When you think of the word “nourishment”, what is the first association that comes to mind? Is it a picture of boxed mac and cheese, or some frozen pizza? Or do you associate nourishment with something a little deeper, something more heartwarming, food made with love to fill your belly?
There is a story I’ve heard about a king who passed by a peasant’s home. He smelled the most delicious smell emanating from this pauper’s kitchen, knocked on the door, and was fed some of this poor person’s stew whose tantalizing aroma had enticed the king to enter. The king said that this stew was some of the best food he had ever eaten, and asked to be given the recipe. The pauper obliged and gave the king exact instructions how to make that stew.
The king went home and gave the recipe to his cook, and waited impatiently for the terrific food to arrive, but when it did, alas, it was just not as good as the food he had eaten at the pauper’s house, even though the cook followed the recipe precisely.
The king made a second trip to the poor man’s house, demanding to know what secret ingredient the man had left out when he gave his recipe. The man, flustered, insisted that he wrote the recipe in its entirety, didn’t leave out any ingredients. The only thing missing, he realized, was that when his wife made the dish, she made it with love, and put her soul into the food. That, he noted, is something that perhaps the cook wasn’t able to replicate.
Why do I share this story?
Because food, dear readers, is more than just ingredients put together. When you create something, be it artwork, or music, or a delectable dish, a part of you, a bit of your soul goes into what you’ve made. This is one of the reasons why homemade food is almost always a million times tastier than prepackaged food. Because the food you make, with love, has that extra ingredient in it, love, that makes it taste delicious.
There’s a blog hop I’ve been participating in for a while called the Hearth and Soul Blog Hop, and I think this story reflects what the blog hop is about. The Hearth and Soul Blog Hop is a weekly food carnival about food that not only nourishes our bodies, but our souls.
It has been hosted until now by Alea of Premeditated Leftovers, April of The 21st Century Housewife, Swathi of Zesty South Indian Kitchen, and Melyinda of Mom’s Sunday Cafe.
I am thrilled to announce that as of today, I am now a co-host, and if you’ve never heard of the blog hop before, this is its official mission statement.
Why Link Up Your Posts?
Now, in case you never participated in a blog hop and wonder what the point would be in doing so, the answer is this-
You can write some really awesome terrific posts, but if no one knows about them, people won’t find their way to your blog. If you want more visits to your blog, linking up your posts is a great way to do it. Not every single person who comes and checks out your posts will become a follower of your blog, but if your post is enticing enough, there’s a good chance that people will decide to follow or subscribe to your blog.
Even if this doesn’t happen this week, if you start posting links to posts you write on a regular basis, you’ll become a “familiar face” to people participating in the Hearth and Soul blog hop, and there’s a good chance they’ll subscribe to your site in the future.
Just a few hints- to get more hits:
1) Try to link up to the blog party earlier on in the game. The later on you add your participating post, the fewer visits you’ll likely get.
2) Try making the title as interesting and eye catching (but relevant!) as possible. If you write “Healthy Food” as your title, you’ll probably get fewer hits than if you write “Some Amazing New Info That’ll Keep Your Body Strong!” as the blog post title.
3) If your post has interesting perks, like if its frugal, or gluten free, or allergy friendly, or vegan, try to include those in the title so that people looking for those types of posts can find you more easily.
Well, what are you waiting for? Lets get this party started!
