About That Reader Survey...

First, a huge thank you to those of you who took the time to fill out my reader survey. I truly, truly appreciate the feedback! (Anyone who hasn't filled it out is still welcome to take it, as I'll continue to analyze the results.)

Why did I conduct this survey? Well, I've been going through one of those, let's say, phases lately where I'm wondering what the point of this blog is and if it needs to have a specific point. I know I started it as a way to get all of my thoughts about food and recipes out there. I also hoped that by writing often and focusing my writing on food, I could really improve my food writing. If I look back at my first posts (please don't look at them!) compared with the ones I'm writing now, I do think I've improved quite a bit. So, there's one mission accomplished... or, well, it's an ongoing mission. I can always improve more.

I've been thinking a lot lately about whether I need to focus on a specific topic rather than just all the recipes I've made, from chicken dishes to cupcakes to beef tenderloin and steaks to decadent desserts. I wasn't sure if I should start blogging more often and about my whole life so that readers could get to really know me beyond just my recipes (close to 40% of you are interested in that). And I was hoping the survey would give me some insight into who my readers are and what you're looking for.

So let's start with who you are (keeping in mind that I only got around 50 responses and have way more readers than that). Most of you fall into the 21 to 30 range, which I'm really not surprised about considering that I'm 28, and so a lot of what I write about probably relates to what a lot of twentysomethings who are interested in food like to read about. The next highest category is 31 to 40, which also makes sense because 28 is not too far from there either.

This one is also not shocking at all: About 80% of you are females. I'm not surprised that I don't have a ton of male readers, though I definitely welcome you! I have a feeling that most of my male readers are my boyfriend's friends who get a kick out of reading what I have to say about his eating habits, and the rest are males who are really interested in cooking and baking.

You live all over the place, but the majority of you are in Massachusetts, like me. I'm not really surprised about this either, but I do wonder how you all found me. I don't think I did a lot of restaurant reviews in the beginning -- not that I do a ton now either -- and I don't think I've really revealed my location in posts until more recently. If you live in, say, California, do you tend to read more blogs by California bloggers than anywhere else? If I look at my own Google Reader, I guess the majority of blogs I read are local to Massachusetts too. I know that my reading of local blogs has increased since I've actually met the bloggers behind the blogs too. Does that happen to you?

I was thrilled to see that most of you think good writing and recipes are the most important aspects of a food blog, and... good writing and recipes are what draw you to this blog! Thank you. I really appreciate hearing that from you. Sadly, it's not my mouthwatering photographs that bring most of you here, which just confirms what I've already been considering, which is that I really need to get myself a good camera. My little, red Sony Cybershot is just not cutting it anymore. (Also, someone mentioned that it would be great if my pictures were bigger. Does anyone know how to do this with Blogger?)

Now, here's the real kicker: The top three types of recipes you're interested in are healthy recipes (28), baked goods (27), and desserts (26). Now I really hate to break it to you, but I am a white flour, real butter, and real sugar kind of girl, so the chances that you'll find many healthy baked goods or desserts on this site are very slim. But I can definitely offer up some healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner options... and maybe even some snacks! I do try to balance all my buttery baked good eating with some salads and lighter meals occasionally. Also, with the farmers' market starting in the next couple of weeks, I'm already incredibly excited to share some great fresh and local meals with you.

And lastly, most of you are very interested in learning more about my job as a baker and baking techniques. I'm delighted to hear that as well because my quasi-plan was to start telling you more about what I do at the bakery. I even got a question on formspring.me about how I got my job at the bakery, and I'm going to tell the whole story very soon. Why keep you in suspense, you wonder? Well, we had a pastry chef from NYC come and spend a week with us at the bakery, and she took a ton of pictures while she was there as well as imparted a wealth of knowledge on us. I'd love to include her photographs in my post, so I'm trying to hold out for those. I promise it will be worth waiting for!

I really just have to thank you again for taking the time to take the survey and for being loyal readers, and to those of you who answered my question about what you like or dislike about my blog, thank you for all your kind comments. I was so touched by all the things you love about my blog.