A Note From Ali

Tap tap — is this thing on?

Hi, hello! I’m so sorry that I unexpectedly went MIA here these past few months. I had initially just planned to take the last few weeks of December off from posting while we were traveling back to the States to visit our family. But then one thing after another came up after we made it home — childcare starts and stops, relentless winter colds, website redesign deadlines — and anyway, I feel like I blinked and it’s somehow already February!

I’m happy to say that tomorrow we will officially be getting back into the rhythm of sharing new recipes here again. (So many good ones ready for you this month!) But today, I wanted to pop in first to share a few personal updates here regarding the new year ahead.

Namely, I’m finally taking the leap and making a bit of a career pivot. ♡

I originally began Gimme Some Oven back in 2009 because I believed — and still believe, now more than ever — in the role that really good food can play in bringing people together to connect around the table. But the longer I have worked “in food,” the more aware I’ve also become aware of what a privilege it is to have a table full of food each day when so many people do not (even though there is more than enough food grown to feed every person in the world). Issues surrounding access to food have always felt so complicated and overwhelming. But the more I’ve begun to study and learn about the specific systems that lead to food insecurity, the more I’ve realized it’s possible to get involved and make a real difference. And the more I’ve gotten involved in a volunteer capacity, the more I’ve realized how much I really want this sort of work to be an even larger part of my life. Which — to be honest — has left me feeling conflicted because I love my full-time work job here and haven’t wanted to completely give up blogging.

Well to make a very long story short, the switch eventually flipped and I realized that I actually have the opportunity to do both. ♡♡ So over the next few months, I am going to be shifting my work hours/responsibilities here to focus solely again on the original reasons I got into blogging (i.e. cooking up yummy new recipes, writing about them, and connecting with all of you), and bring on new help with photography and some of the other time-consuming techy parts of running a website. Then later this spring, I’m planning to officially begin working part-time with The Wash Project, helping out with communications and supporting local leaders in Mali with various food insecurity initiatives. (Some of which will be building upon the incredible community garden project that you all helped to fund this past year – exciting!)

As for Gimme Some Oven, my hope is actually that very little will change here when it comes to recipe content. I’ll still be the one cooking and writing about new recipes each week, and we’ve been working on a few upcoming projects that will hopefully make this site more helpful and organized than ever. I’m also hoping to have time to share my usual “Currently” updates a bit more often — which is actually what today’s post originally started out to be, but then this intro became so long that I decided to separate the fun updates about Teo and life here in Barcelona into another post. ;) So stay tuned for some cute 4-toothed baby smiles and pup-dates coming your way soon.

Anyway, I hesitated to even really mention this change publicly, since I know that many of you are just here for the food. (Which is totally cool, recipes will be continuing!) But for those of you who’ve been with me a long time, I just wanted to share the latest about where this career in blogging — a job that wasn’t even a “thing” back when I first started this site as a hobby, but has been made possible over the years thanks to you all and your presence here — is now evolving. It feels like the other half of my heart for food is finally now going to have an official part of my work week. And I’m really excited about the potential for some great crossover ahead, especially sharing conversations and opportunities here for those who would like to get involved in some of these initiatives. More to come.

Pues, ya está — that’s the scoop! Thanks for taking the time to read this today, and as always, thank you so much for your continued support of this little corner of the internet. I’m more excited than ever for this next chapter, and look forward to sharing more updates and new recipes very soon.

(Also, yes, that dreamy giant cinnamon roll recipe is also coming your way very soon.)

Love,
Ali