Editorial: This is the second of a series of reflection posts from Recipe Project contributors and editors.

My first post for the Recipes Project, “Early Modern Comfort Foods,” appeared in March 2013. At the time, the blog was not quite a year old, but had already been getting some excellent attention. Friends who knew that I worked on recipes kept sending me links to it, asking if I’d seen it and what I thought about the work that was being done. But I was already hooked: from its very earliest posts, the RP offered a unique platform, a place for anyone who studied recipes – and especially early-career scholars – to share their newest research and to receive supported, structured feedback on their ideas. I’m proud that we’ve continued this mission through to today.
There is a huge value in the openness and inclusivity of the RP. Authors can, and do, create posts which follow a variety of forms and formats. I’ve taken advantage of this myself, as both a contributor and an editor. I’ve written posts constructed on a microhistorical level, out of snippets pulled straight out of the archive; that first “Comfort Foods” post was written from inside of the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester MA, where I’d gone to do dissertation research on colonial British American recipes and commonplace books. When that dissertation became a book, I wrote a couple of posts about the project as a whole, taking a macroscopic view of the roles played by recipes in early modern social networks. When I got my first job, I brought the RP along with me into my classrooms and advising meetings. I wrote about the ways that I taught with recipes for chocolate and for ink, and in partnership with talented undergraduates, I helped them to write about their own recipes research. When I started the search for my next research project, I turned straight to the RP, exploring recipes holdings in libraries and archives around the world. When I joined Lisa and Elaine as an RP editor in June 2014, it opened even more opportunities: organizing a themed series, writing round-ups, and participating in reflection posts like this one. Along the way, my RP colleagues and friends have been exceptionally generous in writing posts to help recognize, publicize, and bring attention to my work. And I’m beyond pleased that the RP has followed me to the Folger, where in the coming years we’ll continue to explore the library’s many amazing recipes sources.
Early-career scholars juggle a lot of different roles. The RP, with its flexible format and warm, thoughtful community of scholars, offers those who study recipes the chance to share their work, in whatever form it’s taking. As my own example – and those of many others – can prove, the RP can grow with you. Supporting and promoting people who are just embarking on their careers is one of the most important things that the RP does, and it’s what I value most as a member of this group.
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