Graphic Foodie has just turned one!

It's a funny old thing this blogging malarkey. I started it as a silly little side line to keep a few of my recipes in one place rather than on paper scraps and napkin edges, whilst learning a bit about social media for my design job.

At first I was writing to a brick wall and often wondered why I was doing it, but slowly and surely comments came. People started to send me nice emails and would actually ask my advice. Some people challenged my opinions and those I appreciated the most (hello to all the animal rights activists out there!)

One year on and I have published 124 posts, have 919 people following me on Twitter, lighting rigged up in my kitchen and a head full of ideas. I sometimes eat my food a bit cold because I'm photographing it and my fella gets really annoyed with me. I sometimes introduce myself as Fran Graphic Foodie. My friends have stopped inviting me round for dinner. I get edgy if I'm away from blogging for a bit.

I've always lived to eat rather than eating to live, and it was always the case that if I wasn't eating or cooking food I was talking about it, but never did I think it would consume my life as much as it does in blog format. But despite a crazy house renovation, planning my wedding in Italy and a busy job, I somehow always make time for the blog.

But the best thing about starting a blog is discovering the food blogging community out there. Reading other peoples blogs, Twitter, Ning and other online resources have connected me to an enormous, passionate foodie community and a wealth of food knowledge. The foodie twitterati have on many occasion saved my bacon, lumpy sauces, pizza stone issues and taught me more than I ever needed to know about pigs trotters, retro cocktails and pies. Their enthusiasm is infectious and I think quite key into why people keep blogging. And it's been lovely to have met some of them in the real world.

I hope the next year sees the blog evolve a bit. I feel I'm starting to find my blogging feet and I can begin to focus on what this blog is exactly. But I think it should always be fun.

Mille grazie for reading and happy new year.

Fran x

Here are my favourite posts from the year:
Post made most helpful thanks to the Twitter food bloggers: Paris in 8 hours
Most fun recipe: Homemade sausages Antonio Carluccio style
Biggest change in opinion: Jamie Olivers' Recipease store
My most highly recommended Brighton restaurant find: The Chilli Pickle
Favorite cookbook of the year is a tie between The Eagle Cookbook and Antonio Carluccio's Simple Cooking
Worst cookbook of the year: Laura Santtini's (apparently) Easy Tasty Italian
Most interesting foodie event I attended: Heather Mills' cooking demonstration at the Brighton Food Festival