Hi there.
Thanks for stopping by TheBittenWord.com.
We're Zach and Clay, and we started this blog because we had a problem: too many issues of food magazines we received were going unread or unused. So in 2008 we made a resolution: start cooking at least one recipes from each of our magazines. Years later, we're still at it, but now we also feature original recipes and share other things we're passionate about, like travel and books.
What You Should Know About This Site
So who are Zach and Clay? We live and eat in Washington, D.C., where Zach is a journalist and Clay works for a nonprofit. We both grew up in the South -- Clay in Kentucky, and Zach in Tennessee. We met here in Washington in 2002 and we got married in 2010.
We're proud to say The Bitten Word has won some awards, including Saveur Magazine's 2011 Best Food Blogs and we were named One of the World's Top 50 Food Blogs by the Times of London.
Occasionally, other people write about The Bitten Word. In 2013, we were featured on NPR's All Things Considered to talk about Thanksgiving trends, and in 2012, our annual "Fakesgiving" was featured in the Washington Post, as were our adventures in canning. We've also chatted about Thanksgiving on Dinner Party Download, both in 2011 and 2012. There are a few other interviews with us online, including one from Gourmet Live, Washingtonian Magazine, Front & Main, the PBS Food Blog and Spenser Magazine. The Bitten Word has also been featured in The New York Times and in Molly O'Neill's book, One Big Table.
This blog is a hobby. We both have careers and we do this in our spare time. But we try to respond to almost every comment and email. Sometimes it may take us a few days to get back to you.
We still miss Gourmet. Thinking about it makes us feel like we need a hug.
We love you! Seriously, the best part of blogging is hearing from readers. We hope that while you're here, you'll introduce yourself! And you can always email us if you ever have a question about anything, or there's a particular dish you'd like to see us try, or if you just want to chat about Mad Men or something.
We love when you use our photos! Just ask us first.
Sometimes the recipes we post don't turn out so well. Seriously. There are amazing successes and epic failures. We post the good and the bad here at The Bitten Word. Sometimes we screw up, sometimes we just don't like how a dish turns out, and sometimes the recipe just doesn't work. But we promise to let you know either way. Here's an explanation of why we feature failures in the kitchen.
We used to say that Clay doesn't like dill and Zach doesn't like mushrooms. That's still true for Zach, but Clay has come around on dill. Our tastes have changed. These days, we eat almost anything. Well, except kimchi. And Clay still finds grapefruit awfully sour.
You can easily connect with The Bitten Word however you choose to. Besides reading our posts here on the site, of course, you can get them via email or via a RSS feed if you're into that. You can also become a fan of the blog on Facebook. We publish links to new posts to the Facebook page, so you'll get them in your feed. You can also follow us on Twitter, where we update more frequently about important things like what we're having for dinner or what we're watching on TV. Oh and we're on Instagram, Google+, Pinterest and YouTube, too.
Here are some of our favorite posts (and favorites of our readers, too):
Embarking on Year 5 of The Bitten Word. Introduce yourself!
This is an amazing chocolate cake. But this may be an even more amazing chocolate cake.
Some of our most popular posts over the years that continue to get a lot of readers are Easy Overnight Oatmeal: Steel Cut Oats in 10 Minutes, Buffalo Chicken Dip, Best BBQ Chicken, Microwave Chocolate Cake, and Best Blueberry Muffins.
Our 10 Favorite Food Magazine Recipes From 2013.
Our 10 Favorite Food Magazine Recipes From 2012.
Our 11 Favorite Food Magazine Recipes From 2011.
Our 10 Favorite Food Magazine Recipes from 2010.
And if those don't give you what you're looking for, check out the recipe index!
Thanks again for visiting the blog. There's a lot of deliciousness coming up. We hope you'll come back to be a part of it!