Blogging Tips and Know How

Name: Blueberry and Vanilla Cheesecake Pancakes
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 8 thin pancakes or crepes; 200g full fat cream cheese; 150g Mascarpone Italian cheese; 3 tbs icing sugar (plus extra for dusting); 100ml double cream; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 100g digestive biscuits, crushed to fine crumbs; 3 tbsp melted butter; Blueberries or other fruit to fill

December 31, 2014

2014 Round Up, Huffington Post Blogs and a Happy New 2015!

Today is the last day of 2014. The year has been filled with much joy and countless blessings; a new baby boy, lots of ‘behind the scenes’ work at home towards a house project next year and plenty of freelance work to keep me busy in between naptimes.

Looking back at my first post of 2014 (featuring a tasty recipe for Polish Apple Pancakes) I’m flabbergasted that most of what I set out to do this year did actually happen! I resolved to “banish my inner-critic” and have done a pretty good job of that, though it’s still a work in progress. I intended to “be more selective of what I spend my time on” and I’ve definitely had to to that with a newborn. I did also “bring back Simple and in Season” – a monthly blog event here on RenBehan.com that has continued to bring together a lovely sense of community to my blog. And lastly, I have enjoyed “taking inspiration from my Polish heritage and from the food of my childhood,” by way of plenty of Comfort Food-related posts for my JamieOliver.com column including my ultimate comfort food recipe for Polish Kopytka (photo above).

I also finished the year on a high by helping to promote Poland through a campaign called Polska. Spring Into for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with an article published on the Huffington Post called 5 Reasons to Fall in Love with Polish Food – over 19K likes on that one so thank you!

…

March 28, 2014

On blogging and being featured in Woman and Home

This post is definitely a coffee break read! It’s been a challenging few weeks, although on the whole, March has been a month full of excitement in terms of family life, as well as more opportunities for recipe work, setting new goals and even an exciting print feature in Woman and Home! Sometimes, particularly when things pick up pace, it’s good to sit back, take stock and to really examine your journey to see how far you’ve come. It can be all too easy to assume that the end-result of something has been quick or effortless, when, in fact, a great deal of hard work has gone on behind the scenes. Sometimes, when I’m writing up a blog post in the haste of everyday life, I forget that as a reader, you might be new to my blog and that you might know nothing about me at all. Other times, as I catch up with comments and social media, I am reminded that blogging has brought me many new friends and that I’m surrounded by lots of fellow creative souls who have supported me right from the start. My goal, always, is to come across as the sort of person who constantly seeks to better herself – whatever I put ‘out there’ or on my blog – I hope it is the best that it can be. I enjoy innovation and experimentation and I’m a sucker for courses (I’m taking three online courses at the moment!) Perhaps sometimes I don’t share all of my hopes, dreams and wishes through my blog, but I do constantly try and share things that I hope you find interesting, inspiring, creative or helpful.

I started writing this blog in November 2010 – originally called Fabulicious Food! It was winter and I had given up a career in criminal law to become a stay-at-home mum. I spent much of my time doing baby-related activities; there wasn’t a group or class we didn’t try. I had the support of a wonderful antenatal group (still my closest ‘early years’ allies seven years on) and I volunteered for my local branch of a parenting charity, which slowly brought back some of my confidence and skills, which had long been buried under a pile of never-ending washing. Motherhood presented me with a steep learning curve and became a lesson in both letting go and of adjusting – to a new life dedicated not to my career, but to my family. Soon, our second baby came along and just at the point of considering a return to legal work, the prospect of redundancy and a move to a new work location followed. After much deliberation, I closed the chapter on law and began to look for a more flexible and creative way of staying at home, supported by my family who were keen to help me stay out of the courtroom!

At first, there were lots of people who really didn’t get what blogging was all about. Everyone assumed I would run out of things to say, or that my enthusiasm would run out. There didn’t seem to be a purpose for blogging, other than having a place to spill out various elements of your life for all the world to read and comment upon. I always knew that I wanted a clear focus and direction and to maintain an air of professionalism; I was keen to develop my writing style alongside sharing my love of cooking and creating. Having grown up in a food-loving family, the topic of food had always been close to my heart, but I had no real idea where I was going with it all in terms of starting a blog. In some ways, the best way of starting something new is to venture into the unknown. In other ways, it’s a more risky process to start something from scratch with no guidance. I signed up to a distance-learning course in Food Journalism, which confirmed that starting a blog was a good thing to do, as well as teaching me all about creating a brand, writing strong copy and finding new and modern ways of engaging with an audience. I moved my writing platform from Blogger to Word Press, eventually going self-hosted for greater control and I slowly learnt more and more about food and blogging, writing and taking photographs.

During the last three years, I’ve taken additional courses, such as an evening course in food styling and have attended numerous blog conferences, such as IFBC in Seattle, always with the aim of growing and learning. More recently, I’ve given talks and lectures on blogging and on getting published in magazines. I became a member of The Guild of Food Writers and I’m currently writing my first E book. The reason I continue to blog is because blogging is fun, immediate and fast-paced. Creating recipes is always thrilling and challenging, taking photographs of food has become a bit of an obsession, but the hours and hours of time spent dedicated to my blog and my recipe work have proved themselves to be worthwhile. I suppose if I were to look back to the start of my journey in 2010, I have come a long way and I’m living a life that I have created through blogging. My recipes and writing are now good enough to be published on sites away from my own blog and I’m lucky enough to get paid to do all the things that I love doing – cooking, writing and taking pictures. During this last year, I also left the name ‘Fabulicious Food!’ behind and created a business called Ren Behan Food, changing my blog name, too, to reflect a fresh chapter and a new period of self-employment.

As we await the arrival of our third baby in June, more changes are on the way, but somehow, I feel happy knowing that I have a place to come to and be creative for a while, when time allows. Hopefully, more opportunities will follow, too.

I’m just in the nick of time to share one final bit of news – my story is featured in the print edition of Woman and Home Magazine – the April 2014 edition, but very soon to be replaced by the May edition, so hurry if you want to buy a copy! It was a huge privilege to be contacted by features writer Nathalie Whittle, who approached me to take part in a feature on women who blog for “Fun, Fame & Fortune,” alongside fashion blogger Josephine Lalwan and travel blogger Heather Cowper. All three of us had experienced new adventures through blogging and were excited to share our stories. Twenty four weeks into my third pregnancy, I can tell you that the very last thing I expected to happen was to be whisked away to a shoot house, to be pampered, made up and styled for a feature, but nevertheless, this was an experience that will stay with me for a long time to come! Thank you for all the hugely positive comments so far on this piece – I hope you find a quick moment to grab a cuppa and have a flick through!

Although unintended, this post has been a chance to indulge, though I also hope that it reflects on how far we can go if we push ourselves and work hard. I’ve had the opportunity of working with some truly talented people who have helped turned my vision of a creative home on the web into a reality – from the early days of Fabulicious Food! and a blogsite created by Barney Thom, to badges, headers, site design and more by Violet Posy, Sharnee, Jo at Callia Web, friend and fellow blogger Regula Ysewijn aka Miss Foodwise. Most recently, I’ve worked with an amazingly talented lady called Shay Bocks, whose Foodie theme is taking the world by storm! It has been an incredible journey so far, I continue to learn something new every day and I am hugely grateful to all of my readers – old and new.

It’s time to put the kettle on again. Don’t forget to pop over to JamieOliver.com to read my latest post on Cooking for Mum this Mother’s Day.

I’ll also be back a little later with a new recipe for the weekend, too.

One final note, I have recently realised that my newsletter sign up form hasn’t been working very effectively – so there is a new box to add your address to for email updates on the right hand sidebar or along my footer. If you have already subscribed, it should let you know now, rather than duplicating.

Have a great weekend!

All links within this post are editorially given.

