Happy 1st Aniversary Nessa's Family Kitchen!!!

It is exactly one year ago that I published my first post on my blog. When I started I wasn't sure whether I would write daily(very ambitious!!!!) or maybe I would only have a post once a week. However with 98 posts, 16,000 hits and 36 followers later this blog has become more of my life than I could ever have imagined!
I needed a way to catalog my recipes and a blog seemed the easiest way to do this. My eldest son Jack(age 8), who is fairly computer literate, designed and set up the blog and until I familiarised myself with it he completely managed it! He recently decided that he was investing too much of his time on Nessa's Family Kitchen and he set up his own blog iJack O D but still keeps an eye on mine, constantly updating layouts and adding songs to my play list!!
Before starting this blog I wasn't aware of the strong Irish Foodies presence on line, who are ever constant with their tips and advice, be it through Twitter, Facebook, Blogs or Websites. It was wonderful to put 'faces' to many of these lovely people at recent events. If anyone, in Ireland, is interested in venturing down the road of food blogging I would advice you to check out The Irish Food Bloggers Association which is a fantastic resource for bloggers and will help you to put your idea into practice!!
I love many aspects of blogging but never did I realise how much I would love setting up my photos for each recipe. I find myself regularly thinking about what I need for my photos- be it props, lighting or 'models' and all just to achieve a perfect shot!
My attitude to many things in life is 'Why not?' and if I can't find a reasonable answer to that question I generally will give something a go! Now that the blog is gaining momentum many opportunities are arising for me and I'm delighted to announce that this month I start my cookery column with The Westmeath Independent.
I would like to thank anyone who reads the blog, follows it, posts comments, try the recipes or lends me some encouragement! If you are included in this list I would love you to post a comment below(a simple hello will suffice!) and I will include you in a draw, to celebrate Nessa's Family Kitchen's 1st Anniversary!!
The prize is Rachel Allen's latest book- Entertaining at Home. I'm an avid admirer of Rachel's style of cooking and this book not only includes many impressive recipes but it is also packed with suggestions on how to host the perfect get-together!!!
Thanks agin for all your support and Best of Luck!!!!!!

The competition will end at midnight on Sunday 16th January.
The winner will be picked at random. Entrants must be resident in Rep of Ireland / UK. No cash alternative is possible. I will not share any of your details with a third party.