Friday Thoughts: Midsummer Survival – Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

Welcome to Midsummer! How are we doing?

As summer approaches, I think I think, “My favorite season! No schedule! Come on!” or “Send prayers! I still have work to do! I need rescue!” Okay, maybe that’s oversimplifying…but I’d like to know where you fall on that spectrum.

I’ve been debating whether or not to do a Friday Thoughts post, but I recently met a few strangers (at a wedding!) who read my blog, and they both mentioned how much they loved this post. Since I also love getting a glimpse into other people’s real lives, I decided to throw one together.

In this post I’m talking about pretty much everything. As always, we wanted to push our corner of the internet into my kitchen so everyone could chat, eat cookies, and solve all of life’s questions at my counter.

If you came here just for the recipe, don’t worry! Coming up on Monday is a great new light and delicious dinner recipe that I’ve been eating over and over again.

Homecoming + Cold Plunge

We welcomed my son Walker home from a two-year church mission in the Philippines. I couldn’t stop yelling at him at the airport. I couldn’t believe that even two years later, he was still there! It was a bit surreal and so much fun. Our little family was the only one at the airport (completely his indifference, quiet style), but while waiting for his luggage we were able to watch videos of his older brother in Utah and his younger brother in New Zealand.

As soon as he got home we escaped to the mountains for a few days. We literally did nothing but hang out, listen to a lot of guitar playing around the fire, surf on the back of a boat (not me 😜), fish (again, not me), eat lots of good food, and paddleboard around the lake.

The Airbnb we stayed at had a sauna, so one morning I had the bright idea to do the sauna/cold plunge challenge. My mom was there and captured the whole thing on video (my 72-year-old dad was with me). I was so excited to watch the video because I wanted to see myself looking like a really strong athlete running down the hill and jumping into the frozen lake after the sauna. Well, yeah, not that much. Instead, I looked like a naked polar bear with its intestines sticking out, its nose pinched, and its belly flopping inappropriately in the water. Ah, the humility of middle age. These days, you are my constant companion.

My son loved Filipino food, but since it was home, he couldn’t get enough of his favorite food here. I eagerly asked him what he wanted me to make. Because a) food is my love language and b) he announced that he wants to mass produce. I have never taken responsibility so seriously. I was born for this. 😜💪🏼

Here are some of his favorite recipes I’ve made so far:

Games we love + puzzles

We have several games spread out on our dining table throughout the summer. They are not always the same. We rotate through them. But keeping it downstairs means it gets played a lot more than if someone had to *climb* up to the game closet.

• Brian and my daughter have been playing this game non-stop. She bought this game for Brian for Father’s Day and it was a clever and fun two player game. They also love playing old-school Mastermind together.
• This is another great two-player (or more!) game out now. We play this game a lot because it’s fast, easy to learn, and fun (also: frustrating!!).
• My parents have had one of these games on their coffee table for decades. When we’re sitting in the living room talking, someone’s always tinkering with it. We finally have a product our family can carry around!
• I bought this active game for my two nephews’ birthdays about last month, and it was an immediate hit. My sister texted me on the evening of my nephew’s birthday saying that he had been outside playing with it for hours.
• I pretty much keep the puzzle going all summer. We’ve tried several spaghetti tree puzzles and we love them! This American episode was especially fun.

Is there a game you’d like to recommend? Leave a comment below and let us know! I love getting new game recommendations.

AI and Blogging

Hmm, this could be a longer discussion for different times and audiences (😅), but it’s worth briefly mentioning because it impacts my daily life as a food blogger… And it will definitely affect how long (and whether) you keep a food blog going forward.

Basically, as we know, AI is everywhere. And it’s definitely not a bad thing (I use it often in my life!). But for food blogs like mine, the impact has been huge.

Over the years, we have benefited greatly from search traffic. My blog and recipes rank really well on Google and other search engines. This has really helped me and my business and it has been awesome!