March 2, 2014

Blueberry and Vanilla Cheesecake Pancakes

I can’t believe we’ve almost hit Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day, on the foodie calendar. This means it’s very nearly time to start our Lenten fasts and use up all of the eggs, sugar and sweet things from our cupboards. Of course, it never really is the end of all the sweet stuff, but it’s a good occasion to mark, in any case. Now, I’m afraid I’ve been a bad blogger and haven’t posted any recipes very recently, so I’m hoping to appease you all with one of my very favoruite pancake recipes – Blueberry and Vanilla Cheesecake Pancakes – yes, it’s a (no-bake) cheesecake, in a pancake, and there is no better thing, trust me. The good folks over at ASDA challenged me to come up with something unusual and so I hope I met the challenge with these. Once you’ve made your vanilla cream cheese pancake filling, simply fill your pancakes with the filling adding almost any fruit, sprinkle over your cheesecake biscuit crumbs and a drizzle of maple syrup (or some fruity sauce) for good measure and you’ll experience something very special indeed.

To make my pancakes, I tried out Asda’s new mix-o-meter, which cleverly allows you to type in the number of people you are cooking for and the number of pancakes you’d like each. The mix-o-meter then works out the quantities of flour, eggs and milk that you’ll need. My pancakes turned out lovely and thin and crispy using this method, with just a little drizzle of oil in the pan for each one.

For even more Pancake Day inspiration, pop over to Asda’s website here where you’ll find some fun facts and tasty recipes.

Or, take a look at some of my other creations –

Polish Apple Pancakes (similar to American-style pancakes)

Creamy Chicken and Spinach (Savoury Dutch Pancakes)

Plus, come back later for my Rhubarb and Ginger Curd Pancakes!

Of course, you can guess what my four year old chose to pick up on our shopping trip….!

Happy Pancake Day for Tuesday!

Here’s my recipe:

Bluberry and Vanilla CheeseCake Pancakes-

3 votes

Blueberry and Vanilla Cheesecake Pancakes

Prep 20 mins

Total 20 mins

Author Ren Behan

Yield 8

Pancakes filled with a sweet vanilla cheesecake filling, and topped with blueberries and biscuit crumbs

Ingredients

8 thin pancakes or crepes
200g full fat cream cheese
150g Mascarpone Italian cheese
3 tbs icing sugar (plus extra for dusting)
100ml double cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
100g digestive biscuits, crushed to fine crumbs
3 tbsp melted butter
Blueberries or other fruit to fill

Instructions

Whisk together the cream cheese, Mascarpone cheese and icing sugar until well combined. Add in the double cream and vanilla extract and whisk again. Set to one side.
To make the cheesecake crumbs, stir the melted butter into the digestive crumbs - you should have a sandy mixture.
Heat the pancakes gently, then fill each pancake with a few spoonfuls of the cheesecake mixture. Sprinkle over some blueberries or other fresh fruit and then the sandy cheesecake biscuit crumbs. Fold each pancake over, dust with icing sugar and drizzle over some maple syrup or fruity sauce.

Courses Dessert

With many thanks to ASDA for the supermarket vouchers to enable me to shop for the ingredients and create this post. All ingredients were purchased at ASDA.

ASDA will be picking their favoruite recipe and the winner will receive a prize.

November 8, 2013

How to write and publish a recipe book – a course with Xanthe Clay

I wonder how many people out there dream of writing a cookery book?

Yesterday, I spent the day at Vanessa Kimbell’s Kitchen Garden School, Juniper and Rose, with Xanthe Clay, a guest tutor who had come to share her knowledge and advice with eight aspiring writers. The course, ‘How to write and publish a recipe book’ was a chance to learn and to absorb, to put our ideas out there. Sometimes, even saying something out loud or talking through an idea helps. A gentle push in the direction of where to start or what to do next can be the difference between dreaming and doing.

The day began with chocolate brownies (made by Rachel at Sugar Moon Brownies – a fellow attendee on the course) and tea or coffee. I arrived a little late, since I seem to have a perpetual problem with finding Vanessa’s house, although this seems to only ever happen to me. It’s always lovely to see Vanessa and to have now taken part in a class at her flourishing Kitchen Garden School, on a topic that is particularity close to her heart. Vanessa knows only too well of the trials and tribulations of writing a recipe book, which she documented on her blog whilst writing her debut book, Prepped. With her Kitchen Garden School and a new B&B now in full swing, Vanessa is moving onto her second book – a little wiser to the process, yet no less enthusiastic. In the fourth blog post I ever wrote here, back in November 2010, I shared my excitement at joining Team Prepped and being asked to test some of the recipes in Vanessa’s first book. It’s quite surreal (yet exciting) to fast-forward three years and to think that I might be ready to embark on a cookery book project myself.

The Contented Cook herself, Xanthe Clay, led the day with poise and grace. Before becoming a food writer, Xanthe worked as a book seller (in the cookery section) and later went onto train at Leiths School of Food of Wine, which led to a career as a chef. Xanthe’s big break came in 1999, when a friend encouraged her to approach The Telegraph. Xanthe secured a ‘Reader’s Recipe’ column and since that time, has been a solid Telegraph food contributor, with three published books under her belt, too.

Kitchen Garden — Xanthe Clay at Juniper and Rose

Xanthe talked about where to start and how to get started in food. The general advice being that any aspiring writer should start a food blog. A blog can act as a portfolio, helping you showcase your skills and build a platform. It can also help to find established publications to write for and to get published away from your own blog. Vanessa recounted how she contacted her local newspaper and asked to be their food writer. Beyond that, she also gained experience in broadcasting at her local BBC radio station.

Some additional advice on the subject of blogging, which I have to say I agree with more and more, is that if your ultimate ambition is to write a cookery book, steer clear from taking part in too many brand-led adventures. Although receiving samples and writing reviews can make it seem as though you are gaining something, in reality, you are giving away your time, in most cases, for very little in return. You have to be focused – use your blog as a professional portfolio of what you can do and what your have to offer the world of publishing.

We moved onto discuss what makes a good cookery book and how to come up with a good idea. Xanthe explained it’s really important to research the market to understand what sort of cookery books sell and what sort of trends are starting to emerge. Xanthe also talked about the varying structures of cookery books, looking at very old books with few photographs to modern, glossy examples, including her own most recent book published by Kyle Books.

There was further advice on how to go about finding an agent and a publisher, how to write a cookery book proposal and how to stand out from the crowd. And beyond the ground work, once an idea is successful, we heard more about the process of writing a book, planning, timing, testing recipes and launching the final product.

There was time to chat throughout the day and to ask plenty of questions. Xanthe and Vanessa prepared lunch – a stunning and incredibly tasty recipe for Chicken with Walnut Pesto and Pomegranate from Xanthe’s book The Contented Cook, as well as additional treats from Vanessa’s ever-productive kitchen, including a Panettone bread pudding for dessert.

My personal view is that investing some time and funds to take a course or a class with a known and established food writer is a very good way forward. You’ll come away with knowledge you didn’t have before and it can be an opportunity to gain some advice on your particular ideas or circumstances. Xanthe was very interested to hear all about our individual ideas and was genuinely supportive of our aspirations. She was incredibly generous with her advice and the day itself was well structured.

I hope you enjoyed the photographs and my experiences of the day at Juniper & Rose. I’m off to refine my proposal…

The cost of this course was £165, including coffee, tea and lunch with wine – I found it to be a particularly enjoyable and encouraging day.

As far as I know, there are no future recipe book writing courses scheduled at Juniper and Rose – but you can email Vanessa@JuniperandRose.co.uk if you would like to express an interest.

Toffee Apple Tarts, 3 years of blogging and a refresh!

