Five years ago today our website went live. We started this during COVID when we were in lockdown and our passion for food had the time to grow. Finding ourselves free of commuting and with nowhere to go or be, it was fabulous to have time to fully indulge, to try lots of new recipes and set about finding the best and to cook with our friends virtually.

It wasn’t just us, during lockdown many people got really into cooking, making breads and loving it. We loved how so many people were suddenly cooking lots more and enjoying it. We got really into virtual cooking lessons with both our friends and Matt’s friends. We were often asked for recipes and at that point we knew this was important to us and made us happy.

So what have we learnt over these five years? Well firstly, just how much work it takes. Recipe testing and posting takes a huge amount of time, so much more than either of us had anticipated. Initially we had a lot of recipes to post as whilst we had loads written down and, as Rhona was building our website, I had lots of time to recipe test. Once we needed a constant stream of recipes this did become more difficult, especially once Rhona was back commuting more. Over the last year or so both Rhona and I have been involved in busy projects that took up a lot of time and often at the end of the day there was little energy left to test recipes. The last year has been a bit irregular but we are going to ensure that we get back to posting much more often.

The second thing we learnt (and have found really interesting to see) is exactly what is popular and the dishes that get the most interest. This is always burgers followed by pasta. There is something evocative about burgers and we also fall into that trap when you see a good picture of a burger you cannot help but let your mouth water. Pasta is a perfect meal for the working week, usually fairly quick and filling and satisfying. So if either of these interest you, there are a few new recipes for you - a peri peri chicken burger which is spicy and gorgeous and Mrs S’s tuna pasta bake which is one of my very favourite pasta dishes we make. We now have two tuna pasta bakes, one is based on a bake made by Kelly’s mum and one from Rhona’s mum. They are both very different but equally as good.

We also learnt that some recipes, no matter how much you try, are probably not going to be worth the effort trying to develop or putting on, you do have to be a bit pragmatic.

We want to thank you for still being here five years on and for the support and feedback we get. We also want to ask you a favour, please can you forward this email to at least one friend and ask them to sign up to receive our emails. We would really like to expand over the next year and for that, we need you.

If there are any recipes or ingredients you would like us to feature, please just email us.

Kelly and Rhona x

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