Cook Republic is One. What A Year It Has Been!
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It was five years ago in July that I shared my very first recipe with the world on a blog called Gel’s Kitchen. It has now been a year since my food blog changed its identity to Cook Republic. But the heart of my food blog is still the same, mine. I have loved it, nurtured it and fed it with words from my head and pictures from my life. I have given it a new lease of life. Cook Republic is one and what a year it has been!
Blogging has been a way of life for me for the past few years. As I have mentioned before, it feeds my soul in a way nothing else does. I love writing about my creative processes, the food I cook, the journeys I embark on and the visuals I capture along the way. I love the sharing and connecting that comes with the territory. On the 1st anniversary of Cook Republic, I thought it would be fun to share some snippets, facts, figures and stories from last year. I also have an amazing giveaway, the link to which appears at the bottom of this post. So read on!
1. Cook Republic came into existence in July 2010. The name was a result of several sleepless nights and a long list of available domains (at the time) to choose from. Some other names that were tossed around were wisecooks.com, fudies.com, cookchronicles.com, cookingness.com, cookaddict.com and cookfiles.com
2. I had a blast working on the logo for Cook Republic. I wanted to have a seal, an emblem of sorts. I vectorized my favourite silver spoon and used that as the basis of my seal. The type is a modified version of one of my favourite fonts, Belizio.
3. To date, there have been 187 published posts and 130 recipes on the blog.
4. As I write this, there have been 1,166 comments on the blog posts, including my own. The 1000th commenter was my friend Petra.
5. The Blueberry Cream Cheese Butter Cake has been the most popular recipe of all time on the blog with a whopping 9,068 views. It is followed by the 2-Minute Nutella Mug Cake at 6,100 views.
6. Earlier this year Cook Republic was nominated in Babble’s Top 100 Mommy Food Blogs For 2011. It was a first for me and the blog. And since I haven’t already asked, if you really enjoy my shenanigans on this blog, would you please head over to Babble and give me a Thumbs Up?? Pretty Please? You should find me at No 83 as Sneh Roy. Thanks!
7. Since re-starting the blog, I have scrimped and saved to buy a beautiful Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens and an army of quirky, vintage and absolutely utterly gorgeous props.
8. To stamp a little bit of my personality on the blog, I illustrated a version of me in the blog header and surrounded myself with some of my favourite things – a massive chalkboard, a gorgeous cake stand, chocolate cake, a rustic bread board, baguette and a beautiful white casserole. In the months to come, I will use the header to express my whims, my fancies and my art!
9. With the inception of Cook Republic a year ago, I vowed to explore exciting avenues in food, set and accomplish new culinary challenges and experience food in a way I had not done before. In staying true to my resolutions I had my first ever 6 course degustation at Berowra Waters Inn, went mandarin picking at Ford Farms, experienced my first ever working food photo shoot, baked and decorated a 4 layer cake over a period of 12 hours, visited the famous Sydney Fish markets, ate and enjoyed Brussels Sprouts, tried my hand at and failed miserably at making macarons, saw Matt Moran in action, mastered rolling sushi, ate nothing but sushi for 1 whole week, cut a chicken, visited a vineyard and plucked grapes, planted my first organic veggie patch, reviewed a cafe, met a food blogger (Rebecca of Chow And Chatter) from US that I actually befriended on Twitter, met Alvin Quah and Miguel Maestre, went to a food blogger’s picnic and made biscotti.
Food blogging has not only been good for me, but it has done amazing things for my family. Nick will tell you that he loves trying out new food every other day and the fantastical gourmet adventures we have. Our little boys who are Masterchef fanatics love growing their own vegetables. It is sheer joy to see them saunter out to the patch, pull up a carrot, wash it and eat it. It fills my heart with joy when they go around the garden plucking a herb or two, brusing the leaves to smell . It is amazing to hear a 7 and 3 year old talk about how healthy vegetables and fruits are, about the benefits of recycling and composting, about farms and fresh eggs.
I am doing things I never thought I would do. I am baking my own bread, rolling my own pasta, exploring exotic cuisines and ingredients. And I am just getting started. There is so much to learn, so much to share and so much to do. But above all I just want to thank you all for stopping by, reading a part of my soul that I put up every few days and for taking the time to acknowledge and write back. I appreciate every little comment, smilie and mention. It makes my day. Seriously!!
To celebrate Cook Republic’s 1st anniversary and give my thanks, I have a wonderful giveaway. Click for your chance to win a sexy black Marcato Atlas 150 Wellness Pasta Machine!! You guys rock!
[...] steel kitchen bench. I have been playing with it and I absolutely love it. To celebrate Cook Republic’s 1st Anniversary, I am giving away one sexy black Marcato Atlas 150 Wellness Pasta Machine to one very lucky reader [...]
I have the same camera lens thermos mug!