At the bottom of our garden, we have an imposing Bramley apple tree, planted during the ‘Dig for Britain’ campaign during the second world war. Last year, British crops suffered and there were hardly any apples at all. This year, and following a good prune, we seem to have our apples back – big and shiny and rosy on the edge receiving sunlight. Since we also had an apple tree in our back garden growing up at home, apples conjure up comforting memories of cinnamon-spiked apple pies, cakes and crumbles. Apples can also be useful loot to swap for other homegrown produce. Since it’s Bonfire Night tonight, we’ve made some Toffee Apple Tarts and if time allows, a Spiced Toffee Apple Cake will also await lashings of custard. I’ve also written a post over at JamieOliver.com highlighting some other Bonfire Night treats you might like to try.

Blog Refresh

My blog has had a little refresh and you’ll have probably noticed a few changes. The main change is the installation of a new WordPress theme called Foodie, cleverly designed by Shay Bocks, offering some very neat features, such as updated coding and a customised home & recipe page with improved plugins and features. I still have quite a big job to do with my post categories, so over the next week or so, there may be a little maintenance going on. I have also had a refreshed header installed, which I think is fun – I love my bowl of seasonal plums. My existing logo and old header, designed by Miss Foodwise and husband Bruno, have been updated and will get an upgrade to Ren Behan Food – a new site (also under construction) which will become home to some examples of my freelance work.

Ren Behan Banner — New site coming soon!

3 Years of Blogging

I almost missed my blogging anniversary! As I began to type this post, I remembered that I published my first post, Hello World, on 2nd November 2010 – back then, my blog was called Fabulicious Food! Starting a blog and hitting publish placed me on the path of a great adventure. I’ve made so many friends as a consequence of starting this little food blog. I’ve also had opportunities to cook with and receive help, advice and words of wisdom from some of the people I most admire in the world of food. Perhaps as a result of sticking at something I love doing very much, I’m now settling into a freelance writing and recipe development career.

Things I’ve learnt along the way

I have learnt that it takes time to build a community and to build up new skills. Although I always loved to cook, I had no idea how to translate a love of food into recipe writing and I had only ever used a camera to take holiday and family shots. I’ve read lots of books and other blogs – including It Starts With Food by Diane Jacob and The Recipe Writer’s Handbook by Barbaba Gibbs Ostmann. I have also studied food magazines, taken courses, and have developed my own way of describing how to cook something or bake something.

Many bloggers expect to start blogging, generate attention and become a success overnight. I’d say, don’t expect readership to happen overnight. A blog will grown over time. Keep going and crucially, if you begin to value your time and your worth, you can turn blogging for fun into something more than a hobby. My best advice is to keep moving forward – don’t be afraid of change or of trying something new. Set yourself some targets, don’t just accept every offer that comes your way – analyse what you are being asked to do, to create, to write and then decide if it is worth it. If you decide to work with brands, be aware when commercial companies (who pay PR’s to contact you!) are trying to get something for nothing and don’t sell yourself short. Learn how to negotiate and very importantly, make an effort to understand some of the legal aspects of blogging. For example, always be honest and disclose to your readers whether you have received something for free or as an incentive to write about a certain topic or product. State clearly if you have been paid to feature a brand, a product, a recipe, a video, or have been asked to include links to specific pages. Blogging, both as a means of communication and an extension of social media is changing rapidly – make sure you keep up with any significant changes and always be aware that as a blogger you are ultimately an ‘influencer’ – tread carefully. That being said, the best and most successful blogs (in my view) are the ones written by people who truly love writing and communicating and who see blogging and tending to a blog as a creative process rather than a money-making scheme.

2 votes

Toffee Apple Tarts

Prep 15 mins

Cook 15 mins

Total 30 mins

Author Ren Behan

Yield 12

Easy to bake toffee apple tartlets using British Bramley apples

Ingredients

375g sweet shortcrust pastry (ready to roll is fine)
4 large cooking apples
50g butter
125g light soft brown sugar (plus extra for sprinkling)
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 tablespoon double cream (optional)
A little butter for greasing the tin
A sprinkle of flour for the pastry board

Instructions

Grease a 12-hole muffin tin with a small amount of butter. Sprinkle some flour onto a board and roll out the pastry. Cut out 12 circles of pastry and carefully place each disc into a hole in the tin and press down gently. Place the pastry-lined tin in the fridge whilst you make the apples.
Peel, core and dice the apples. Place them into a large pan. Add the butter, sugar and golden syrup cook for five minutes. Take off the heat and add the double cream, if using. Pour any excess toffee sauce into a cup so that the apples are just coated.
Take the pastry-lined tin out of the fridge and spoon some toffee coated apples into each tart. Sprinkle the apples with a little extra sugar. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and bubbling. Remove from the tin and serve whilst warm.

Courses Dessert

Cuisine British

What do you think makes a successful blog? I’d love to know your thoughts…

October 4, 2013

IFBC Seattle 2013 – Entrepreneurial Journalism with Mark Briggs – Post Three

It’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty of attending Foodista’s IFBC in Seattle – what did I actually learn and was it worth going?! I’ve already introduced my personal reasons for attending a blog conference all the way over in Seattle and have mentioned some of my first impressions on arrival, including the conference opening and inspirational keynote by Dorie Greenspan. During the rest of the conference, we attended either big group sessions, such as an Amazon.com Grocery live food blogging session (think speed dating but with food products!) or we could chose from a selection of break-out sessions, split into Technology, Writing or Tech or we ate!

I was hoping to wrap up the conference in three posts, but I can see there might be a few more on the way…!

Today, I’ve decided to re-cap one of the sessions I enjoyed the most on the first day of the conference, introducing the concept of Entrepreneurial Journalism, because I think there were some really useful nuggets of advice to be shared and I felt this session was perfectly pitched.

Writing: Entrepreneurial Journalism: Building Your Food Blog Business by Mark Briggs.

This writing session was hosted by Mark Briggs, the Director of Digital Media at KING Broadcasting, author of Entrepreneurial Journalism: How to Build What’s Next for News (UK link, non-affiliate) and co-creator of a new app called Fork. I had already read Mark’s book on my Kindle during the flight to Seattle (in between watching The Great Gatsby!) and I was so pleased I did, since it meant I was already familiar with some of the concepts that Mark mentioned during his session. The main themes were creativity, readership, audience and community and the challenges of knowing – “What is your value?”

First of all, Mark pointed out (and he wasn’t the only one to do so during the conference) that as food bloggers, we seriously undervalue ourselves. We need to be more confident in what we’re asking for and that we should push ourselves to blog with more definition and purpose.

Mark referred to a couple of quotes from Simon Sinek’s TED talk on How Great Leaders Inspire Action, throwing out some of the following questions –

What’s your purpose?
What’s your cause?
What’s your belief?
Why should anyone care?

People don’t buy what you do – it’s why you do it.

From the very start of the session, we were already being challenged to think about ‘why’ we blog and to think about the people who read our content. If you blog, ask yourself:

Why are you hoping that your readers become part of your community?

Based upon the idea that ‘Creativity is the new literacy’ by Chase Jarvis, Mark also advised us to work on our creativity and to constantly challenge ourselves to think about how we can be more creative.

Creativity is not something that will just happen – we need to work on it, daily.

This was a really interesting concept to me, because the reason I started my blog almost three years ago was to have a creative outlet. Having spent lots of time writing, featuring brands, taking millions of photographs, cooking and building an audience – in many ways, I have achieved what I set out to achieve; I do see my blog as my creative outlet, but it became clearer during this session that I need to become even more creative if I want to build upon what I already have.

Another thing that stayed with me was Mark’s advice to:

Be different. Not better.

Build Your Blog into a Business

Mark highlighted that there are many ways of making money from a blog and that it is possible to turn a blog into a business; for example, you could partner with ad networks or host directly sold ads, be sponsored or become a brand ambassador, set up affiliate links, write sponsored posts, seek out freelance commissions, teach cookery courses, charge for event appearances, create a product or write a cook book, to name a few ways. However, the real key is to create quality content whatever you do:

The better quality, the more influence you have and the better your business prospects.

My understanding was that when you do this, you shift from ‘hobby blogging’ into ‘entrepreneurial journalism’ and then as Mark said: “It’s business time!”

