Beyond The Meal: March 2011

My very first blog post on Beyond the Meal was in June 2009, right when I was starting my journey into the real world of life after college. I knew the reason why I wanted to start my blog, but I had no clue where it would lead. I often recall a moment when I was sitting on my bed in my college apartment, just weeks before graduation. As numerous college students feel at this moment, I didn’t know what direction my future was headed. The idea of being done with school is in itself a reason to celebrate - an accomplishment, victory and the end of an era to a structure that had been my whole life. As I sat on my bed that day I didn’t know what the new structure of my life would look like, but I knew I wanted food to be a part of it in some way. Hence, the dream of my blog was born. I started searching different food blogs and began to feel a tinge of anxiety. I was in awe of so many blogs that had beautiful lay-outs, gorgeous pictures and wonderful content to top it all off. As I often get when I’m excited about a project, I began to feel rushed – as if I immediately had to reach the potential of these blogs. I felt this pressure for awhile - the need to have engaging stories, amazing pictures and a layout that would be eye- catching.

Then one day I decided to do a post about my favorite banana cake (the inspiration behind my love of baking!) As many times as this banana cake had been made, I did not have a decent picture to include nor the ingredients to whip one up. Then I realized when I found this recipe for banana cake in an old Jewish cookbook, there were no pictures. To this day I have no clue what led me to that banana cake, or even that cookbook. So I published my post without a picture, exactly the way I discovered it and to this day it is still one of my favorite posts. It reminded me why I wanted to start this blog in the first place.

I think as with everything in life, we feel the competitiveness to meet certain standards – more often than not, driving us away from our true intentions. I realized the beauty of blogs is that they are a replication of us in a digital form. They show our passions, our interests, our mishaps and successes. If we create them with the sole purpose of copying a standard, we lose our authenticity. When I started Beyond the Meal I had no clue how it would turn out. Looking back on it today, I could not be happier. There are some posts without a picture, my content is not always perfect and my layout is simple, with the occasional flair of style. Yet, when I look at it I see myself and to me that’s the biggest victory.

I hope you take a look down memory lane with me, as I highlight some of my favorite posts.