Subscription update, 2023

Five years ago, I was having a very bad day. My plane back to New York City was about to depart, and while I was in McKinney with my family, my apartment keys were back in Houston in my mom’s empty house. 

When I called my landlord, she couldn’t immediately find her set of keys to my apartment. Faced with the decision to drive back to Houston and shift my travel plans, or fly back and hope everything worked out for me, I took a leap and hoped for the best. 

Fortunately, a friend of my mom’s offered to overnight the keys to me in New York. When I got back to New York, my landlord was waiting for me with her own set of keys and I was able to get into my apartment. My risk paid off for me. 

Then I was faced with another choice: do I keep writing the blog or do I shut it down? It was not profitable and after sustaining it with my personal savings, I knew from a business perspective that this was not sustainable. 

After doing some research, I took another leap of faith. I started a subscription program, where I would offer premium content for those who were willing to pay. Fortunately, many of you joined me on this journey.

Today is a much better day than the one I was having five years ago, and I am so happy to be at this point in my life. In the past five years, I’ve moved back to Texas, kept working through an uncertain time, and made new food friends across the state. Having the subscription program has made much of these busy and fulfilling opportunities possible. I am so thankful. 

When I started the program, I made my pitch with no premium content on the blog yet. It sounded crazy to me, and I had no idea what would happen, but many of you took a chance. Today, there are now 125 premium posts, which is about the same number of recipes you’d find in a cookbook. It’s been fun creating all these new dishes for you!

If you’re not a subscriber, allow me to give you my pitch once again. Besides the recipes, which have never been published in any other place, you also get an ad-free experience on the entire site.

Some of the recipes that have been featured over the years are Caldillo, West Texas stew with beef and green chiles, Texas grapefruit meringue pie, Cheese stacked enchiladas, San Antonio style, red beans and boudin, Frito squash casserole, Hill Country baked beans, and Nantucket cranberry pie. Here’s the full roster of premium recipes. My joy is in celebrating Texas food and finding connections. And yes, there’s even a link to Texas in the Nantucket pie.

It’s been a delicious and fruitful five years, and the program has been a success, as its revenue helps maintain the blog. Likewise, the price has stayed the same since I began, and as we enter this next year, I will not be raising those rates. 

The subscriptions start at $25 for one year (about the cost of lunch for two), and for that price, you get access to all prior premium posts as well as all new ones coming up in the year. A new subscriber-only post is published every other week, and each one has never been published.

For $100, there is a family plan, which is a bargain as it allows 5 people to be on one subscription. There are also partner and patron levels, which are there for those who wish to give more. A subscription also makes a fine gift.

For all, however, there is the satisfaction and joy of supporting independent publishing. Many aren’t aware of this, but when you write for other publications, you usually no longer retain ownership of your work. The corporation owns it and can do anything it wishes with it. Therefore, I prefer to keep my work here, rather than publish it elsewhere. 

I’m so grateful for my subscribers. However, please know that I’m also grateful for all my readers. Even if you don’t wish to subscribe, most of the site is still free. 

Thank you for your continued support of Homesick Texan. Everything from being a subscriber, to linking to content, leaving a comment, or sending an email makes this worthwhile. It’s an honor and a joy to share recipes and stories with you. Thank you for reading and happy cooking!