The Weekend Gourmet Celebrates FIVE YEARS!!

This month, The Weekend Gourmet is celebrating a huge milestone: FIVE YEARS of blogging! When I started blogging at Michael’s urging in August of 2010, it was solely a personal creative outlet. I've always loved to cook, so I thought a blog would be an easy location for friends and family to easily access my favorite recipes. So...I taught myself html, pulled out my camera, and jumped right in. I learned as I went, and I quickly discovered I was having a lot of fun. My undergrad degree is in Journalism, with an emphasis in Radio, Television, and Film – so it was a good fit for a hobby. Little did I know The Weekend Gourmet would turn into so much more than that over the past 5 years! Within a few months, I was starting to have people other than family and friends stop by…and I was starting to work with brands to create content.

Over time, The Weekend Gourmet has evolved from solely featuring adapted recipes found in cookbooks or online. I still love to cook, but this blog has evolved to reflect fully how I relate to food. First, I began to create my own original recipes. Then, I decided to incorporate dining out and travel features! We first incorporated restaurant spotlights in Spring 2012 via our monthly The Weekend Gourmet Dines Out feature. This series allows us to spotlight the best restaurants in the San Antonio/Austin area. We occasionally feature extraordinary restaurant experiences from our travels, but we normally to use this platform to showcase the best regional cuisine near us. Later in 2012, we began to feature culinary travel with our inaugural trip to New Orleans – one of our favorite food cities!

Blogging isn’t my full-time job. By day, I work as a very busy Government Market Analyst, so I handle my blog duties evenings, weekends, and lunch hours. It keeps me busy, but I love it! The Weekend Gourmet started as solely my project, but now it’s something Michael and I enjoy doing together. He handles all of the fabulous dining out and travel photography that you see here. It’s great fun to have this platform to share our culinary adventures! The Weekend Gourmet has also brought so many amazing opportunities into my life. Over the past 5 years, I’ve partnered with lots of great brands like Red Gold, Stonyfield, Driscoll’s, and Frieda’s Produce. Ultimately, The Weekend Gourmet is about the personal connections that I’ve made. My readers e-mail me and leave sweet comments about my recipes they’ve tried an enjoyed. I’ve also made some amazing and talented food blog friends – especially the supportive bloggers in my amazing #SundaySupper family! Finally, I’ve been on local television here in San Antonio numerous times for live cooking segments -- and I’ve even been a speaker at the Food & Wine Conference in Orlando.

Quite simply: The Weekend Gourmet is my happy place. I get to come here a few times a week and share my enjoyment of food in all its forms with my readers. Where else will this blog take me next? I honestly have no idea, but half of the fun is seeing what fun and exciting new opportunities come my way. I promise to keep bringing you more of the Big Flavor recipes I love creating, sharing more about San Antonio’s growing food scene, and bringing you along on our culinary travel adventures. Speaking of…I want to announce that our team is heading to Las Vegas in October to feature the city’s best restaurants, shows, and attractions!