You’re not bloggers. You’re media companies.

If you do find yourself in this situation, then it’s time to re-define yourself – think about setting up as a sole proprietor or in the UK, a sole trader – if you haven’t done so already. Being a blogger is now a completely new business model.

Whatever the situation, you should always have a goal or a vision in mind. Define your mission, evaluate it regularly, ask yourself whether you are heading in the right direction and measure your progress. Here are two questions to keep in mind: “What’s my story?” and “What does my audience think?”

The world is a very malleable place. If you know what you want, and go for it with maximum energy and drive and passion, the world will often reconfigure itself around you much more quickly and easily than you would think – Marc Andreesson

Most bloggers also have the same issues – time. Time management is essential and Mark advised us to: “Make clear choices about what you spend your time on.”

Another angle to Mark’s strategy for food bloggers was to look for people within our own networks, maybe partners or collaborators, who we can work with creatively and “to leverage the cool/smart people in your life.” Perhaps think about making something or creating content that people want, quoting the Holstee Manifesto –

Life is about the people you meet and the things you create with them, so go out and start creating.

And the last bit of advice from Mark? Ask yourself some more questions:

What is the opportunity?
Where is the niche?
Where can a community be formed?

If you’re interested in reading some more of Mark’s ideas, he writes a great blog called Journalism 2.0. Mark’s conference post re-caps some of our Tweets, too and there is also a link to the presentation – Is it a Blog? Or a Business? here.

Bored of writing product reviews? Mark suggested watching ‘Review Wednesdays’ on Daily Grace on You Tube for her take on things!

Want to get noticed? Create some content for You Tube which has more than one billion monthly users.

Final tip – the use of mobile devices to read blog is mushrooming. Make sure your site is mobile responsive or create a mobile version using a site such as Duda Mobile, which will even let you create a logo to use on your home screen.

With thanks to Foodista and Zephyr Adventures for organising the conference. This trip was self-funded and all posts are completely free of any payment, commercial sponsorship or existing brand relationships.

This is post #3 of 3 – attendees were asked to write 3 posts as part of the$95 ticket deal – but there’s still more to come from me!

Post One – Food Blogging Stateside

Post Two – Arrival, Opening and Keynote by Dorie Greenspan

What’s your view on the new landscape in media created by blogging? Do you welcome ‘entrepreneurial journalism’ or should bloggers stick to hobby blogging?

September 25, 2013

IFBC Seattle 2013 – Food Blogging Stateside – Post One

Seattle and I have been friends for a very long time. Both the city itself and the luscious, green areas surrounding it, stretching out to the Olympic Mountains in the Pacific North West, hold a special place in my heart. Almost twenty years ago, my sister made a small city named Sequim, within Washington State, her home. Since then, I’ve flown into Seattle-Tacoma Airport many times, extending the journey downtown into Seattle, right by the iconic Pike Place Market, picking up the Washington State ferry across to Bainbridge Island and beyond. My first visit was as an adventure-seeking sixteen year-old, in the summer before I started Sixth Form College. I was instantly captivated by American life, there was so much space and everything seemed bigger and better. My sister and I made the most of every second we had together, knowing that the physical distance between us had become so great. I looked forward to going back again two years later before starting University. Almost ten years on from that first trip, I happened to sit next to a tall British man on the plane from London to Seattle, who would later become my husband. Fast-forward another ten years to the weekend just gone, and I find myself sitting on the place once more, but this time, as a food writer and blogger, with a ticket to attend a food, writing and technology conference called IFBC 2013 the International Food Blogger Conference. Whilst it’s probably fair to say that most bloggers wouldn’t make a 4,800-mile pilgrimage to a blogging conference, I had lots of reasons for wanting to make it there, including the chance to see my family. It was an opportunity that I simply couldn’t miss and it turned out to be one of the most valuable weekends of my food writing career so far, and the most memorable in terms of family-firsts!

IFBC was founded in Seattle in 2009, by a Seattle-based company called Foodista. It was hailed as a pioneering gathering of food bloggers and was the first of its kind in America; at a time when food bloggers were beginning to raise their game and were eager to find ways to make their food writing hobby into a career. In 2010, Zephyr Adventures joined in as conference organisers and in the following years, the conference moved around a little, to New Orleans, Santa Monica and Portland in 2012.

This year, ifbc was back with a bang in its hometown of Seattle, presented once again by Foodista and organised by Zephyr Adventures. With over 320 food blogging and writing attendees as a captive audience, the conference attracts some huge global brands, which this year included Amazon.com and Urbanspoon, alongside regional supporters such as Alaska Seafood and Pastry Smart, and international players such as Bordeaux Wines and Scottish-based LoSalt, amongst many others. I’ll be weaving in some stories about the brands and sponsors that I met at the conference in future posts.

It’s interesting to look back at the conference agenda in 2009, and to see that the sessions focused on blog etiquette, how to handle freebies, digital photography, food writing for publications, drafting book proposals, food styling and SEO. Whilst the themes were very similar five-years on, I got the sense that food blogging has become even more hard-core, with many hobby bloggers now settled well into bona-fida careers as food writers, cookbook authors and photographers.

On the flip-side, I also met some people from within the food profession, in many guises, including chefs, food authors and photographers, who had more recently taken up food blogging as an extension to an already successful career. The keynote speaker Dorie Greenspan (an amazing food writer who worked with Julia Child!) was a perfect example of this; her work began in traditional publishing, which she affectionately referred to as ‘old media’, but she now has an incredibly strong online media presence, making the transition into ‘new media’ with a blog, an active Twitter following and so on. Dorie’s strongest message focused on working hard and building a community, turning to the example of community groups, such as Tuesdays with Dorie and French Fridays with Dorie that have taken on a life of their own; fuelling her cookbook sales and on-going international success. Food Photographer for the New York Times, Andrew Scrivani, also very much works in the world of new media, defining himself as 80% business man, 20% artist, with an online presence and a blog functioning as an extension of his photography and a promotional tool. Again, there’s much more to come on learning from Dorie and Andrew in upcoming posts – they were both wonderful speakers and extremely generous with their advice.

The IFBC13 agenda was very tightly packed, and this year, the conference came complete with its very own smartphone ‘App’ designed by 47 Degrees, offering the schedule, speakers, sponsors and even social media tweets from in one handy portable package. Personally, I loved the ifbc App and referred to it many times during my stay at the conference host hotel, the very swanky and modern W Hotel in downtown Seattle.

Agenda highlights included a pre-conference excursion to Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery, an exclusive documentary pre-view, exhibition-sized food and gourmet fairs, including a Taste of Seattle dedicated entirely to conference attendees, a gift suit, highly-acclaimed speakers and many other break-out sessions focusing on Technology, Writing and Tech.

Some of the bloggers I met were taking part the conference for the fourth or fifth time, others, including myself, were ifbc first timers! There was also a very friendly (closed) Facebook group set up in advance of the conference so that people could start to introduce themselves, make connections as well as share blog posts and make plans for the weekend. After the conference the group was opened up and became ifbc Attendees & Alumni. The conference itself must have been pretty overwhelming, since I had a huge list of people from the Facebook group that I really wanted to meet, but never actually found. Other people were perhaps better at recognising avatars than I was, or possibly simply had a more water-tight blogger recognition plan! I did, however, meet some really wonderful people; my American food blogging counterparts, who all made me personally, feel incredibly welcome. “Oh, you’re the girl from London!” most exclaimed – as if to suggest that somehow I was a little bit crazy…!

Together, we ate, drank, chatted, networked, live-blogged, scribbled-down notes, Tweeted #ifbc or #IFBC13, took obsessive amounts of photographs. Above all, we learnt, we shared and we had so much fun.

I have lots more to write about so stay tuned for more of my Seattle-based adventures.

IFBC, Foodista, Zephyr logos and App screenshot taken from conference website.

This is post #1 of 3 – attendees were asked to write 3 posts as part of the$95 ticket deal.

