Hello, cupcakes.
It’s been 10 years (ten!) with you — Vika Leping and my culinary blog, “Right Food.” Don’t judge the name — ten years ago, it sounded perfectly fine, or at least I thought so 🙂 “But the About Me section could use an update,” I thought, so here’s something fresh from today’s me.
About Me
I won’t retell my long culinary journey up to the point of creating this blog; I’ll just leave a link here to my previous author’s post, written by a ten-years-younger me — and, of course, you can feel the difference. Instead, here I’ll briefly share what’s happened since the blog came to life.
Over this long period, a lot has happened, and changes in my life and society as a whole have also led to changes in my blog. I can’t say I’ve run it actively all the time, but I’ve always tried to add something new from time to time because delicious food has always been my passion. To this day, I still watch and analyse tons of new recipes since half of my Instagram feed consists of food prep videos from amazing chefs around the globe.
So, What Exactly Happened
Over these ten years, I…
•managed to be a meat-eater, pescatarian, vegetarian, vegan, raw foodist, tried every type of diet, fasting with various schedules, cleanses, “proper nutrition,” and “a healthy lifestyle,” and ended up with a couple of eating disorders. Eventually, I returned to a simple, balanced diet that now makes me happy every day because it’s the ideal I’ve been striving for all this time.
•traveled a lot and tried countless dishes from the farthest corners of our planet. I brought back loads of recipes and food thoughts, which I’m still gradually implementing.
•moved over ten times across different countries, cities, and neighborhoods, constantly discovering new culinary spots and tasting everything new and exciting.
•struggled with myself and the world. In February 2022, the unthinkable happened: a full-scale invasion of my country began, and I had to leave the beloved city I’d lived in for the past seven years, Kyiv. Interestingly, I had moved to Kyiv from Crimea, as that same country had invaded it right when I was starting my blog. The beginning of the full-scale war halted me and my blog for a long time, especially since it was written in Russian (because I’m from Crimea), a language I no longer wanted to share with the world.
•spent more than two years in Portugal, in Lisbon, where I still live. Now I can share a lot about Western European cuisines. Feel free to ask if you’re interested!
About the Blog
The first few years of these ten were the most active for creating new dishes, so many recipes from that time remain. I loved cooking, writing articles, taking photos, and sharing them with you. Now, looking back at my first posts, I see they don’t look as polished or detailed as the later ones. But I can honestly say I still often use those old recipes because nothing has changed — they’re great, and the dishes are delicious.
Overall, looking at all my recipes over the years, I see my personal story, my long journey, my growth, and the incredible effort and hard work that bore fruit and supported me in many ways.
I love my blog dearly because it’s a part of me I want to preserve forever.
Therefore
After ten years since its start, with my blog aging and falling into poor condition for many reasons, and realizing that the entire content needed translation into Ukrainian and English, my husband and I decided to rework, revive, and rehabilitate my culinary story.
And so we did. Let’s see what happens next.
I hope the changes will appeal to my long-time readers (even if you don’t notice them)), and to all the new ones — hello and welcome! Write in the comments where you’re from and how you’re doing, whether it’s your first time here or you’ve been with me for ages.
That’s it for now.
Take care of yourselves. And be happy.
You can reach me here:
YouTube – my channel;
Instagram – vikaleping;
Facebook – Victoria Leping.
E-mail: vikaleping@gmail.com
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