A Beautiful Plate: Unveiling Our Blog’s Rebrand, Redesign, and Enhanced Culinary Experience

The moment has finally arrived! After three months of anticipation and intensive behind-the-scenes work, I am absolutely thrilled to pull back the curtain and share a significant evolution in our culinary journey. My heart is bursting with excitement, and I’ve been living on an adrenaline rush, eager to reveal this monumental change to our incredible community. This transformation represents not just a new chapter, but a refined vision for everything we’re passionate about in the world of food.

What started six years ago as Blogging Over Thyme has gracefully transformed and rebranded itself into A Beautiful Plate. This isn’t merely a name change; it’s a complete refresh for 2016 – a new name, a new tagline, and a stunning new visual identity. We’re kicking off the year with a vibrant new direction, promising an even richer and more inspiring experience for everyone who loves cooking, exploring ingredients, and appreciating the aesthetic beauty of food.

When I first embarked on this blogging adventure in 2010, I had no inkling of the incredible path it would forge over the next five years. From a nascent interest, it blossomed into a passion that led me to enroll in culinary school and, ultimately, transform this website into my dream career. Beyond the professional achievements, the most rewarding aspect has been the profound connections I’ve made with both readers and fellow bloggers around the globe. Your engagement, support, and shared love for food have been the driving force behind every step of this journey, inspiring me to continuously evolve and improve.

Blogging Over Thyme will forever hold a special place in my heart – and yes, please continue to share those delightful thyme puns with me! However, I am incredibly optimistic and eager for the fresh possibilities that A Beautiful Plate will bring, both creatively and professionally. This rebrand signifies a bold step forward, a commitment to refining our vision and delivering even more value and inspiration. A Beautiful Plate perfectly encapsulates what I am most passionate about: the art of sharing simple, yet profoundly beautiful recipes. This philosophy extends to showcasing the inherent beauty of real, wholesome ingredients, presenting familiar foods in innovative and exciting ways, and cultivating my deep love for food photography, which I believe is integral to inspiring others in the kitchen and at the table.

Seamless Transition: What You Need to Know About the Rebrand

With this significant rebrand comes a host of exciting new features and practical improvements designed to elevate your experience. Here are some essential details and new functionalities to help you navigate and enjoy A Beautiful Plate from day one:

Effortless Link Redirection: Rest assured, all previous links, including every single recipe link from www.bloggingoverthyme.com, will now automatically redirect to www.abeautifulplate.com. This ensures a smooth transition without any loss of access to your favorite content. My top priority was to make this change as seamless as possible for our loyal readers. If, by any chance, you encounter any technical hiccups or discover a broken link today or in the coming weeks, please don’t hesitate to inform me! Your feedback is invaluable, and I’ll be eternally grateful for your help in perfecting the site.
Unified Social Media Presence: To align with our new name and refreshed aesthetic, all of our social media handles have been updated. If you’re already following the blog on Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, or Facebook, you will automatically be following A Beautiful Plate under our new universal handle: @abeautifulplate. This streamlined approach makes it easier than ever to connect with us across all platforms, ensuring you don’t miss any updates or inspiration.
Automatic Email/RSS Feed Updates: For our loyal subscribers, there’s absolutely no action required on your part! If you are subscribed via email or RSS, your subscription will update automatically. In fact, you should have already received this announcement post directly in your inbox or feed, demonstrating the seamless nature of this transition. We’ve ensured a completely hassle-free experience for all our cherished subscribers, so you continue to receive our newest content without interruption.

Accompanying our new name is a brand-new, sophisticated design, complete with an optimized mobile view and a suite of amazing new features designed to enhance your browsing and cooking experience. For the past three months, I’ve had the immense pleasure of collaborating with Lindsay Landis of Purr Design – truly one of the best in the business. Together, we’ve brought about some incredibly exciting and transformative changes to this space, focusing on both cutting-edge aesthetics and robust functionality. I highly encourage you to spend some time exploring the redesigned site (for the full immersive experience, I recommend viewing it on a desktop), delving into the intuitive menus, vibrant sidebars, and familiarizing yourself with everything A Beautiful Plate has to offer.