You can find post #2 of 3 here – Arrival, Opening and Keynote by Dorie Greenspan

September 11, 2013

Food Blogger Connect #FBC5 and a second My Polish Kitchen Pop-Up!

It’s been a busy summer and this year, the one thing we can’t complain about is the weather. It’s been lovely and for once, we’ve been able to enjoy the great outdoors in flip flops, rather than in Wellies! North Wales provided us with lots of greenery, free-roaming farm animals and plenty of much-celebrated local produce. We also explored some of the New Forest in the South of England, with its wild horses and pretty villages. I’ve blogged much less often, though I’ve managed to keep up a weekly post over on JamieOliver.com. Despite the quietness on-line, off-line there were also one or two food events to get to – a blogger supper at Fifteen that I’ve already mentioned, a new kids app launch and a cooking workshop Raymond Blanc (lots more about that to follow) and a brilliant day out at The Big Feastival – also written-up here – with more photos to come. Firstly, though, a few words about Food Blogger Connect (#FBC5) which happened back in June.

Food Blogger Connect (FBC) is a conference, with speakers and workshops around the topic of food blogging, now in its fifth year. This summer it took place at The Battersea Arts Centre – a spacious and eclectic community building. This was my third FBC conference and in fact, my own Polish food pop-up adventures were, in part, inspired this year by some of the talks and speakers at last year’s #FBC12. In particular, I remember Sumayya Jamil’s talk on niche food blogging, which prompted me to start my niche Polish food blog. I also loved meeting The Russian Revels, who held a Russian pop-at #FBC12, inspiring me to come back myself this year with a Polish pop-up of my own at the StrEAT party. Since the weekend clashed with a pre-planned family party, I was only able to attend the very first day of FBC#5, but I did make the most of my time by giving a talk to over 150 food bloggers on ‘How to get Published in Magazines,’ as well as running my pop-up. This year was also special for conference founder Bethany Kehdy, who launched her debut cookbook The Jewelled Kitchen – with a much-talked about Arabian-inspired pop-up on the Saturday night.

My Polish Kitchen Pop-Up — (Me!) and my Polish food at the My Polish Kitchen pop-up

Attending FBC is always a great opportunity to catch up with some of my best food blogging friends from around the world – including this year meeting Sukaina from Sips and Spoonfuls and catching up with Sally from My Custard Pie – two ladies (both living and writing from Dubai) who I particularly admire in the blogging world. It was also good to meet Merlin Jobst from the JamieOliver.com team, Leyla Kazim from The Cutlery Chronicles, Jac from Tinned Tomatoes as well as seeing friends I’ve met before such as Kellie from Food to Glow, Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Heidi from Heidi Roberts Kitchen Talk. I enjoyed the keynote and other speeches by renowned author and blogger David Lebovitz, who I’d met once before on a trip to Cognac with Martel. I also got to share a little bit of my Polish food with Niamh Shields of Eat Like a Girl and with Fiona Beckett, who wrote three excellent posts including a post on What Motivates Food Bloggers? here.

After David’s welcome and humorous keynote, the conference moved onto a panel discussion with David Lebovitz, Niamh Shields and Emma Gardner entitled: “What does successful blogging mean, anyway?” All three panelists had very different experiences to share with unique views on how to grow your blog and engage with your audience. David’s advice was to enjoy the blogging journey and to not be afraid of sharing your vulnerabilities, perhaps documenting some of your ‘mishaps’ as well as your successes. David also said that bloggers should hold back from filling each post with a hundred photographs of the same dish, taken at slightly different angles, when one good photo will suffice! Interestingly, David also believes that although blogging itself is global, it’s very difficult to tap into an American audience if you are based in Europe and that therefore, we should concentrate on building our platforms more or less where we are based.

Having written her first book, Comfort and Spice in 2011, Niamh is now enjoying much more travel writing – a little later on she also spoke about her recent adventures in Canada. Award-winning blogger Emma at Poires au Chocolat, has, since 2009, balanced blogging with academia. She won ‘Food Blog of the Year’ at The Guild of Food Writers Awards in 2012, wrote a cookery book proposal, but then withdrew it, before returning to Oxford University. Emma now combines blogging with working in Switzerland and Oxford. Emma’s blog is single-focused and she writes in order to share her personal adventures in baking whilst developing her photography. She also adheres to a very strict policy of not taking up any commercial or brand-led opportunities, and carries no advertising on her site.

All three panellists agreed that successful blogging, in their view, was down to sheer hard work and consistency. There is no set formula to overnight success – in all three cases my impression was that all three take their blogging seriously. They work hard on developing a strong voice through compelling writing and are all near-obsessive when it comes to perfecting posts alongside meticulous recipe testing.

Next, I shared the floor with Karen from Lavender and Lovage, to offer some useful tips on making the transition from blogging to writing for external publications. We were both a little nervous, being only the second set of speakers, and having to follow David, Emma and Niamh who were excellent – but the audience was kind to us so thank you! All the slides from FBC#5 can be found here on slideshare.

There were plenty of other talks and workshops on the first day and of course, tons across the weekend as whole. You can read lots of other conference review posts here.

The FBC team had worked very hard to try and ensure that this year we were all offered a variety of talks and sessions, as well as lots of food and drink to sample during the weekend. Although I was quite busy setting up the My Polish Kitchen pop-up, I especially enjoyed meeting Selina Periampillai of Yummy Choo Eats (@YummyChooEats) who served up some traditional Mauritian street food. Street traders Pig a Chic (@pigachic) had completely sold out before I had a chance to get to them and at my table, my bigos and Polish flavoured vodkas seemed to go down very well, too. It was the first time that I’d fed people out on a street and with no kitchen facilities – as you can imagine, it was quite a challenge, but it was fun!

FBC is also growing and travelling to pastures new – this weekend saw FBC Lebanon and there is also a second ‘roaming workshop’ in Dubai coming up in October. The event in London next year – #FBC14 – will be taking place on 6^th-8^th June 2014, so if you are a blogger with a passion for making new friends and you would like to pick up some tips on topics from writing, to styling, to taking better food photographs, it’s worth making a note of the date and keeping an eye open for any early bird ticket offers.

With many thanks to the FBC team, particularly Bethany and Joslin Kehdy, for inviting to speak and to share my Polish food at the StrEAT party.

My blogging adventures are taking me Stateside very soon, which means I’ll get to compare a UK conference to a US conference – I look forward to sharing my experiences and the differences I notice with you when I get back!

Did you attend #FBC5 this year? What was your experience of it?

March 25, 2013

Easter News, a Refresh and a Cake Creation!

Easter weekend is almost here, which means it’s time to start thinking about feeding, baking, decorating eggs, making Easter baskets and hopefully, to finally welcoming some Spring sunshine! Easter can be a very special time, rich in symbolism; new life, re-birth, new activity, perhaps taking a break, a step back to breathe, taking the opportunity to spring clean, to move away from the old or to welcoming something new.

There has been lots going on behind the scenes for me, as usual, everything seems to have happened all at the same time. Lots of new and exciting writing work – you can read my first two posts on Cooking with Kids for Great British Chefs, starting with Easy Breakfasts Your Kids Can Help Make and Cooking with Different Generations. There’s more to come on the writing front, too.

New Blog Name & Logo!

You might also have noticed some changes on the blog – most obviously, Fabulicious Food! is no more. Instead, I have a lovely new header and blog name. I have ‘ummed and ahhed’ about changing my blog name for a while now and when I began working on a new logo with Regula (Miss Foodwise) who I met through Food Blogger Connect and her husband Bruno at The Tiny Red Factory, I decided that I wanted to be bold and have something new and completely different to the Fabulicious Food of old. Together, we came up with a brand new design, which I am really happy with. I hope you like it, too!

