When I reviewed the stats for the Top 10 posts of 2017, I was pleasantly surprised at the posts that are most popular. Organic traffic has been growing steadily over the past year, so it seems the perfect time to reflect on the direction of the blog.
Seven of the top 10 posts of 2017 are favorite recipes amongst the Cape Malays of Cape Town and for me this is a celebration of Cape Malay food culture. It is also a testament to the need for an authentic online presence to champion this local cuisine.
I have grown tired of the cultural appropriation of Cape Malay cuisine by restaurants, journalists and cooks who seem to have no idea what ethnic Cape Malay food tastes like. It is now available on many restaurant menus in Cape Town touting local cuisine, yet all we have to show for it are complaints from ‘foodies’ that Cape Malay cuisine is ‘slightly overrated’.
One of my blog goals for 2018 is to publish and share with our readers more of the main courses that are beloved to us. These are mostly meat and vegetable stews eaten with rice. Amongst my favorites are:
- Denningvleis (Slow braised sweet and sour lamb)
- Cape Malay curry (less spicy but more subtle layering than Asian curries)
- Pickled fish with hot cross buns
- Cauliflower bredie (Cauliflower and meat stew)
- Oumens onder die Komberse or Kool Frikkkadel (Cabbage rolls with minced meat stuffing)
- Suiker Boontjie bredie (Bean and meat stew)
- Worteljies en Ertjies bredie (Carrot, peas and meat stew)
- Sago bredie (Sago and meat stew)
- Oxtail and tomato stew
- Tamatie pootjies (Trotters and tomato stew)
- Akhni (Chicken and rice)
Top 10 posts of 2017
To try any of the Top 10 recipes or travel tips please click on the links below.
- Cape Malay Potato Pudding recipe
- Boeber
- Best Glazed Orange Bundt Cake
- Chicken and Mushroom Pie
- Falooda milkshake
- Cardamom Bollas with Saffron syrup
- Daltjies Spinach and Corn Fritters
- Almond and Coconut Bread
- Cape Malay Eid
- Top Travel Tips for any Traveller
Instagram Top 12
The Instagram Top 12 has been posted. You’re probably thinking ‘doesn’t this silly woman know it’s a Top 9’? The most popular posts include food, travel and being social.
Areas of focus for 2018
During 2017 my published posts have been much less frequent than my writing would suggest. Now that I have my home office set up there is no excuse for slacking in the new year and I have laid out the following areas of improvement with measurable goals to achieve.
1. Be more organized
- Utilise an editorial calendar to plan and schedule blog posts a month in advance
- Finalise 1 existing draft blog post every week and have it ready for publication
- Edit all photos within 7 days of taking them and export ready for use
- Utilise a Virtual Assistant for social media promotion activities
2. Increased publishing frequency
- 2 Recipe posts per month
- 1 Travel post per month
- 1 Wellness post per month
3. Consistent promotion of blog posts to drive more traffic
- Tweet at least once per day
- Post on Instagram at least once per day
- Post on Facebook at least once per day
- Promote new blog posts on social media
4. Personal growth and learning
- Learn how make eye catching pins for new blog posts
- Shoot and edit a recipe video and then do one for every recipe post thereafter
- Take a course (cooking / videography)
To all our loyal readers and new visitors, I hope that you will join us for the ride in 2018. If you are wondering who ‘Us’ is, we are gaining a Contributor who also happens to be a recipe tester for Tantalise My Taste Buds. Introductions to follow in the new year.
Help me to provide you with more recipes, travel tips and experiences by sharing these posts with your family and friends, and please remember to like and comment if you enjoyed this post.
Keep in touch on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for more updates. Don’t forget to #tantalisemytastebuds if you repost from our account on Instagram!
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You have a great selection of recipes, it is like I have died and waked up in the food heaven. It all looks yummy!
Your comment brought a smile to my face. It’s exactly what I love to hear 🙂
Wow! these food looks amazing and truly mouth-watery. I think I missed some of those food for the past year, though its never too late to try. Thanks for sharing.
