May 19, 2026 – Andy is in OurLittleCorner today

Our Instagram Fling #itwasquitearide #whileitlasted

Not long after we launched BigLittleMeals back in 2017 Ann and I decided that we should experiment with Instagram to see if it would generate interest and broaden our blog’s audience. In a weak moment I volunteered to take the lead. Our little experiment produced 491 Instagram posts before coming to an end in October of 2023.

In the beginning I knew very little about Instagram itself and nothing at all about how it could be used for a food blog. I gathered from looking at other food-based web sites that it was simple enough: (a) select an eye-catching photo, (b) write a pithy sentence or two, (c) add some hashtags, and (d) put it out there and wait for the “likes” to come pouring in.

It wasn’t the piece of cake that I had imagined. For one thing, taking eye-catching photos of food requires some skill. Our daughter, Sara, who is in the food writing and editing business (when she is not off salsa dancing somewhere), coached me on some of the tricks of the trade used in food styling and photo-shoots. While I don’t have Sara’s keen eye for framing and photographing food, I compensate by taking a gazillion shots of each food dish in the hope that at least one photo will turn out decent. I should add that my iPhone and our enhanced iCloud computer storage space were godsends.

And coming up with a pithy sentence or two? It may be easy for folks who have pithy-oriented brains, but for me it was a challenge, especially given that puns are rarely considered pithy.

Some of the Photos Featured in Our BigLitteMeals Instagram Posts

Adding the hashtags is what I consider to be my signature contribution. Never mind that I never quite understood how or if hashtags increased visibility, reached new audiences, or enhanced searchability (as the Instagram helpdesk claimed). I just got a kick out of thinking them up. Here are a few examples of my Instagram hashtags : for a pozole recipe – #mariachimusicoptional; for a granola recipe – #deliciousandnutritioussnack #feelambitious ; for a Chinese spicy noodle recipe – #stirfryforsimpletons #youwillmakeitagain #andagain. I often wonder if any of our Instagram followers fully appreciated the creativity and subtle humor that went into those hashtags.

To paraphrase an old saying, the proof is in the putting (it out there). We waited for the “likes” to pour in but what we got was more like a trickle. It was tempting to compare our results to other food-based sites. Smitten Kitchen, one of our favorites, was routinely getting over 3,000 likes. Ina Garten’s Instagram “likes” would reach an incredible 33,000 plus. But for us, getting big numbers was not the objective. We considered our blog to be somewhat intimate and considered the Instagram to be just a little added treat for our followers.

So why did we bail on our Instagram fling? It was mainly due to the changing nature of Instagram itself. Instead of still photos, sites were increasingly turning to slick videos (or “reels”) that required technical skills that were beyond me — and which quite frankly I found tedious to learn. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t try to change. I posted several Instagrams experimenting with videos but was never happy with how they turned out.

To get an idea of what I’m driving at, take a look at this recent Instagram reel I found online promoting a trendy chocolate bar containing pistachio-tahini paste and toasted, crispy knafeh (a shredded phyllo pastry pronounced “kuh-NAH-fay”). I was particularly impressed with the pun “Can’t Get Knafeh of it.”

Now, compare that video to the last official BigLittleMeals Instagram. It was posted on October 13, 2023 and was promoting a recipe for Alton Brown’s French Toast .

This comparison should help you understand why our romance with Instagram turned out to be a fling rather than a lasting love. Even so, it was quite a ride while it lasted.