Highlights of the A Beautiful Plate Redesign: A Focus on Enhanced User Experience

50% Less Ads + Significantly Faster Loading Times for a Better Experience:

One of the paramount priorities throughout this re-branding journey was to significantly reduce the number of advertisements displayed on the site. While ads are, unfortunately, a necessary component for financially sustaining a blog and allowing me to continue creating high-quality, free content, I firmly believe that they should not detract from your user experience. With this new site, we are now displaying half the number of ads compared to the previous version. This substantial reduction not only contributes to a cleaner, more visually appealing interface but also results in dramatically faster website loading times across all devices. My ultimate goal is to provide a seamless, enjoyable, and uninterrupted browsing experience as you discover new recipes and culinary inspiration. Cheers to a more serene and efficient environment for all our readers!

Revolutionary Recipe Index + Advanced Search Functions: Discover Your Next Favorite Meal:

Another incredibly exciting and highly anticipated feature of the new site is our vastly improved recipe index, conveniently accessible by clicking on the ‘Browse Recipes’ link in the main navigation menu. Recognizing the challenges many users (and even I, the creator!) faced in locating specific recipes on the old site, I’ve dedicated countless hours to meticulously re-indexing, re-categorizing, and re-tagging every single recipe within our extensive archives. The result is a recipe organization system that is as logical, intuitive, and comprehensive as possible, ensuring you can always find precisely what you’re looking for, effortlessly.
On this dynamic new recipe page, you have the power to effortlessly search for recipes by main category or more specific subcategory. Furthermore, you can now filter recipes by specific ingredients, making it incredibly simple to utilize what you already have in your fridge or cater to specific dietary needs. Imagine finding the perfect meal based on what’s seasonal or by what you have on hand – it’s all possible now! You can even browse recipes by season, allowing you to embrace fresh, seasonal produce and cook with the freshest ingredients available year-round.
Perhaps the best part? When you select any category, you are immediately transported to a visually rich recipe index, complete with enticing images, making your search both efficient and incredibly inspiring. This visual approach transforms recipe discovery into a delightful experience.

Clean, Intuitive, and Functional Navigation Menus: Streamlined Recipe Discovery:

The navigation menus have received a complete, thoughtful overhaul, designed with clarity and functionality at its core. The main navigation is now singularly dedicated to recipes and their categories, a feature I am particularly fond of. This streamlined approach makes it incredibly easy to find culinary inspiration. You can effortlessly search by various diet types – whether you’re looking for vegetarian, gluten-free recipes, or other specific dietary considerations – or even by season, helping you cook with the freshest ingredients available and adapt to your lifestyle needs.
While certain recipe categories, such as side dishes, drinks, and sandwiches, are not featured in the primary main menu, the most commonly searched categories are prominently displayed front and center for immediate access. The true magic lies in the hover functionality: simply hover your mouse over a menu page, and a convenient dropdown will appear, allowing you to quickly narrow your search with precision. For example, if you’re seeking a dinner recipe, just hover over the ‘Dinners’ menu tab, and you’ll find a wealth of options, including quick weeknight dinners, healthier dinner choices, and many more tailored selections. This intuitive design ensures that your ideal recipe is just a few clicks away, making meal planning a breeze.

The New Top Menu: Beyond Recipes, A World of Engaging Content:

For those seeking content beyond recipes, our brand-new top menu provides a straightforward gateway to a wealth of other valuable pages. This includes easy access to my extensively re-categorized culinary school posts, offering insights into my formal culinary training and experiences, now organized for optimal discovery. You’ll also find direct links to my updated ‘About’ and ‘Contact’ pages, making it simple to learn more about the person behind the recipes or to get in touch. Additionally, we’ve introduced a captivating new travel page, where I’ll be sharing culinary adventures, global food explorations, and travel guides from around the world. This top menu ensures that all facets of A Beautiful Plate, from personal stories to practical advice, are easily discoverable and accessible.

