Penzey's cinnamon winner

The winner is.. Cassandra at Foodie with Little Thyme. She was the 13th comment that specified a favorite way to enjoy cinnamon. Cassandra, email me at lethallydelicious AT gmail DOT com to claim your cinnamon!

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One year - What I've learned

In honor of my one year blogiversary, I'm taking a moment to reflect on the past year and think about the year ahead.

When I started this blog, it was solely to participate in Tuesdays with Dorie. I hardly knew what a blog was.

I figured I would post about my baking and cooking, share a few photos, make a few witty observations, and the world (which had been waiting impatiently to hear my views on cupcakes and pie crust), would flock adoringly to hang on my every word.

Not so much.

After my first post, the world indulged in a collective yawn and got on with its day. I was struck with a few weeks of panic. Nobody was reading my blog. How do I change that?

The few visitors who stumbled on me and commented made my day/week. I had no idea how they got here, or why. It took me weeks to realize that my mantra wasn't "If you build it, they will come;" rather, it was "If you visit, they will too." And that, in a nutshell, is the biggest change that happened in the past year. I learned that I miss out on so much if I'm not focused on you, visiting you, seeing what you're up to, getting inspired by what you're making.

If you're reading this, you're probably a blogger, so you could have told me that blogging isn't about me sharing my (rather boring) insights about making truffles, it's about community. And without that community, I'm alone in my kitchen. Thank you for sticking with me.

You gave me the confidence to conquer my fears. You inspired me to take on things I didn't know I could handle. Making bread. Pizza. Meringues. Sticky buns.

As I look ahead, I have three goals: To get a healthier meal on the table more nights than not. Between a prolonged attack of plantar fasciitis and a back injury, I gained 20 pounds this year, and I don't like them. Second, to work on my photography. And third, to explore the many cookbooks I own and rely less on impromptu meals thrown together at the last minute.

A new home for Lethally Delicious is in the works. Never being one to take on small, manageable goals, I decided to move from Blogger to WordPress and migrate to my own domain. This has presented technological challenges that are beyond my capabilities. Sooner or later, we'll get there. It may be better looking and more fun, but I'll probably still make a mess in the kitchen and forget to read the instructions carefully. Some things never change.