Welcome back

Shared Kitchen has had a summer snooze, and hopefully you did, too, but now it’s time to embrace the year and all the possibilities it holds. I don’t bother with all sorts of promises to myself at the beginning of each new year – mainly because the list would be depressingly long (so much self-improvement to be done!) but I have got a couple of clear thoughts in my mind about what I want to achieve in 2019. Shared Kitchen is top of the pile!

Shared Kitchen’s Instagram page, managed by Ilaria, is going well. We’ve had great growth there in 2018 and that is set to continue this year. We’ve strengthened our core followers of Shared Kitchen – our newsletter opening rate is at least double but often treble that of similar publications – and this is significant because it means our audience is interested and engaged (there is no point in having a large mailing list if half the recipients don’t open communications and don’t actively engage with the content). I don’t often talk about stats because as you are probably aware, most companies only trumpet the good bits. But things are going swimmingly, and I thank you for your part in that. I especially acknowledge, and thank, our American and European followers who muddle through the seasons with us. We know we are upside down to you, but we do see the light of the new day first!

I thought the start of the year was the right time to clarify what we hold dear at Shared Kitchen.

First up, everything in moderation – a little bit of this, a little bit of that.

Some sweets, though not too many.

We cook meat. We don’t apologise for it.

We make heaps of vegetable dishes, and some of them may be suitable for vegans, but we don’t endorse any type of diet other than one that consists of as much fresh homecooked food as possible.

We find great joy in cooking for people and want you to experience that joy, too, so our attitude is positive, encouraging you to have a go.

Our aim is to make recipes accessible and easy so you can achieve success with them and grow in confidence. It’s kind of like a journey, get on at the first stop and come along for the ride. You can always hop off and get a coffee if you need a wee break, and hop back on later on.

Most of all, we love sharing what we learn, and encourage everyone to keep cooking from scratch, hence our name Shared Kitchen, and our by-line Real Food From Scratch. We launched officially in January 2015 and we hold fast and true to everything these words imply.

We are not ‘up’ ourselves, although sometimes we have to climb on the hobby horse to bleat about something or other. (You can be sure that through 2019 we’ll continue to stick our necks out.)

We like to have a few laughs, to deliver our ‘messages’ with humour, as it makes them more palatable, and you are more likely to read and remember them. We are always up for a bit of fun, black humour – self-deprecating mostly.

Hey! The bottom line is, if Shared Kitchen is not for you, unsubscribe – there’s nothing worse than your Inbox filling with stuff you are not going to read. But if we push your buttons, y’know, you love to cook, you care about what you eat and feed your family, you care about the planet and how your food is grown, prepared or manufactured, and you find great joy in sharing food with others, hang around with us. We’d love to have you over at our place, like every Wednesday! And tell your friends about Shared Kitchen, too. We will welcome them with open arms.

All the best for 2019.

Julie

PS A few simple recipes to kick the year off.

PPS Please feel free to comment in the boxes below recipes.