giveaway is Amanda — congrats!
Many thanks to everyone who so kindly responded to this post with a comment! I will implement the feedback this year, and look forward to doing so. I really appreciate the honesty and new perspective that your comments provided, and am touched that you took the time to write. Happy 2014 and thank you again for visiting this space! xo
Anonymous says
More recipes using vegetables rather than meat substitutes like tofu, seitan, etc. Those heart of palm crabcakes are great and i love that they're vegetable based.
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