this food blog and where it's going

As you may have noticed, posting here on Plums in the Icebox has dropped off quite a bit in recent months. Once upon a time, I'd hoped this blog would grow larger, gaining readers and sponsors. I was going to perfect my food photography, I was going to post a few times a week on an editorial schedule, I was going to "grow my readership" and " brand the blog" and all those kind of internet marketing-y kinds of phrases those of us in the blog world hear about so often.

But things have changed. My increased freelance, teaching, and doula work load has made it hard to post here as much as I'd like. When I'm writing all day for my job, the last thing I want to do is write more, even if it is about cooking and food. I still love cooking and eating healthfully as much as ever, but my interest in taking impeccably staged photos of my recipes and endlessly promoting Plums in the Icebox around the foodie blogosphere has seriously waned. I still love the blog, but it's become something I feel guilty about not working harder on, rather than something I do out for fun, as another creative outlet.

But I'm not going to stop blogging. I do, however, think I am going to end the "literary slant" aspect of this blog. When I started Plums in the Icebox, I felt like I needed a niche, something to distinguish me from the legions of other food bloggers clogging the internet. Being vaguely literary was what I came up with, and although it's been fun to do the Eats and Reads roundups and the Writers Eat series, I've decided not to continue them. After all, there are WAY better food bloggers that have that "literary slant," like Eat This Poem and Paper and Salt. And although I'm still a poet participating in the literary community, you'll have to follow me on Twitter or Tumblr to find out what I think about people who claim "poetry is dead" and all the other ridiculous and awesome stuff that goes on in the online literary world. 

From here on out, this blog is going to be your basic food blog. It'll slant towards "healthy" and nutritious food as it always has, but I'm not going to worry as much as posting regularly (not like I have been that much lately, anyway. but you know what I mean). I'm busy and that's ok. I cook dinner most nights in the week but I don't have to photograph it and blog it to feel like it really happened. I don't have to write "Plums post" on my weekly to do list each week, because this blog should be for fun. It always has been, but I think taking away some of the behind the scenes "business of blogging" stuff that's been distracting me will make it even more so. 

Look for recipes, as always, but also look for more one-off posts about foods I've been eating frequently, websites and blogs I'm reading, random eating and food-related things I find interesting. I'll probably post a lot more Instagram photos, because I snap pictures of my meals A LOT. I might just post quick links to recipes I've made or recipes that I find interesting. I might do some cookbook reviews, or I might not. I might blog five times a week or I might blog once or twice a month. Whatever it ends up being, I hope it will be fun for me to make and write, and fun for you to read. 

I also want to take this opportunity to say thank you for reading Plums in the Icebox! In the year and a half I've been blogging here, I continue to be overjoyed and amazed that there are people who regularly read this blog, people who actually cook my recipes. If you are one of them, thanks so, so, so much and I hope you'll stick around.