Happy 1st bloggerversary! And what a year it has been for you! It’s lovely to hear that food blogging has made a positive impact on your family, esp hearing your boys praise veggies! That’s so unheard of but good on you for installing healthy and good eating in them at a young age.
Keep up the good work. Here’s to many more gastronomical years to come
Thanks Phuoc!! The mug is so cool, ain’t it?
Congratulations on a successful year of blogging. You must be pretty chuffed on all you’ve achieved. (And your family is too cute!)
Thanks for your sweet comment Bel!
What a lovely blog post to celebrate your 1st birthday – brought a little tear to my eye to be honest, that you love blogging, and gain so much from it…and it’s great that your family embrace it too! Well done…and keep up the good work.
Awww Mel! Thanks heaps
well done great blog and fantastic photos
Woo Hoo..Congratulations..Though fairly new to your blog, I thoroughly enjoy the variety here..here’s to many years to come!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! HAppy 1 year! <3
Happy Anniversary! I loved seeing all the pictures of you and your family. It’s wonderful to hear the positive impact that blogging has had on your life. Congratulations and here’s to many more beautiful years of blogging ahead!
Thanks Sylvie! I am so thankful to the blog for what it does for my boys especially
Happy 1st anniversary! It’s amazing how much you’ve accomplished so far, congratulations!!
Happy first, found you recently and am enjoying your space very much. Many more years to come I hope!
Thanks Pick Yin. I look forward to exploring your blog too!
Happy 1 year completion in such a successful way .. I hope you have many many many more years of such celebration.
Reading about the journey was so much fun and knowing all those details. Btw are you drinking from the lens ??!!! Kept staring at the pic .. wondering .. what!!!
Gorgeous click, all of it and even though I discovered your blog late .. i am just happy that I did
Thanks Kankana. Yep, it is my lens mug. Nicky gifted that to me at Christmas last year. Coolest thing ever. This is the one I have http://www.canonmugs.com/canon-24-105mm-lens-mug-with-lens-hood-cap.html
congratulations !! good to know you enjoy cooking and blogging so much. wishing you many more happy years ahead with family
cheers
shruti
That’s a wonderful journey Sneh! And congrats for the anniversary. Here is wishing you many more of such to come your way. Lovely clicks, Happy to be in touch with our blogs. Cheers!!
Congrats, Sneh! Your work is stunning and I look forward to many more years of reading about your kitchen adventures!
Thanks Kimberley
happy bloggy day! And to many to come and I have a feeling that we will meet you in person soon
Thanks Penny! I have a feeling too
Wonderful! Congratulations on your milestone. Blogging is such an amazing thing- the community and the creativity inspire me daily. I’m happy to have found your site- it’s great.
Congrats again:)
Thanks Bianca! Love the blogging community .. so much passion and energy out there!
Congratulations! Love your photos above. Am looking forward to seeing all your other dreams and plans in action – wishing you all the best!
Thanks very much Petra
awww Happy First Blog Birthday! <3<3 hope there are many more years to come. ps. love the photo where u were drinking out from the lens cup
Congratulations!!In a year,your blog looks so professional and has so much to offer. Brilliant job done. I enjoy your posts and the photos.
Wishing you many years of blogging, cooking and brilliant photography. I have booked marked the dhokla recipe.
biggest congrats on your one year anniversary. this is such a wonderful roundup. i’ve only been around for a handful of months but I am looking forward to reading more about your vegie patch.
happy birthday to your blog what a cool family you are love the veg garden wish Sydney was closer to meet again you need to visit the US!!
Congratulations too! Your blog is definitely growing well. Keep it up
)
What a year it has been for you – you’ve accomplished so much! Above all you have created a beautiful creative space. I just love coming by here
Congrats!
Happy 1st birthday to Cook Republic! I loved reading about your food adventures as much as I enjoy browsing through your gorgeously “illustrated” recipe posts. I’m happy to have contributed to the mug cake stats too. Well done and wishing you many happy returns. Marty
Happy anniversary! You have more blog posts in a year, than I have had on my blog in 5 years, lol.
Wow. happy birthday to your blog! I think you’ve done a fabulous job in terms of the recipe , content and the new logo. I really like it. I think it looks fantistic!! wish the year coming ahead will be have more food and more awsome recipes
Sneh, loved this post! Great way to celebrate CR’s first anniversary…. I can see everyone in the family has totally embraced it. Especially touched by the awareness you’ve created in your children…
[...] of the giveaway!! Thank you to everyone who entered their fantastic pasta experiences in the Cook Republic 1st Anniversary Pasta Machine Giveaway. They were all such beautiful answers and I had a tough time deciding on [...]
Hello and happy anniversary!!
What’s the recipe for the cake in the picture ? The one that has different colours : red brown yellow.
It looks yummy!
Beautiful. I have so much catching up to do to all of these amazing blogs. I too want to start a garden. I find when I involve my kids, they want to do more and learn more as well. Thank you, and I also am saving up for better equipment!
Great blog!!
Thank you! And good luck with all your dreams and projects
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