I started this blog in August of 2005 on a whim. Never could I have expected it to become such an important part of my life, both personally and professionally. In fact, for the first few years of blogging, I kept my identity here firmly hidden because I was sure the blog would remain nothing more than a little passion project. It is nearly impossible to remember what online life was really like in those days, but I'll always treasure the feeling of utter bliss of discovery and kinship I stumbled upon when I started blogging and found an entire community of like-minded people right on the other side of this screen. 

It is hard to quantify what this blog means to me, though if we're talking numbers, there are nearly 900 posts and almost 30,000 comments collected here. Thanks to The Wednesday Chef, I have written two books and have another on the way. I wrote a monthly food column for several years. I have made countless connections and friends for life. The person I used to be is captured here for posterity, as are the memories and sensations of my former life in New York and the early years of my life back in Berlin. This is the closest I ever came to keeping a real diary. Not only are many of my favorite and most beloved recipes gathered here, but so are countless dear and tender memories, like summers in Italy over the years, the wobbly transition from New York to Berlin, the early years of life with children, and the transformation I made from blogger to book author. Now it's time for me to finally put up the "Closed for Business" sign here, though the archives of The Wednesday Chef will stay on for as long as I have any say in the matter. 

You can subscribe to my newsletter Letter from Berlin at Substack now, either for free or with a couple varieties of paying options. Your support enables me to continue making a creative life. In the newsletter, I share recipes, of course, as well as deeper thoughts on books I'm reading, essays about family life and creativity, and inside peeks at the process of writing another cookbook. We can still connect in the comments there and I look forward to continuing the conversation we've been having for almost 18 years now.

I am deeply grateful to everyone who ever followed a link to find me online. You allowed me to make my dreams of being a writer become a reality. You have read along here and commented with wisdom and care and affection. You have come to my readings and events and bought my books and cooked my recipes. And you have connected to the stories I've told about the important people in my life and blessed me with your interest and kindness and appetite.

Thank you.