New Site – My Polish Kitchen

After even more umming and ahhing, I also decided to set up a new home for all of my Polish food and recipes over on a new site called My Polish Kitchen. For this bit, Shay Bocks helped me with the design of a new site and also found a cool way of linking My Polish Kitchen with this blog via a little widget on the right of the headers. I’ll be working on plenty of new content over Easter.

Finally, the very clever Jo at Callia Web helped me to tweak the colours back over here to make everything, overall, a little less pink! As you can imagine, the whole process has been quite interesting, with lots of going back and forth, but I think we are finally there now. There will be plenty happening here as well as on My Polish Kitchen, so stay tuned!

Cake Creation

In other exciting news, just before Christmas, my friend Michelle Becker from Pink Soul Photography and I made a short film about a cake, which to our surprise, was accepted by the first St Albans Film Festival. We featured some local ingredients, I stone-ground my own flour at Redbournbury Mill, and thanks to Michelle’s creative eye and editing, our little film called ‘Cake Creation’ was shortlisted and featured in the documentary category with a screening a couple of weeks ago. Congratulations Michelle! We can also finally share it with you all now.

Cake Creation for Vimeo from Michelle Becker on Vimeo.

There is plenty to come before Easter, baking and chocolates galore! Thank you so much for reading my blog, trying my recipes and for sharing your thoughts and comments with me.

We hope you enjoy the video!

December 13, 2012

Brunch: Swiss Scrambled Eggs, Croissants and Shakes

Believe it or not, this breakfast-brunch was not a hangover cure. We have been recovering from the winter flu bug and I’m trying to cram in as many vitamins and as much goodness into us all as possible. So, here are my Swiss Scrambled Eggs – a warmed all-butter croissant, filled to the brim with spinach, ham, Gruyère cheese and scrambled eggs. You could use cheddar, but then it wouldn’t be a Swiss Scramble. On the side, a shot of raspberry and oat, live yoghurt shake. I think that’s us feeling a whole lot better already.

Repair, restore, recover – that’s my theme today.

Swiss Scramble with Croissants

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon olive or rapeseed oil
50g ham or bacon, chopped
A handful of fresh spinach or about 5 frozen balls of spinach
4 eggs, lightly beaten
50g Gruyère cheese, grated
2 large croissants

Method:

If you are using frozen spinach, put it in a bowl and microwave it for a minute or so, until defrosted. Drain any excess water. Put it to one side.
Take a frying pan and add a teaspoon of oil. Add the ham or bacon to the pan and fry for a few minutes. If using bacon, make sure it is cooked and a bit crispy.
Add the spinach and stir into the ham/bacon. Add the beaten eggs and stir the eggs around the pan a little. Before the eggs are fully cooked, add the grated Gruyère cheese and mix until the eggs are scrambled/cooked to your liking.
Split the croissants in half lengthways. Heat for ten seconds in the microwave if you want them warm. Fill with the scrambled eggs and serve.

As an alternative, or for a treat, use smoked salmon in place of the ham/bacon.

Good Heavens!

A word about the shakes. No, not those kind of shakes. We’ve been trying some Good Morning breakfast drinking yogurts by Good Heavens! They are a great alternative to making your own smoothies if time is short, or if you’re sick, like we were. Little shots (125ml) of creamy yogurts at less than 100 calories per bottle. If you are five years old, then 100 calories in an otherwise pretty unadveturous diet is an extra hit. If you are me, and every 100 calories count, these drinks are creamy enough to taste indulgent, but are not off the scale. They are aimed at adults, but my kids liked the ‘Luscious Strawberry’ flavour the best, as it was smooth. I liked the ‘Raspberry, Oats and Honey’ flavour, they were quite tangy. I also like the fact they are made in a boutique dairy, yet you can pick them up fairly easily at the supermarket.

Hope you try the stuffed croissntas. On Christmas Day, I like to make these with smoked salmon, spinach and swiss cheese.

That’s Captain Barnacles trying to get in on the action. We’ll let him.

Sending this across to Helen’s Breakfast Club this month themed as ‘Brunch’ and hosted by Bangers and Mash.

With thanks to Good Heavens! for the drinking yoghurt samples. You can find the Good Heavens! dairy on Twitter @GoodHeavens1

November 2, 2012

Two Years of Blogging – Things I’ve Learnt Along the Way

I nearly missed it, but I realised earlier on this evening that it’s my blog’s second birthday!

Back in November 2010, when I started writing this blog at home as a hobby, I had no idea where it would take me. I knew that I enjoyed writing and that food was a topic I’d never tire of writing about. I hoped that my blog would be a creative outlet, a place to share some thoughts and recipes.

I’ve learnt that it definitely takes time to get settled in, to find a style, to write to a length that feels comfortable, to figure out what it is you want to write about. There’s certainly no harm in trying different things. There’s no set formula to blogging and there’s plenty of room for us all.

I know that many of my readers are bloggers, too, but if any of you don’t write a blog and are tempted to, I say, don’t hold back! Bloggers are demonstrating that they are a force to be reckoned with and new precedents are being set in the world of online publishing, writing and blogging every day.

About the same time as I starting this blog, I also started a Diploma in Food Journalism and over the summer, I finally finished it. Although there are many classes and courses to explore out there, this diploma gave me a really good insight into writing professionally. Modules focused on feature writing, interviewing, reviewing, writing press releases and touched on the legal elements of journalism. I couldn’t have asked for better support at home and also had a fantastic tutor in Jo Wiltshire.

My adventures in Polish food are also taking on a life of their own! As you may have noticed by some of my posts and recipes here, my Polish food heritage is something I love writing about. In August, Delicious Magazine published one of my Inheritance Recipes along with a recipe for Pierogi – Polish dumplings – Holly, a blogger in Scotland, even made them! I also took part recently in a shoot for a second feature, which should follow over Christmas and the New Year. I’ll keep you posted!

I have been asked why I don’t exclusively blog about Polish food and I suppose the answer is because there is just so much that I want to write about. However, at this year’s Food Blogger Connect, Sumayya who writes at ‘Pukka Paki’ gave a great talk on the topic of niche blogging. It’s something I’ve given lots of thought to, as well as regularly taking a step back to look at the content I write. Who knows? Maybe I’ll start a new blog soon to give my Polish recipes a place of their own.

I’d love to know what you all think about which direction I should go in.

By chance, I read a wonderful article yesterday called A Brief History of Food Blogs in America, and I suppose it made me realise that blogging is a creative journey and that often, when you start a blog, you end up in a completely different place from the place you started!

If I had to summarise, after two years of writing this blog, here’s what else I’ve learnt so far:

Pick a blog name you’re happy with….this still bothers me!
Put forward ideas yourself instead of waiting to be found or approached.
Trust your instincts and make judgement calls – learn how to value your time and don’t sell yourself short.
Don’t be afraid to turn things down if they don’t fit in with your blog purpose (more on this to come!)
Remember that as a blogger, you are your own editor. This means that you can write about what you want to write about, but my own view is that it will help you in the long run to have some boundaries and ethics in place, too.
Read as much as you can. Keep on top of what’s out there. Find a mentor or someone who inspires you and be open to ideas or even criticism.
Have something new to say – it is very easy (and I have done it plenty of times myself) to follow the crowd, but in order to really stand out it is worth taking a risk sometimes; push yourself, go against the current and try something new.
Read this book and accompanying blog – Will Write For Food by Dianne Jacob – it really is the best book out there on food writing. I read it before I started blogging and regularly refer back to back it. It has even helped me shape my first cookery book proposal…

For now, I’m going to carry on as I always have. Sharing recipes as they happen, writing about things that might be useful to my readers or that inspire me and enjoying more of the community spirit that writing a blog generates.

Simple and Season will be back home this month – thank you to all my recent hosts including Urvashi, Laura, Fleur, Katie and Nazima (as well as Solange and Clare for Family Friendly Fridays) for doing such a wonderful job of welcoming new participants as well as those of you who have been staunch supporters from the start.

Rather than a recipe this year, I had to share a quote that really inspired me recently, via the exceptionally talented Fiona Humberstone at The Flourish Studios on a recent branding masterclass.

