MariasMenu Turns 20 — The Sweet, The Spicy & Everything In Between

MariasMenu, since June 2006!

Well, here we are… two decades of sharing recipes, stories and life!

Only one word comes to my mind when I think of completing 20 years of what started as an online version of a personal cooking diary… grateful!

I'm not the kind of person who believes in big celebrations or all-out parties. I try to move through life quietly, embracing its twists and turns, its highs and lows, its gains and losses. Twenty years is a long time in any field — in the world of food blogging, where trends come and go overnight, it feels like a lifetime.

If you are a long-time reader of MM, you might have noticed that I haven't been very active on the blog for the last couple of years. Especially last year, I almost felt like that chapter of my life was getting phased out — and I made my peace with it.

And then, as always, life had other plans. To quote one of my favourite lines from a recent movie — “sometimes life rigs things in our favour.” This year, in the first week of January, when I was out and about, more than a handful of strangers walked up to me and asked about MM and why I had stopped blogging. Honestly, I was quite surprised that they even recognised me — and I was so genuinely thrilled to hear how much they loved the recipes and still visited the blog!

That was my wake-up call. I switched on my desktop after ages (I still do all my site work on the desktop 😄), checked out the site, the backend and the Google Analytics page — and there was another surprise waiting. There had been a sudden jump in traffic compared to previous years, and I had so many comments waiting to be approved. Looks like it's not yet time to hang up my blogging gloves!

Looks like there are more recipes left to cook along with you, more stories to be devoured and more memories to be captured.

So, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart — to everyone who still visits, who still messages, who still reads my stories and chooses to be a part of MM. Every message, comment, like and share is appreciated and valued more than you know.

There are also a few special people who have stood by me through it all — encouraging me, cheering me on, and advocating for me unwaveringly, even when I was missing from here. You know who you are, and you are truly treasured in my heart.

Thank you for joining us on this flavour-packed food journey — through the sweet, the salty, the sour, the bitter, and the spicy. We hope you'll continue to be a part of MM and keep that ‘umami' flavour alive — because without you, it simply wouldn't be the same. 🧡