However, AI search modes/results along with ChatGPT (and other chatbots) have had a significant and serious impact on the search traffic of websites like mine. This is because answers and recipes (usually untested recipes) are provided to people in nanoseconds rather than being sent to the actual website.

As search traffic and clicks decrease, so does your revenue. And while I certainly don’t blog just for the money, this is a full-time business and there are a lot of operating costs to maintain (as well as the fact that my business supports my family financially while my husband grows his business).

I debated the future endlessly with my fellow food blogging friends and my husband. The truth is that none of us really knows.

It feels like the pendulum has swung much further than relying entirely on AI, but I hope that in time people will actually realize that. do By valuing real human voices and trusted, tested recipes, the pendulum will inch its way back toward center.

But that may not be the case. And I sometimes wonder if blogging gets completely “old” if it takes too long.

Anyway, you don’t need a sob story (despite the fact that the thought of not connecting with you in this space actually makes me want to cry). The impact of AI on food bloggers is real and very uncertain. If you’ve visited Pinterest recently and seen the AI ​​slop that has taken over the platform, you’ll know how AI is impacting the industry as a whole. It sickens me (especially when I realize that people can’t tell what’s AI and what’s real).

On the positive side, I really appreciate everyone who has commented here. People who click on real links and rely on trusted recipes that I test over and over again. People who take the time to leave a review of a recipe (which definitely gives a *human* side to my website!) People who subscribe to my email list. And there are people who have reached out to say they appreciate the recipes and content. I know life is busy, but thank you.

I’ve been running a food blog for almost 20 years. A lot has changed. And while we haven’t seen for sure what AI will do to the Internet at the moment, it has weathered other Internet/technological storms in the past as things evolve and change. I hope there is a way for me to continue to share my favorite recipes with you all.

It means so much to me that you are here. I can’t say it enough. 💗

Now let’s end on a better, lighter note!

• I mentioned this on Instagram, But recently, Jennifer Garner mentioned my name on a podcast when she asked who her favorite food blogger was. Yes, I almost fell. Yes, I was really happy. Yes, I thought she must be talking about another “Mel’s Kitchen Cafe”. And Elin Hilderbrand (author and host of the podcast) sent me a DM saying she had started following my blog. Of course, I used both for my family at dinner that night. But it turns out that none of them are very impressive (which becomes clear when you ask “Who are those people?”) 😜 #keepingmehumble
• On a completely unrelated note, I used this best ice cream scooper to scoop hundreds of ice cream sundaes for a wedding reception this weekend. They’re affordable and really great (plus they come in so many cute colors).
• This is the cutest shirt. The armpit area was a bit roomy so I sized up and it was very light and lovely.
• I love homemade granola. But this Dark Chocolate Coconut LoveCrunch Granola will be a staple in my pantry forever. (I also love the Dubai flavored granola I found at Ross!)
• (For the first time) I am slowly gathering things to send to my son when he goes to college. This fall. I’ll try to keep track of what we got from him and a list of what ended up working well (and what didn’t). I am printing this packet to send with him. (And I hope he wants to do a little cooking before he goes, since he wasn’t really interested in it in high school, but if you’ve ever parented a young adult child, you’ll understand how well some of those suggestions apply to GW).
• I’m still eating overnight oats on a loop. It is no exaggeration to say that I ate it every morning without fail for over 4 months. I’ve started making it in personal sized containers when I’m going out for a few days, and some of my family members have started eating it too, because it’s easier to grab it early in the morning before work. Use a container that fits the oats + toppings. Here are the measurements we use for each individual part: 45g rolled oats, 22g chia seeds/basil seeds/or combo, 1 scoop vanilla or chocolate protein powder, pinch of salt, 1 cup almond milk.

I’ve been cooking and testing recipes during rainstorms on free days this summer. I can’t wait to see the recipes posted on the blog over the next few months!

I like this photo above. ⬆️ The eldest son with his two grandmothers. I am blessed to have those three things in my life!