Original quote from a speech by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Thank YOU all for your support, encouragement, thoughtful comments and friendship. Here’s to many more posts and recipes!

March 22, 2012

An Interview with Sarah Cook from BBC Good Food Magazine and Top Tips for Food Styling

Yesterday, I wrote about the Food Styling course I took at Leiths School of Food and Wine with Sarah Cook from BBC Good Food Magazine. There were lots of lovely comments (thank you!) including a link to another lovely student’s Blueberry and Vanilla Cake, which is very much worth checking out.

Following the course, I was able to have a chat with Sarah about her journey into Food Styling, as well as picking out some of the ‘top tips’ I gleaned from the course for budding food bloggers wanting to improve their skills.

There are lots of routes into Food Styling, but Sarah styled her first recipe about five years ago, jumping right in at the deep end after taking a Professional Food Diploma at Leiths School of Food and Wine.

“I won a six-month internship at Good Food Magazine after taking a course at Leiths, so now that I am teaching there I have come full circle! I think the best and easiest way to start is by styling your own recipes because you have a very clear vision of how you want them to look when you write them. It’s also a great way to build confidence before you begin styling anyone’s and everything!”

As to the qualifications and skills required of a Food Stylist, Sarah is Leiths qualified. Having said that, not everyone has a chef’s background, but it is helpful:

“If a recipe suddenly fails on a shoot I hopefully have the skills and know-how to put it right… Say the loaf cake has a sunken middle? Probably too much raising agent. If you’re a really competent home cook, then at the least I’d probably suggest a short baking course, because that’s generally the more sciency bit to put things right! And a good eye, an artistic flair – it’s the perfect job if you’re creative and you’re a foodie, you get to combine both bits! I would say that the key attributes for a Food Stylist are to be a good cook and baker, organised, a team player, artistic, versatile and calm!”

Although Food Styling and editing sound like the ultimate fun job, Sarah finds that there are challenges:

“Working mainly editorially (for a magazine) the hardest parts are shopping and shooting out of season. I spent this week arranging cakes for a Jubilee street party feature on a freezing, rainy day! By August I’ll be steaming puddings, with all the ovens raging, and trying to find nice looking Brussels Sprouts when most people are eating berries and barbecuing their dinner!”

There are, however, plenty of perks and highlights of being a Food Stylist:

“I’m biased because I think I pretty much have the best job in the world. Every day I get to be creative with food, try great recipes, explore great shops and work with lots of different, but equally passionate people. It is hard work, the days are long and you’re on your feet from 9am till 6pm, but it’s definitely worth it.”

I was also keen to ask Sarah about her ‘rise to the top’ at BBC Good Food Magazine and how her role differs now that she is also Deputy Food Editor:

“Now I’m working for one magazine, I spend more of my time planning what I want to put in each issue, writing recipes, editing other people’s recipes and briefing and organising shoots. The cover is my baby too, which is probably the most important food picture in each issue, so that’s an exciting (and nerve-wracking!) job each month. As we’re monthly, our working months are quite cyclic too…2-3 weeks of frantic writing and testing, then 2-3 weeks of shooting features.”

The big question – is Sarah beginning to see more food bloggers interested in a career in Food Styling?

“Lots more! Most bloggers I know are happy doing what they’re doing but looking for tips to step-up their skills. For those who are looking to become a food stylist, I would say try to assist as many different stylists as you can – I’m still picking up new things when I work with someone different for the first time. Offer yourself for free and always remember to take a pinny!”

Top Tips for Food Stying

Keep an eye out for food trends and develop a more critical eye. For example, look at some of the different styles within magazine, websites and other blogs – Donna Hay always styles her food in a very bright, fresh and simple way with blue or white backgrounds and simple crockery. Other styles include shabby chic, using vintage kitchenalia, or old-fashioned props. Some shots are taken against a darker background and are more intense. Other shots are minimalist, for example, shot against white wood with only white plates. Summer features are more outdoorsy, depicting a desire perhaps for healthy eating, natural and organic produce

Start a Food Stylists tool-kit including knives, spatulas, palette knives, brushes, measuring spoons, piping bags/nozzles, small scales, timers, tongs and thermometers, rolling pins, sieves, skewers, straws, funnels, blow torch etc.

Don’t use the same plate for every photo you take, pick up mis-matched crockery from charity shops and vintage fairs.

Keep a list of where to buy out-of-season produce and more unusual items, such as micro herbs, banana leaves, courgette flowers…

Try and assist on a food shoot to pick up practical and first-hand styling tips.

Thank you Sarah for the extra interview and words of wisdom!

January 11, 2012

Food Trends 2012 and a Pressure Cooking Guest Post by Laura Pazzaglia‏

I’ve always been interested in reading about food trends and already this year, many blogs as well as magazines have been a great source of trend-predicting. I’m happy to hear that our obsession with baking is set to carry on enthusiastically. Nordic food will continue to influence our cooking and although Peruvian food is said to be the next big thing, food from countries such as Russia and Estonia will also start to hit our culinary radars. Sharing plates and smaller selections of food, such as tapas, are gaining momentum and we are all intending to eat less meat and more vegetables and grains. Many of us (myself included I hope) will also be encouraged to grow weird and wonderful food in our own gardens. Interestingly, slow cooking as well as pressure cooking are making big comebacks too.

Crema Catalana – Cooked in a Pressure Cooker using the Bain Marie method

(photograph by Laura Pazzaglia of Hip Pressure Cooking)

I haven’t quite been able to decide whether I prefer slow cooking or pressure cooking as the best way of getting easy, one-pot suppers on the table. I have tried both in order to maximize time and since I don’t like leaving appliances on when I leave the house, for example as some people do a slow cooker, I am probably more likely to pressure cook to save time. So, I was really pleased to stumble across a great blog, packed with recipes and pressure cooking tips, called Hip Pressure Cooking by Laura Pazzaglia. I was really stunned by the variety of recipes that I could be cooking using my pressure cooker and I’m determined to give some of them a go.

Laura has very kindly written a guest post for my Fabulicious Food! readers (loving the ‘Fabutricious’ angle!) and has shared a couple of great recipes to introduce us to pressure cooking. Come back tomorrow for Laura’s recipe for Crema Catalana (shown above) and on Friday, I hope you’ll join me for Laura’s very easy family-friendly recipe for Casarecce ai Spinaci – Pasta with Spinach “pesto” (below) using the Boiling Method.

I hope you enjoy reading Laura’s post and that you are encouraged to try pressure cooking for yourself!

Pressure Cooking KEEPS your food Fabutricious! By Laura Pazzaglia‏

Pressure cookers have been vilified first for their lack of safety, then ridiculed for their crocheting granny recipes. Now, new redundant safety mechanisms make them safer than ever. They can cook more than just roasts, soups and beans because… you already know that these come out tasty, tender and delicious from the pressure cooker, right?!?

A pressure cooker is a normal high-quality stainless steel pan with a fancy top which seals shut at the beginning of cooking and traps vapor inside allowing the pressure to build and internal temperature to rise higher than what can be achieved with conventional cooking – resulting in faster cooking, more intense flavour, and better preserved vitamins and minerals. They’re green too, because they use 70% less energy and cook for less time than regular cookware.

Technology has made modern pressure cookers safer, faster than ever and quieter than ever- no more whistling, shhshing or unexpected bursts of vapor while under pressure.

How Much Faster? How about…

Soaked chickpeas ready in 33* minutes vs. 3 hours (or more) of simmering

Roasts ready in 30* minutes vs. 2 hours in the oven.
Pasta and Sauce cooked together, with al dente results ready in the time it would take to get a pot of hot water to boil.
Almost any veggie steamed to perfection with just 5 minutes or less under pressure.
A steamed pudding is fully cooked and moist in only an hour instead of three.

*Cooking times include time to pressure and open – in other words, from start to finish!

