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July 2019 marks FIVE YEARS of blogging here at The Crumby Kitchen – and I want to share my excitement with you by giving away all kinds of fun kitchen goodies!

Who knew?

Five years ago, after being inspired by Sally’s Baking Addiction to start my own blog.

Five years ago, while I browsed the internet for the perfect layout (which you’ll see – and laugh at – below).

Sixty months ago, when I hit “Publish” for the first time.

Eighteen-hundred days ago, as I thought ahead to what my life would be like today.

I could never have imagined that carving out a corner of the internet kitchen would have changed my life in such drastic ways, but here we are.

FIVE YEARS OF BLOGGING.

I sure have come a long way from there.

That’s right! If you haven’t been along for this whole ride, you wouldn’t know that this blog used to be called The Crumby Cupcake.

Where did you get the name? To be honest, I’m not even sure. Researching domain names had me frustrated for quite a while, because every one I wanted was already being used. I think it had something to do with a thesaurus, a desire to include the word cupcake, and pulling a fake, often-misspelled word (crumby) out of thin air.

What made you rebrand to The Crumby Kitchen? Too much confusion! I can’t begin to tell you how many people on social media thought I was a local bakery. I would get order requests on a monthly basis. Plus, readers often assumed I was a dessert blog – and while that’s my specialty, I wanted to appeal to a wider audience.

Since the first post (an intro) went live on July 9, 2014, the blog has:

Gone through 3 redesigns (with a fourth coming in 2020!)

Published close to 500 recipes

Gotten 4000+ comments

~1.7 million visitors

~3.4 million pageviews

Been featured on Buzzfeed, Delish, MSN, Southern Living, Elle France, and The Chew (RIP)…to name a few

As you can see, I’ve never had a hugely successful blog. I’m not one of those overnight sensations that popped up out of nowhere, but it’s been good enough to me that I was able to quit my 15+ year retail management job in May of 2017 to do it full-time.

Today, I’m making more income off of the blog and my photography business than I was working 55+ hours a week in customer service.

I’m also much happier. I enjoy my job, especially when I get positive feedback from readers. I’m able to travel like I’ve always wanted to, and work while doing so.

That just goes to show you that even a tiny corner of the internet can provide a pretty damn good living.

TOP 5 READER FAVES

Over the span of 5 years, some bloggers might see their top recipes shift a lot. Apparently, that’s not so when you’re me.

Healthier Baked Eggplant Parmesan – my all-time number one perennial reader favorite. Posted way back in 2015, this was my first foray into eggplant anything (at the request of Abe), and I caught the fever. Apparently, so did the rest of the internet. The cheese pull really grabs people on Pinterest, I guess, and even though my photography has come a long way, nothing has been able to eclipse this cheesy goodness in popularity.

Homemade Cannolis – one of these days, I should really do a video for these easy, delish Italian treats. Originally posted on Sugar & Soul, I syndicated these in 2018 and have enjoyed all kinds of Google love for them.

Pina Colada Rum Cake – fair warning, the blog post for this recipe is extremely long-winded and full of mush. I make this cake for me and Abe’s anniversary every year, and you get to read all about it and even see wedding photos! Ewwww! Even in this age of people too lazy to scroll to get a free recipe, plenty of Pinterest folks have loved this cake since 2016 – so much that I just had to share their efforts on the post!

Maui Moscow Mule – I feel like this recipe from 2017 speaks for itself. Who doesn’t love a summery, tropical rainbow cocktail?? I’ll tell you who DOES – Pinterest.

Irish Cream Coffee Mud Pie – this one is just embarrassing. I did say my photography improved a lot, but to me in 2016, this was top notch work. The green is a dead giveaway that there was a holiday involved. I knew nothing about tricks to make the cake look perfect (to be fair, I still don’t know much). The angles were all wrong. Pinterest – again – didn’t care. Chocolate is as chocolate does, and this cake is nothing short of delicious (albeit controversial – just read the comments!)

ERICA’S TOP 5 FAVES

My all-time favorite recipes DO fluctuate quite a bit – but it’s usually my newer stuff that I’m in love with. I’m constantly learning new tips and tricks about photography and styling, and it’s only taken this long for me to finally see a style emerging in my shots.

Best-Ever Buttermilk Carrot Cake – after years of being very “meh” about carrot cakes, this particular one is my new favorite. I made this for the first time as a very last-minute birthday cake for a visiting cousin, and it was devoured in less than 24 hours. It’s rummy and moist in all the right ways (thanks to a boozy buttermilk glaze that gets poured over the warm cakes), and I’m obsessed with the way I used the carrot peels and tops as decoration.

The Bettah Feta Burger – I have yet to shoot another burger as pretty as this one – the ingredients just made this one so easy to stack! It’s so eye-catching, it’s been on the cover of a magazine! Nevermind that it’s a local magazine, it still counts.

Double Chocolate Mousse Cake – for all of the chocolate cakes I’ve published on the blog, this one is my current favorite. Moist cake and 2 types of mousse and a thick layer of ganache, all made pretty for the holidays. This one did super well on Instagram, and I’ve seen multiple people remake it perfectly, right down to the decorations.

Instant Pot Shrimp & Grits – so this one is in my cookbook, and it’s now my favorite shrimp recipe ever. Neither Abe or I had ever had grits prior, despite my Southern-ness, and it’s now on a monthly breakfast rotation. The Instant Pot prep makes it quick and easy, just don’t forget the crispy fried eggs on top!

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Pumpkin Layer Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese – considering just how many pumpkin recipes I’ve shared over the years, I had a really hard time deciding which one was my favorite. I think the brown butter cream cheese sends this one just slightly up at the top. I’m a sucker for both elements of that frosting. PLUS six perfect layers of cake, OMG.

CONGRATULATIONS to ALL of our winners! They have been contacted and prizes have been sent.

Thank you, also, to everyone who took the time to leave a kind comment, follow us on our social media channels, and enter the giveaways! The whole thing was a huge a success, and I can’t wait to do more giveaways in the future!

Here’s to the next five years!