I will bake for your comments and likes!

Hi guys, as you can see, I decided to change quite a lot on my blog. One major change is the layout (or theme how the proper blogging term is called). I decided to go with the Sprout & Spoon Theme by SoloPine. I don’t know what you think, but I am very happy with it. Since my weakest area is design (I also always have a hard time with food props and how to make my food look nice!), I can definitely recommend purchasing a theme. It is well worth the investment. But apart from the theme, there are much more substantial changes such as

• A recipe index according to category and with photos (that one is really important for me) for you to easily browse and look for recipes, please have a look here.
• A search button so that you can check my recipes the fast way. It is found on the top right corner and on the sidebar.
• A Pin it button for those of you on Pinterest, which makes it much easier to remember a recipe you want to try. I am also on Pinterest now, if you would like to follow me.
• Additional suggestions of which other recipes you may like once you are looking at one particular recipe.
• A reader-friendly recipe version for you to print off the recipe. got complaints that somehow beforehand people couldn’t print the recipe, don’t ask me what went wrong, but I hope it works now. Please let me know how you like it and whether it is fully functional!
• Also, if you decide to check the recipe on your cell phone or tablet while you bake, this version should be much easier to follow than the previous one.
• An overview of my most recent posts at the bottom also containing photos and as text on the sidebar for you to navigate more easily to whichever recipe you are looking for.
• My most popular posts on the right sidebar.

This is all due to the fact that I finally switched to a self-hosted blog. What this is and why it is recommendable I will explain in a separate post, but know this, I was very glad I am married to a hardcore computer scientist who could help me with everything. I have to say though that I tried as much as I could on my own and also have to praise the customer support of my new domain and blog host, namely Hosteurope. If you are not located in the U.S., but somewhere in Europe, I can highly recommend them. They did listen to me patiently and very happily answered all my questions and didn’t mind walking me through it step by step. Mind you, their customer service is 24/7 and I called on a public holiday!

Anyway, why I am writing all this, is fairly simple. I would like to know what YOU think. Most importantly I would like to know what else you would like to see and how else I can improve my blog. My own ideas include:

1. Making the blog available in German also as Germans are my largest group of readers.
2. Include more German and other non-American recipes. I am for sure going to post the most traditional Black Forest Cake recipe soon and as you can see from the pictures of this post, I am currently working on the delicious Portuguese pasteis de nata (pudding/puff pastry thingies), which my husband loves. I am still not satisfied with the recipe, but I am getting there. I also am working on the famous strudel and Japanese cheesecake.
3. Focus more on very simple recipes and how they can be made fancy with a few little tricks (there will never be any cake mixes or anything like that ever. Sorry, that’s simply not me). However, I feel I need to work more on simple recipes, such as the one-pot lasagna, which can be ready from beginning to end in under half an hour or my favorite chocolate chip cookies, which don’t even require a mixer.
4. Including another section about blogging and food blogging in particular. Topics would be how to start, what I have learned so far, what to watch out for, etc. I am a newbie, but I thought it might be useful to share a little.
5. Including imperial/cup measurements for my American readers. Not sure about this one though, weighing ingredients is definitely easier and more precise.
6. Maybe also including a section about baking basics such as how to get egg whites to become meringue or yeast to rise.

But as I said, this is not about me, but what YOU are interested in. Please let me know for example:

• Do you like any of my ideas from above?
• Is there something missing?
• Which recipes have you enjoyed the most and why?
• What would you like to see more, what would you like to see less?
• Is there something you like a lot about the change?

So here is how it goes:

• Please comment here on my blog answering one of the above questions or what you think about my ideas of how to change the blog. Comments on Facebook don’t count, only comments here. Feel free to check my data protection policy (German), but rest assured, I am never going to pass on your data. Your email address will not be shown.
• If you decide to follow my blog, or like me on Facebook and/or follow me on Pinterest, you increase your chances of winning! Depending on where you followed/liked me I will count you in one, two, three or even four times if you go crazy and follow me everywhere possible. However, make sure that I know who you are everywhere so there are no mixups. However, first comment here. Without commenting here, it doesn’t count.
• Deadline for commenting/liking is June 30, 2017 at midnight, Central European Time. Among the comments, I will choose the winner randomly. The winner will be announced the following day on the blog. I will contact the winner by email within 24 hours after announcement. If the winner doesn’t get back to me within 7 days, I will again pick someone else randomly.

What is in for the winner?

If you are located anywhere within the European Union, you can handpick a cake I will bake for you. Obviously, not all baked goods can be shipped (say like this strawberry roll, a Sachertorte on the other hand can be shipped easily), but I am sure that we will figure something out. The main idea is that I will bake something for the winner to his/her liking and that you receive it in a good old-fashioned parcel from me.

If you are located anywhere else in the world, you will receive this beautiful food scale from my favorite and beloved brand Dr. Oetker. Why I am such a big fan of this brand needs to be explained in another post, but rest assured that this brand stands for high quality “Made in Germany”. The food scale will help you to weigh your ingredients metric style.

So guys, let me know, what would you like to see on my blog, what would you like to see less? Comments are accepted in English, German, or Spanish.

Here are the questions again:

• Do you like any of my ideas from above?
• Is there something missing?
• Which recipes have you enjoyed the most and why?
• What would you like to see more, what would you like to see less?
• Is there something you like a lot about the change?

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