Hi, I’m Nicole, welcome to my blog!
I’m the owner/creator behind Cookies & Carrot Sticks and this is my little space on the internet where I share my favourite recipes. You will find here all kinds of recipes, from sweet to savoury, from mega healthy to the ultimate guilty pleasure. It is all about balance, right? And that is how I live my life: with a cookie in one hand (or a piece of chocolate) and a carrot stick in the other.
A wide variety of recipes, but they all have a common factor: they’re delicious and in general very easy and in no time to prepare. And all these recipes are interlaced with a wee bit of lifestyle, with product reviews, hot spots, travel ideas with kids and the odd personal story.
How it all started
Family and friends frequently asked for a recipe. And I would happily oblige, write it all down and share it with them. At one point, I got that fabulous idea to put all those recipes in one place, so they could access them directly and get what they want. I was convinced that this would save me a lot of work, and time. Oh boy, little did I know…
Roughly the first year, this was all there was to it, as I had no clue what blogging was all about. Share a (very bad) picture and just the recipe, how difficult can it be. Proof of that is still here… It took almost two years before someone enlightened me about SEO, Google Analytics, Keyword Search, plug-ins and so much more. Blogging was serious business! And it’s time consuming, and quite a bit of work. Something I never thought when I started my blog (or online cookbook, as I called it back then). But I love it!
A hobby that got out of hand
I’m passionate about cooking and baking. And I have found out that I actually do love the writing itself (also about other stuff than just the recipes) and my blog is the perfect place to combine it all. Yes, my blog is kind of a hobby that got ‘slightly’ out of hand…
And I am so extremely grateful for the patience and tolerance my family is granting me, while I carry my phone around all the time, taking pictures of everything. Our house is filled to the rim with table ware, cookbooks, (kitchen) gadgets and other stuff I’m collecting, they often have to wait before they can dig in (again taking pictures) and my husband usually gets the short end of the stick and has to eat a plate of cold food. Life with a (food) blogger isn’t easy…
Inspiration
I find inspiration for my recipes really everywhere… in cookbooks and magazines (especially from the pictures), on a holiday, in restaurants, from other foodies, at the market or simply during grocery shopping. Sometimes, a recipe is spot on. And sometimes, it’s a complete disaster and you have to return to the ‘drawing table’.
There is no success without failure. So, if you have a fail, don’t think you can’t cook. Give it another try. I love to experiment and try new stuff and techniques. And I hope to inspire others to get into that kitchen and start cooking.
Have fun!
Love,
Nicole
PS: did you know you can follow Cookies & Carrot Sticks on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter?
