bigspud turns 10
Big Spud has been around for a decade. It crept up on me, and before I knew it we were at the ten year mark.
It’s been a pretty wacky ten years really. I never intended this to go much beyond a bit of a log, a record of things I’ve eaten so that I can come back to them again. But it’s become so much more than that.
It’s become a place for me to experiment, to put down ideas to come back to another time. It’s become a place to engage with fantastic brands. It’s become a place to connect with amazing cooking personalities. It’s beyond my wildest dreams.
I’ve been lucky enough to work with Heston Blumenthal, Antonio Carluccio, Gennaro Contaldo and many others
I have over 700 recipes, reviews and musings written here. I took a look over the most popular posts over that time, and it includes:
one thing resonates: it’s Sunday lunch over and over again. And it’s true I spend ages getting this meal just right; it’s the one time of the week when our busy family gather over one table to share food and stories. It’s appropriate that my most popular content is what I cook all the time – some combination of meat and potatoes.
But even more than the recipes, I’ve connected with some truly amazing people. Other food bloggers and PR people who I consider very good friends. When I arrive at the latest product launch or cooking masterclass it’s made immeasurably better when I spot someone familiar who’s writing I love.
People like Kavey, fondly known as ‘blog wife’ for the amount of time we spend together at events. May, always full of fun and spirit. My fellow “knife of Essex” Danny. MiMi, who always makes me laugh. Smart Helen. Super Sarah. Charming Gary. Lovely Katie. And there are dozens and dozens more. There are also loads of people I’ve only ever interacted with online and have yet to meet. I’m sorry if I’ve missed you off, there’s just too many great people I’ve met and hope to see again.
A special shout out to Steve, who suggested I start blogging about food in the first place. Mainly I suspect so he didn’t have to keep listening to me talking about what I’d cooked last night.
Just a few of the lovely people I’ve met through blogging
Cheers to everyone. Here’s to another ten years.
Congrats, a fine effort Gary!
Thanks Anthony!
TEN YEARS?! Blimey! Congratulations on a whole decade of fun, interesting and delicious blogposts!
Also, awww, thanks for mentioning me, although part of me now wonders if I should do the Joe Pesci routine from Goodfellas, ha! ???
MiMi, you do amuse me 🙂
Congratulations Spud, very proud of you! X
Thanks Deb!
Congratulations on 10 years!
Jo I am remiss in not mentioning you up there. You’re the first person that ever seemed to notice me on Twitter and I’m pretty sure it’s through your retweets etc I ended up talking to all the other people I mentioned. So a big special thanks to you! x
Enormous congratulations- I’ve just rediscovered blogging after several months ‘pff’ and its great o see some familiar faces from the early days of blogging still going super strong… heres to the next ten years!