anniversary | My Pantry Shelf

Happy 1st Anniversary to My Pantry Shelf!

December 10, 2011

My Pantry Shelf celebrates its first anniversary this week. The year has absolutely flown by (as it probably would have with or without the blog), but 90+ posts later this blog has taken on a life of its own. This project began as an avenue to share my passion for cooking and preserving fresh seasonal ingredients. Eating homemade meals made with fresh ingredients is a core value in our family. Regardless of the time constraints of our busy lives, we make a strong effort to celebrate our family meals, expose our children to a wide array of seasonal foods, and utilize as much of our garden produce as possible. I firmly believe that the modern working family, with a little planning, can still eat homemade nutritious meals made with the bounty of the seasons. This is my little space in world to share my enthusiasm for fresh foods. It is full of ideas for how to prepare dishes to eat right away, as well as inspiration for how preserve the freshest foods to enjoy later in the year.

This site has proven to be more than I could ever have imagined. My life was full with two small kids and a full-time teaching job before I began writing these posts. Surprisingly though, instead of overwhelming an already busy woman, My Pantry Shelf fulfills a deep need that had gone unnurtured in recent years. It gives me a place to be creative and interact with others who share my passion for food. Through this space I have met so many wonderful cooks across the country who also seek to fill their days and their bellies with delicious foods. This space belongs to me and all of you who have come to share it with me.

Thank you to everyone who reads and cooks along with me. It is such a delight to know you are out there and trying my recipes. I truly appreciate those of you who have reported back after making these dishes in your own homes and to those of you who spread the word about this site and help it grow!