Enhanced Recipe Formatting + ‘Tips for Success’ Feature: Cook with Confidence:

We’ve completely revitalized the recipe formatting, now featuring a beautiful and highly readable two-column design. This layout is not only aesthetically pleasing but also incredibly practical, making it easier to follow instructions while you’re cooking, whether you’re using a desktop or mobile device. The integrated ‘Print Recipe’ button allows you to conveniently print any recipe directly from the site using your browser or mobile device, ensuring you always have a physical copy handy, free from ads and clutter.
Beyond the visual improvements, I’m thrilled to introduce a brand-new, incredibly helpful feature: Tips for Success. This dedicated section within each recipe will provide comprehensive guidance, encompassing everything from essential ingredient selection and preparation tips, to specific cooking techniques, and valuable advice on styling and presentation to elevate your finished dish. These expert insights are designed to empower you, ensuring that your culinary creations are not only delicious but also beautiful and consistently successful. Double cheers to making every cooking experience a triumph!

Effortless and Accessible Subscribe Options: Stay Connected with A Beautiful Plate:

Staying connected with A Beautiful Plate has never been easier, thanks to a variety of easy and accessible subscription options conveniently located throughout the site. You can now choose to sign up for my newsletter, with the flexibility to receive notifications for every new post as it goes live, or a convenient weekly e-newsletter summarizing the latest content. Directly below these options, you’ll also find quick links to add the blog to your preferred reading list on popular platforms like Bloglovin’ or Feedly. We’ve ensured that you can effortlessly stay updated with our newest recipes, culinary inspiration, and blog posts, however you prefer to consume content.

Intelligent Related Posts + Curated Recommended Products: Enhance Your Culinary Journey:

To further enhance your cooking and culinary exploration, if I’ve utilized a specific kitchen tool or a particularly hard-to-find ingredient in a recipe – and I firmly believe this information could be beneficial to you – I will now be providing easy-to-access links and detailed information for these items directly below the recipes. This is a feature I absolutely adore, as it’s highly visual and incredibly practical. Often, I source specialty items online, and I’m always eager to share those discoveries and recommendations with you, helping you find the very best tools and ingredients for your own kitchen and empowering you to recreate dishes with confidence.
Do you recall the randomly generated suggestions for ‘related posts’ that appeared at the bottom of my old posts? Frankly, they were often quite unhelpful, with half the suggestions bearing no actual relation to the recipe you were viewing. I’m excited to announce a new, highly intelligent related posts feature. This allows me to hand-select and curate recipes that are genuinely similar or complementary to the one you’re currently enjoying, providing truly relevant inspiration. You’ll find these thoughtfully chosen recommendations at the bottom of each post. Simply click on the image or recipe name to open that recipe post in a new tab, making it incredibly easy to dive deeper into related culinary themes and discover more delicious content. This intuitive system ensures you always discover truly relevant and inspiring content.

New, Straightforward Social Media Handles for Unified Branding: Connect with Us:

From this moment forward, you can consistently find me across virtually all social media platforms under the unified handle: @abeautifulplate. This change is designed to simplify our branding, make it easier for you to connect with us, and ensure a cohesive online presence. The only current exception is Facebook, where I will continue to post on my old page until Facebook completes the merge of my pages – a process I hope will be finalized very soon! This consistent handle ensures that whether you’re on Instagram, Pinterest, or Twitter, A Beautiful Plate is always easy to find, fostering a stronger community connection.

Most importantly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you for being an integral part of this community, for your unwavering support of this site, and for sharing in my profound excitement surrounding this significant transformation. I poured my heart and soul into creating A Beautiful Plate, aiming to provide an even more inspiring and user-friendly platform for all your culinary endeavors. I sincerely hope you embrace and cherish the new look and name as much as I do. Your continued engagement and enthusiasm inspire me daily, and I look forward to many more years of sharing delicious, beautiful food with you, growing this vibrant community together.