And now a word from our spons–er, I mean me. Yeah. Let’s talk updates and stuff!

Yeah. I can assure you I do not have any sponsors (dude, how cool would that even be, though?!).

But, hey. Let’s talk. One-on-one, like. Or as close to that as we’re going to get.

First off, can I just tell you how incredibly awesome you are? Yes, you. Faithful Reader, you take time out of your day to visit my little slice of the internet. The place where I semi-comically flail about in the kitchen attempting to create cool-looking, good-tasting geeky and gamer-centric foodstuffs to stoke my creativity and improve my cooking skills.

I’ve learned a ton over the last six months and I hope you have as well. Ideally, I aim to inform and entertain with every keystroke and drop of food coloring. Sure, I’m doing this for me. But I’m doing this for you, too. Thank you for being here. I really couldn’t do it without you.

Probably you’ve noticed a few minor site updates over the last few days. These updates are as follows:

1. New PayPal Donate button. Let me first make this absolutely plain: Skill Up Skillet is a free recipe blog. I will never, ever charge you for viewing this site or using my recipes. This button is for the newly established Skill Up Skillet Kitchen Fund. For more about this, click the Read More link.
2. Expanded Tag Cloud. I have added several more tags to my posts to help you, Faithful Reader, and new readers (hi!!!) find content that is interesting and relevant to you. Want to make a geek themed recipe? Click Geek and you will see all geek-themed recipes. Prefer a more gamer-friendly recipe? Click Game. All relevant gamer recipes will be at your fingertips. You’re welcome!
3. Four Skillets Link Added to Menu. That’s right! With the recent addition of the Zerg Cake Roll we now have a Four Skillet Difficulty Level. I told you it would happen one day, now here it is. For those of you not familiar with the functionality of these links, give’em a try now. Clicking on a specific skill level from the menu will give you all recipes of that particular difficulty. It’s a nice sorting tool to have, I think.
4. 4% Sanity Lost. Nah, that one’s a joke. Comment if you get the reference!

Yep, those are the major key points. So, let’s talk about that Donate button, because it really is kinda important and I want to explain why this button has come into existence. You got a minute? Let’s go.

Introducing the Skill Up Skillet Kitchen Fund!

What the hell is this all about, then?! As you may know, I don’t currently make any money off of my blog. I currently work as a sort of low-level tech support agent in a call center. It pays the bills, but not much else. During my cooking adventures I’ve discovered, well, my kitchen isn’t as well stocked as I’d like it to be. I avoided recipes involving a mixer for months because I didn’t have a stand mixer or even an electric hand mixer! Fortunately, a hand mixer was recently donated to me by my aunt and my recipe base expanded significantly. I’ve had to buy a lot of bakeware, molds, specialty items, and offbeat ingredients out of pocket. Really, I don’t mind… but my monthly budget does. I will still buy these items as absolutely needed.

Here’s where you can help. Do you enjoy seeing me bake? Enjoy my clever witticisms and whatnot? Want to help my culinary creations become a reality? Now you can! Donate to the Skill Up Skillet Kitchen Fund! (Yes, I named it. I also named my car. Problem?) By clicking the Donate button you will be taken to to a secure PayPal payment center where you can contribute as little or as much as you want towards my future baking endeavors. All donations will go to acquiring impractical bakeware and wine (Well, maybe not wine. But seriously, bakeware is expensive!).

I would also like to eventually upload quality videos for a weekly Skill Up Skillet YouTube channel to go above and beyond the recipes you see here. And do a bit of Facebook advertising to build the fan base. A girl can dream, right?

Skill Up Skillet will always be free, but with your help it can become so much more.

Q: I don’t have any money but I still want to help you out. What can I do to help?

A: Easy! If you feel so inclined, help Skill Up Skillet meet the world! Like, Share, and Invite your friends to Like SuS on Facebook. Follow SuS on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Interact with me by leaving your comments and feedback everywhere!

Q: Sounds great! Do you have any links?

A: You bet. Here’s a few to get you started:

Like, Share, and Invite others to Skill Up Skillet on FB!

Admittedly, I’m bad at Twitter. But that’s how a lot of you found me, right? That’s worth something.

Pinterest! I have even less of a clue what I’m doing here. Enjoy pretty pictures?

Alright, now Instagram looks superlegit. You know you’re into this.

Yeah, okay. That’s all I’ve got for the motivational spiel. But don’t worry, whether you donate or not doesn’t matter. You guys are my motivation just by being here. Thanks for being here, being you. You rock.

See you Thursday!

-Leisel