Appetizing Muse

After much deliberation – weighing all pros and cons – I've decided the new Shenanchie's Kitchen (aka Food Fare) to debut in July will bring about many changes.

Most of the recipes will be removed, with only dishes from Ireland and the British Isles remaining. This was the original premise of the site in the first place four years ago, and I'm anxious to return to the format for a myriad of reasons.

To make it easier on those reading, I will list what will and will not be on the new site:

Remaining:

• Foofer's canine dishes.

• Tea Treats.

• Kitchen and cooking tips.

• Herb and spice recipes.

• Links (reciprocal links will stay, but emphasis for the rest will be Irish & British).

Removing:

• All of the articles about food and culture in different countries.

• The entire selection of specialty articles.

• Reader's Mail.

• The site Savorys by Shenanchie will be eliminated.

It was difficult to decide which features to eliminate, but I knew it had to be done. Especially hard was deciding to remove the food articles because they cover a lot of ground and countries, but if I transfer the pages as they are now to the new host I'll eventually run into the same lack of web space and have to start all over again.

Focusing on Gael food at the new site will allow me to build a fine collection. In addition, the web address of the site will be much shorter and easier to remember.

However, I've also decided to put together an electronic cookbook of all recipes at the site which I hope to have ready by July or shortly thereafter. I've been asked numerous times if I planned to offer a cookbook from the site, so I suppose summer is a good time as any. [POSTSCRIPT: The cookbook is now available]. Before the year is over, I also hope to put together all the culture articles in electronic format contained in one book, made available in the same manner as the cookbook. At the new site, the articles about Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England will remain visible.

All of the pending changes also signify the end of new food articles. No more long bits about the cuisines and cultures of different countries, although from time to time I may write bits about various foods and cooking methods. There really isn't any point in continuing with the articles as I will instead be focusing on food from Ireland and the British Isles, although I will continue to make all of the existing pieces available as they are until the electronic book is complete.

Another time-consuming job was answering all of the reader's mail. The majority of messages often contained questions in regards to the food articles, requesting further information. I used to do all of the leg work – finding the answers, sometimes spending up to two hours on one message – but I finally dropped this down to providing links for readers to pursue themselves. Any messages I receive in the future will be responded to privately or mentioned on the Appetizing Muse blog.

Complete details have yet to be ironed out. I'm sure along the way I will disappoint some people with the elimination of certain recipes, but I cannot foresee allowing the site to grow out of control again, leaving me precious little time for anything else. My time is scrunched now as it is, and once the site transfer is complete and the books are ready, perhaps I can breathe easier.

It's kind of sad in a way. I have put a lot of work into the current Shenanchie's Kitchen (aka Food Fare) over the last four years, but in recent months the site has taken large amounts of time away from my primary profession of fiction writing. Next year two of my fiction novels are scheduled for paperback release, and in the interim I won't have a lot of spare minutes to devote to anything else (especially time-consuming tasks such as maintaining a large cooking web site or researching and writing food articles).

There comes a time to accept change and move on. I suppose I've arrived at that place.

Note: The Food Fare web site was re-established in October 2008 with all features.