A Whole New Flavor: Cookbook 411 is now Cook & Eat

I got a bit of an itch this weekend to do something about my foodblog. Updating the design has been on my list for some time now… and inspite of the fact that I should have been doing lots of other things, I got sucked in.

First, let me explain the name change. If you’ve been following the blog for a while, you’ll know that the initial idea was to create a whole user-driven forum for tips and tricks on cookbooks… hence the name Cookbook 411. The forums didn’t take off as well as the blog, and finally I removed the whole forum section from the blog because I spent too much time cleaning out spam. But, I kept the name despite the fact that the blog was about far more than cookbooks.

That has been nagging me now for months. It was a hard decision to finally pull the plug and make the shift. I’d developed a little bit of a following with Cookbook 411… I actually have regular readers, and I really didn’t want to annoy anyone, and I know what a pain it is to go and have to change blog rolls. But it was time. So to my regular readers, sorry for the shake-up and thank you for sticking with me! And welcome to Cook & Eat! You’ll still see the same photos and content, just at a new address and in a new look.

So, that brings me to the new look. It’s different. REALLY different. I want to get to more of a magazine look and feel, but I know I’m not quite there yet. Still, I think it’s pretty cool. I’m sure I’ll be tweaking it over the next few weeks, but I’d love to get your feedback, especially if you have problems with anything!

The old site will be forwarding to Cook & Eat for quite a while, but you’ll need to update your RSS feeds to get new stuff. You can do that quickly here:

RSS feed
Comment feed

Thanks all!

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Comments

  1. Kalyn     10.29.06 / 8pm

    Wow. Obviously photography isn’t your only talent. Love the new design.



  2. fanny     10.29.06 / 9pm

    Wow Lara, it looks great!
    I love the colour chart and design.

    And obviously photography and writing – but everyone already does!

    -fanny



  3. sam     10.29.06 / 9pm

    love the new look.

    Doesn’t it feel good after a blog makeover!



  4. ilva     10.29.06 / 9pm

    It looks great! I’ll change my link to you asap!



  5. L     10.29.06 / 10pm

    Thanks Kayln, Fanny, Sam & Ilva! I really did have fun making the new template… and I have to say, it went surprisingly well… esp. given that I changed domain names, servers and theme all at once. Not sure what I was thinking, but I’m happy it’s all done now!



  6. Bron     10.29.06 / 10pm

    Whoa! BIG change! Good stuff, have already changed my links etc.

    Cheers
    Bron



  7. Andrew     10.29.06 / 11pm

    a certain web 2.0 feel tot he blog now, lovely. Have updated the blog roll/reading list over on spittoonextra – just thought you would like to know.



  8. Meeta     10.29.06 / 11pm

    Love it Lara! The color schemes you’ve chosen looks great.
    I’m hooked all over again!



  9. a.dan.ti     10.30.06 / 2am

    I agree that it looks really nice, and the photographs are beautifully exposed. Changes can be very refreshing :-)



  10. Ninnie     10.30.06 / 4am

    Very inspiring! I love it!



  11. Alanna     10.30.06 / 4am

    Looks JUST lovely! Love the cookbook list!



  12. Danielle     10.30.06 / 4am

    The new design looks excellent.



  13. Jesska     10.30.06 / 4am

    Love the new layout! I added you to my blog list, if that’s not okay, shoot me an email. :)



  14. Bea at La Tartine Gourmande     10.30.06 / 5am

    Very nice new design! Love it! Very cheerful.



  15. Anita     10.30.06 / 7am

    I LOVE the new design, and the new name. But am I the only one having trouble with the new feed? How embarassing. :S

    I tried clicking the RSS link in the footer, and I get an error message. I also tried to search for cookandeat.com in Google Reader, and it says there’s no feed available. Hmm…

    (L, feel free to delete this comment — I just wanted you to know.)



  16. Anita     10.30.06 / 7am

    OK, update: I searched for “http://cookandeat.com” in Google Reader, and that worked… removing the “www” was the key.



  17. Annie     10.30.06 / 7am

    Fantastic! The retro colors and rounded components are so cool! Blogroll has been duly updated.



  18. Melissa     10.30.06 / 9am

    Fantastic new look! Oh, I’m so envious. I would love to redesign too, but I’m such a technological cretin.

    And I just read that you’re now shooting professionally – yet another reason to be jealous! When will you tell us more?



  19. peabody     10.30.06 / 12pm

    Looks good.



  20. Erielle     10.30.06 / 2pm

    mmmmm….I love the brown and blue together! And the sidebar with the cookbooks is just beautiful. Nice work!



  21. Elise     10.31.06 / 12am

    Hi Lara – it’s loverly! Vibrant color scheme.



  22. Mae     10.31.06 / 3am

    Love the new look especially the colours! I was just here yesterday? And it completely surprised me today!

    I’ll change my blogroll. Incidentally, would you mind changing mine too? Sorry, i feel awkward to ask but it’s still pointing to my old blogger account. Thanks!



  23. Eggy     10.31.06 / 6am

    Love the new look, Lara. Brown and blue are my favourite colour combination too! Stunning.



  24. Julia     10.31.06 / 6am

    what a great surprise(!)
    I LOVE it! I think you’re a genius!
    the combination of colours, the new name, and all the side bars – it just fits. perfect! =)



  25. Ivonne     11.1.06 / 1pm

    I just love the new look! All the best!



  26. L     11.2.06 / 11am

    Wow. Thank you ALL for the lovely comments! I’m so glad you like the new look, because I’m quite pleased with it myself.

    Mae – yes! Sorry I had the wrong link! I use my browser to maintain the RSS feeds I read from and blog rolling for the site, and sometimes they tend to get out of sync. Thanks for letting me know!



  27. ilingc     11.25.06 / 2am

    hello, i just stumbled onto your blog. i don’t know what your old one looks like but this layout and the colors look fabulous!


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