And myrecipehaven is my little corner of the internet!
I launched myrecipehaven in 2017 while I was still working full‑time as a graphic designer in Austin, Texas. A rainy Thursday, a half‑baked banana bread, and a sudden urge to write down the recipe sparked the first post. What began as a personal notebook quickly turned into a simple WordPress blog because I wanted to share the dishes that kept me sane during long design deadlines.
Fast‑forward to today, the site gets about 45,000 unique visitors each month and has amassed a library of 320 recipes, ranging from quick weeknight dinners to holiday feasts. In March 2022 I introduced the “Seasonal Spotlight” series, which now draws an average of 12,000 views per post. The community has grown too – I now host a monthly Facebook Live cooking session that regularly pulls in 600‑plus viewers, and the newsletter hits an open‑rate of 48 %, well above the industry average.
I live in a modest bungalow on the edge of Austin’s South Congress district with my partner, Marco, and our rescued orange cat, Basil. When I’m not whisking together a new sauce, you’ll find me hiking the Hill Country trails, hunting for vintage vinyl at local record stores, or perfecting my sourdough starter (it’s currently at 7 days old!). My favorite things are a perfectly timed sunrise, a well‑balanced spice blend, and the sound of a kitchen timer ticking down the last few seconds of a bake.
One quirky habit I’ve kept since day one is writing each recipe on a small index card before typing it up – it forces me to think through every step and keeps the process tactile. If you ever drop by the comments, you’ll probably see me replying with a GIF or a quick tip, because cooking, to me, is always better when it feels like a conversation with a friend.