Hello!
an introduction & reflecting on more than 20 years of writing online
I’ve been writing and sharing recipes online for about 27 years now, more than half my life. My first foray into writing online was a long defunct website called Taste of Brooklyn. Lenny and Anne, the founders, still keep an archived page up here for their old media company. The writing wasn’t groundbreaking or personal as much of it is now. No one really knew what to make of the internet back then but I was an early adopter.
So much has changed since the late 90s. I eventually married the boyfriend referenced in that very first article about gelato. We had two children, our family became our religion to quote a Cloud Cult song, and then our world was broken in a most devastating way when he died suddenly in the summer of 2011. It’s been one long game of finding my footing again, with writing online being the one constant that’s kept me grounded. A place to work through my thoughts while sharing what I’m cooking.
12 years ago, Liza de Guia created this piece for her James Beard award-winning site, food.curated., in the days leading up to my cookbook launch. I rewatched it again recently, and realized that as much as aspects of my life have changed—our children are now almost 17 and 22, I took a chance on love again, getting married, and then divorced recently—but that girl in Liza’s video?
That girl is still here, alive inside me, a little more worn from life, but also still capable of excitement and finding joy in its little wonders. I still talk to strawberries when I see them reappear at the farm stand every June.
And one thing that certainly hasn’t changed is how I find myself over and over again in the kitchen. The joy, love, and therapeutic energy that feeds a hunger deep inside the soul is what I’ve always wanted to share most with the world.
A little housekeeping for new subscribers. I send out a new newsletter two to four times a month, usually on Sundays (this Thursday newsletter is a surprise one). While I write mostly about recipes and cooking, I share all aspects of my life. You’ll find writing on grief here, macro-tracking and weight loss here, and all recipes can be searched for in the archive tab here. Many posts are available for everyone to read regardless of subscription level. Recipe access is a benefit available to paid subscribers. Thank you for your support, whether you discovered my work today or 20 years ago.
Be well, and remember to be kind. —xo, j.
Great post, Jennie! I was wondering if you were getting a divorce ... congratulations on finding you, again and again!!!! I always love reading your posts, and cooking your recipes! Hoping our paths cross in person this year - has been too long!
Congratulations on thriving for 20 years!
I started following you in 2011 and I respected and appreciated how you turned to creating beautiful food during what was the rawest, most painful and unmooring time in your life. It was life affirming and I understood, and saw, you.
Keep going. We need people like you Jennie, today more than ever.