The Bitten Word

Okay, Let's Talk About What's Next

 

Thank you thank you thank you for your unbelievable outpouring of love and support after we announced we would stop writing here by the end of the year.

Your notes and comments really mean the world to us. And we literally heard from readers from all over the world. We're really touched by your memories of favorite dishes, your requests for things we might do before the end, and your creative ideas about other endeavors we might undertake. We've loved reading each and every word.  

One funny thing that was unearthed after the announcement: our friend Kristine forwarded us an an email we had sent out to friends after the blog had been live for a few months, in April of 2008:

Subject: Because What the World Needs is Another Blog

Hello friends -

We made a New Years resolution of sorts to start using the cooking magazines we receive each month, cooking at least one dish out of each issue.  We figured it would make us try some new dishes, and that it might be fun to keep track of our experiences, so we started a blog in February called The Bitten Word.  It's been a lot of fun so far.  We've already mentioned it to some of you, but consider this our official announcement.

Anyhow -- check it out!  www.thebittenword.com

Clay and Zach

Who knew we'd still be at it all these years later...

Let's talk a little business and answer the #1 question we've received: Will the site remain live after we stop posting new content?

The answer: Absolutely!

We'll leave the site live and will make sure it's here as a resource for us all of us (we would literally be lost without the recipe archive -- we refer to it constantly).

So what's next? Here are a few topics we're planning to tackle before we wrap up completely. Here's our to do list:

• Update the recipe index
  
  
• Host another fried chicken cook-off. We have a fried chicken recipe in mind to be the "challenger," but if you have a fried chicken recipe you think we should try, we're all ears! 

• Pick our 10 favorite dishes over 9 years (and maybe our least favorite, too)
  
  
• Share some reflects on 9 years of food blogging, including a look at how the magazines have changed
  
  
• And of course, a Thanksgiving/Fakesgiving blow out. We're considering introducing a cook-along element this year, so you can participate. Are you interested?  

 

A longtime bitten named Shelly sent us one of our favorite comments: "Be Young. Be Foolish. And Be Happy." We've definitely got two of those covered (hint: it's not youth). 

Let's have a happy and foolish next few months.

~ Zach and Clay

 

P.S. In case you're wondering, that photo is of the two of us on a sunset sail in Provincetown, Mass., last month. 

We're Back (With Some Big News)

Hello, Bittens! It's September, and we're back to share some news with you.

Back in early August, we told you that we needed a break. Here's a video that talks a bit about that, and about our news:

So, yes.

As we said in the video, we used the last month to talk a lot about the future of The Bitten Word, and the role it plays in our lives. As we shared back at the beginning of this year, we've been struggling with the future of this site on a number of fronts. After a lot conversations and real sadness on our part, we've decided to end The Bitten Word by the end of this year. 

But don't go just yet! We're not quite done. 

We're sad about the end, but we think it's the right thing for us and the site. We've loved doing this, but the cooking and photographing and writing are no longer the creative outlet they once were for us. We're no longer as inspired by the cooking magazines that served as the impetus for this site. (It's not so much that the magazines have changed, it's just that nine years of reading them closely is, well, a lot.) 

But like we said, we're not done yet. There will be another Fakesgiving (we just couldn't end before then). And there's more that we'd like to share and do before we officially wrap up this site. 

We hope you'll join us for these final months. And we hope that you'll help us celebrate nine great years and what we've all done together.

And if you have an idea for something we should do in the next couple months, perhaps something you'd like to see us all accomplish together before the end of the year, let us know! You can email us or leave a comment. 

Much love,
Zach & Clay