You are most welcome Eliza. Indeed it’s never too late for good food 🙂
I really want to try that chicken & mushroom pie. It looks so delicious!! Also I’m a huge fan of Falooda.
The chicken and mushroom pie is perfect for a cold winter’s evening 🙂
Looks delicious. All the foods are yummy. Wanna try all of it to share to my loved ones.
Thank you Yvonne. I hope they love it 🙂
Wow you’ve had a great year and so many fab posts! I need to try harder this year with certain areas, twitter especially – I am pretty clueless on there still! A daily tweet sounds manageable!
My twitter strategy was stagnant for a long time but I’ve been more active recently. I found that if I follow and engage with accounts that appeal to me it becomes natural to also share their posts that are appealing and likewise they do the same.
These are mouth watering recipes. I will surely try the pudding. No wonder why it’s on top. It really looks delicious.
Thanks Rara. I hope you like it as much as I do.
Those food look so delectable! I think it’s gonna be brilliant if you can publish a recipe book for those this year
Thank you for the kinds words and motivation. I hope that there is a publisher out there that hears you 🙂
Nice! You’re goal setting for this year. I love that you are determined. I wish I have that kind of spirit. By the way, I really like the Chicken Pie and Falooda Milkshake. I’m sure they are just delicious as they look. 🙂
I love my mother’s chicken pie but after she died I had to make up my own recipe with a vague recollection of one she once made for me. According to one of my former colleagues the Chicken and Mushroom pie was the best meal he’d ever had.
Omg that potato pudding with stewed peaches photo looks divine!! 😍😍😍 Your goals seem like they’re all great ideas! I find consistency really is key, both with blog posts and as a means of directing traffic to your sight! Although I can’t imagine those delicious looking photos aren’t doing that already!
My biggest struggle over the past three years has been consistently churning out posts on a regular basis. Not that they aren’t written, but I find that with my day job I’m often too tired when I reach home to face a photography session or cooking. I always think I’ll leave it for the weekend, but weekends are usually just lazy days when I feel like doing absolutely nothing.
These dishes look just great. I’m not kidding: I will try all of them! I’ll start with the Potatoe Pudding and then the Glazed Orange Cake.
Your plans for 2018 make totally sense – but don’t forget the good food over it 😉
I had not made Potato Pudding for my friends or colleagues until yesterday and it was an overwhelming success, similar to the reception given to the Orange cake. I actually changed the name of the post after one of them said it was the best orange cake he’d ever eaten and ruined all orange cakes for him since, because now they all seem dry and tasteless.
Haha I can never forget the food and am looking forward to sharing more of my heritage dishes.
I love your “to do” list, it looks so organized and well prepared, I wish I could think about a blog post every week, it is so much work to make them perfect, love your cooking photos, I wish I could taste them
I realized that my most productive years have been those that started with clear goals in sight. Without those goals I may spend every weekend have retail therapy or wandering around aimlessly in a mall or watching tv.
I just had a look at your Falooda milkshake and I love how you are presenting a real and authentic insight into Cape Malay Cuisine. As I am a vegetarian, apart from the delicious looking milkshake what would you suggest that I try from Malay cuisine?
We love stews, usually meat and vegetable but they can be made without meat too, and would include Butternut bredie, Pumpkin bredie or Cabbage bredie. Also sweet turmeric or saffron rice that is normally served with roasted meats or Dennigvleis, but can be eaten with roasted vegetables or the aforementioned bredies. Leave the chicken out of the chicken pie and add a similar amount of sautéed vegetables to make it a vegetable pie. For snacks the Daltjies Spinach and Corn fritters are awesome.
You have quite the year-end wrap-up here. Will have to try some of these suggestions. Thanks for sharing
Thank you Dustin. I hope you do 🙂
These looks yummy! Post more of these, please.
All the best for 2018!
Hopefully there will be more coming soon. One of my goals for 2018 is to publish all of the draft recipe posts I have languishing.