Introducing theravenouscouple.local

April 25, 2011 | 29 comments

Dear Readers,

Our 2 year anniversary is this week and we’re so excited to embark on a new beginning by introducing a new blog design, domain name, and videos!

First, the new blog and domain name: theravenouscouple.local —We think the new design is fresh, vibrant, and most importantly easy to navigate. We wanted more control and ultimately a better reading experience for you, hence we decided to make the change after 2 years, nearly 200 posts, 4000 comments, and over 3.2 million page hits later. Since we were not able to purchase ravenouscouple.com, please remember it’s “theravenouscouple.local” when you type in our web address.

We hope that you stay with us during this transition and that we don’t lose you as a reader. If you are a subscriber by email or RSS, you should still receive our feeds without doing a thing. All your favorite bookmarked recipes and links to the old blog should be redirected to the new site, although you may wish to update those if you like. If you’re a fellow blogger and have us linked on your page, please take a momment to update the link to theravenouscouple.local. We are still updating several items on the blog and hope you stay patient if there are any kinks.

Second—videos!! Many of you have asked for it and now we finally have our first video after much scrimping and saving (not to mention countless takes). Videos will be embedded into appropriate posts and can be played in HD and also be accessed from the top menu. Most videos will be techniques and may not be the entire recipe. Also not every post will have videos, but we’ll try to incorporate videos where we think it will be most helpful. We may also go back to popular recipes and make videos for those. Our videos will also be hosted on our YouTube channel so subscribe there to get a sneak peek of what we’re cooking. Hopefully we’re going to have a lot of fun making videos and likewise, you watching them.

Here’s our first video, how to roll nem nuong cuon:

It’s been an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G ride for the past two years. The best part has meeting new friends and connecting with readers in so many different ways, via blog comments, personal emails, or comments on our Facebook page.

Here are just are a few of our favorites:

“Thank you, thank you, and thank you for this wonderful recipe. My mom makes this thit kho when I was small and has always been a comfort food. I am married now and trying to duplicate what she made, but like most asian mothers, she doesn’t measure her ingredients. I have tried for years unsuccessfully to make this taste like home and now I can! This recipe is almost like hers but easier [emphasis ours]. My mom doesn’t use coco juice but water. Coconut juice is the key ingredient here I think. I love your blog!! Keep those vietnamese cuisine coming.” —Anonymous

“This [Ca Kho To] was my favorite dish made by Vietnamese ex-mother-in-law, so after the divorce I thought I would never taste its deliciousness again. After following your recipe myself, I just wanted to say “THANK YOU!” The only thing I added was that she always served it topped with hanh phi (fried shallots), which added a nice lite crunch. Dare I say this one’s better than hers? Yes, yes I think I will…” —KRon

“I just wanted to thank you for the great Vietnamese recipes. I am half Vietnamese and grew up eating my grandmother’s dishes every Saturday. I was so excited when I found your blog the first time, I was on it all night looking at the recipes, my husband basically had to pry me from the computer. I don’t speak Vietnamese so it was hard to remember all the dishes that I grew up eating, but there they were on your blog, I was hooked, I could have cried!”—Myra

With 3.2 million page hits, we received about 4 thousand comments, or 0.12% of visits resulted in a reader a comment. However as we all know it’s not the quantity, but the quality that matters and it’s feedback like these that make blogging so enjoyable. Although we both have busy day jobs and feel the pressure of daily life (like planning our wedding in 2 months!), we remain committed to the mission of theravenouscouple.local and invite you to join us in our kitchen on our journey of cooking life together for many years to come.