Goal Achieved (for now)

 When I first started this blog, I was trying to learn to be more comfortable in the kitchen.  I already loved to cook, but I wasn't so good at improvising.  I had a collection of cookbooks that was constantly growing, and a fear of straying too far from those recipes.  I was a novice.

I wouldn't say that I am now a gourmet chef, but thanks in large part to this blog, I am certainly comfortable in the kitchen.  I have taught myself new techniques and shortcuts.  I have broadened my horizons.  I've done things I always wanted to do, like made home-made pastry and roasted a whole chicken.  I've kept my meals and desserts interesting and shared them with you.  You might have noticed that as this blog progressed, the recipes became more my own and less from other people's pages.

My journey to become a great cook is not over, and will never be, but I certainly have reached a milestone.  And I have to say that I think I have outgrown this blog a bit, at least for now.  While I used to love taking pictures of my creations and posting about them here, "showing off" a bit, admittedly, even if it wasn't always something to show off about, now it is somewhat of a hindrance.  Not to mention that I want to be able to cook favorite things I've made before, and this blog makes me feel like I always have to try something new.

I love to cook, I love to eat, and I love to write, but the blog itself is starting to feel like it is actually holding me back a bit now.  This is a great surprise to me, as it is the blog that helped me to grow so much over the past year and a half.

I will still be on twitter (@edibleventures) posting about my adventures in the kitchen, and I do plan to start a new blog with a different concept before long (stay tuned, I will be sure to post the link here when the time comes).  But for now, this blog is going into hibernation.  Thank you to those of you who supported me along the way.  If you ever want a recipe idea or a tip I am here to help, feel free to e-mail me (laurathelop at hotmail dot com).  I will keep this blog up for quite some time so that the recipes are still available.  And I will still read *your* blog, those of you who have them.

Happy eating, cooking, and blogging!  I still hope to have you all over for dinner some day.