Why is Pressure Cooking Fabutricious?

Pressure cooking prevents the oxidation of veggies, using the steamer basket preserves the water-soluble vitamins, the sealed top keep the vitamins from evaporating away, and the quick cooking helps to retain more minerals that could be destroyed by longer cooking times. The result will be more flavour, more color and a retention of up to 95% of vitamins and minerals (vs. regular cooking, which only retains about 40%).

So What Can it Do?

You can use a pressure cooker to cook vegetables, meat, fruits, fish, dessert, grains and it is famous for how quickly it can cook beans! A pressure cooker will let you cook in the following ways:

• Brown – this is the first step in many recipes, like risotto, and can be done before the lid is placed and pressure cooking begins, or after it is removed.
• Boil – just add enough water to cover the food by half.
• Steam – insert the accessory, or a metal-foldable steaming basket with 1 cup of water.
• Braise – brown the food in the pan, and then add 1/2 a cup or less of liquid (wine, milk, broth, water).
• Stew – throw everything in, cover with liquid, and close the top.
• Steam Roast – place the meat and vegetables suspended with rack, trivet or steamer basket with just 1-2 cups of cooking liquid.
• Reduce – after the lid is removed, cook on high flame to reduce liquids if desired.
• Water Bath (Bain Marie)– place a heat-resistant bowl (ceramic, Pyrex, stainless steel), covered in aluminum foil on steamer basket inside pressure cooker with 1 cup of water on the bottom.
• Perfectly Cooked Rice – add the correct proportion of rice to water, bring to pressure and turn off the pressure cooker. The residual heat and vapor will cook the rice perfectly.
• Extract Juice – place fruit in steamer basket with container underneath.

Teach me!

If you already have a pressure cooker but are a little scared to use it, I’ll hold your hand and walk you through it. I have developed a series of recipes in a chapter called Hip Beginner Basics that will teach you all of the common pressure cooking techniques and accessories (most of which you may already have in your kitchen).

Pressure Cooked Spinach with Pasta by Laura Pazzaglia at Hip Pressure Cooking

Come back tomorrow and Friday for two fantastic and easy recipes from Laura!

Photographs and recipes are the property of hippressurecooking.com and re-published with permission.

Many thanks to Laura for the top tips so far and recipes to follow!

So, what’s the verdict? Have you tried pressure cooking or are you in the slow cook camp? Have you spotted any interesting food trend predictions yet this year?

December 17, 2011

Chocolate Snowflakes and Fairy Cakes

I love following food blogs and one of the very best things about the explosion of food blogging is the wealth of inspiration from all over the world, with individual perspectives, styles and ideas. Whilst I don’t usually use or buy silcone baking moulds, when I saw these peppermint snowflake chocolates on one of my favourite American blogs, Baked by Rachel, I had to try making them. This is definitely a recipe and a task to bookmark for next year, as these chocolates would make beautiful gifts and there are endless variations and possibilities.

I made these at my friend Jessica’s house and we made the peppermint bark to Rachel’s recipe (she has step-by-step photos on an older post here), but then experimented by adding orange oil to plain chocolate and sprinkling a few hazelnuts over the top. By just making one layer, they obviously turn out thinner too. Dark chocolate and pistachio would work well and perhaps white chocolate with rose petals or lavender flecks too. They came out of the moulds really easily and they tasted delicious!

I managed to find my ‘snowflake silicone mold tray’ on Amazon.co.uk but I am sure you could find them in many independent cookery shops, particularly at this time of the year.

I also made little chocolate cupcakes in the moulds too, which made the perfect after-school snack for the kids. If you have some silicone moulds handy, you might even have time to try making these yourselves before Christmas. Let me know if you do!

Today I’m looking forward to being a guest again on Nick Coffer’s Weekend Kitchen where I will be talking about a traditional Polish Christmas, with wild mushroom soup, pierogi (filled dumplings) and a baked Polish cheesecake. Tune in or listen on iplayer if you can!

September 17, 2011

What’s in a name? Asking for a little help from my friends!

When I first started blogging in November 2010 I was very certain that I wanted to write about food and some of the most enjoyable aspects of blogging, for me, have been the constant learning and the fact that a blog evolves.

I have definitely reached the end of the road with my blogging platform Blogger. It has served me tremendously well, but it is a tiny bit limiting. It’s annoying to find great plug-ins and features that don’t work on my blog as it is, and so, a move across to WordPress is inevitable.

To my surprise, you can’t just click a button and watch everything move across. In fact, it’s a little bit more like moving house. And I’ve got the packers in to help me. I’m working with the wonderful Violet Posy Design because I love the look of some of the blogs and websites that Liz has created for other people and she also has the technical know-how to move me across.

Now to the name. What’s in a name? Well, to me, the name of a blog is really quite important. I hear many people say that “Content is King” and that is true too. At Food Blogger Connect were were given advice about building ‘Community, Content and Conversation’ and that too, is something that evolves. But the name is important too.

I’m a firm believer that change is a good thing, after all, “If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies,” right? So, my move across will bring some changes, but hopefully none of them too drastic!

Apart from my blog name. Changing that would be very drastic, but for some reason I am tormented and something is not quite sitting comfortably.

I looked back at the first three blog names I registered –

Beetroot & Dill – This one reflected my Polish heritage and the fact that Poles eat a lot of Beetroot and Dill. I happen to love both, my husband hates both. These were the flavours of my childhood. Beetroot soup and dill, in everything. Would this name have meant limiting myself to savoury, Polish food?

Cinnamon & Cocoa – These are two of my favourite sweet flavours. I couldn’t live without chocolate and I often use cinnamon both in sweet and savoury cooking to add depth of flavour. Would this name have been limiting myself to sweet food?

The Finer Diner – reflecting my love of food and the finer things in life. I decided against it as it probably sounded a bit poncy.

So, how the hell did I come up with Fabulicious Food? I think ‘Fabulicious’ was a term my little boy once used in relation to something I cooked. He’s never used that term since.

So, dear readers, I need your help. You’ll see a little poll at the top right of the blog, or you can leave comments in the box.

If I were to change my blog name, I would probably change it to Simple and in Season -although this is the name of my blog event and I would certainly keep that running. I love the fact that so many of you are linking up and sharing your creations. But I like Simple and in Season both as a title and as a concept and it would certainly reflect the kind of food I like to cook.

Would this be one step too far? One change too many? Should I stick with Fabulicious Food?

In the style of a very popular gameshow – I would like to ask the audience. I am losing too much sleep! Please help!

I’m leaving you with an image of a cupcake, as it’s still National Cupcake Week. These are Vanessa Kimbell’s Chocolate, Vanilla & Black Pepper Cupcakes – they were awesome and one of my favourite flavour combinations of the year – try them! I tested the recipe for these cucpakes for Vanessa’s wonderful book Prepped! and funnily enough, they combine beetroot with chocolate!

August 15, 2011

A Few Highlights from Food Blogger Connect 2011

This weekend I attended Food Blogger Connect, which is Europe’s first and biggest food blogging conference held in London.

I had no idea what to expect, since it was the first event of this kind that I’ve attended as a food blogger. All I did know was that as soon as I saw the event advertised I booked my ticket and put the event firmly in my diary to go!

The programme for the weekend was impressive from the start and as the event drew nearer, more and more big names of the foodie world were lined up to speak or hold workshops and the buzz started to grow within the food blogging community – globally!

Two things I definitely didn’t expect was to win a refund on my ticket just a couple of days before, courtesy of one of the event’s main sponsors Olives from Spain. Thank you so much for my pass! Olives from Spain were really generous, giving away four weekend passes on Twitter and further supplying us all with mountains of delicious Spanish olives throughout the weekend. I think we were all, almost constantly, nibbling. I have a couple of recipes to share too, from Olives from Spain, and will be posting about them a little more in the coming days.

(Yummy brunch and Olives from Spain demo!)

Secondly, I didn’t expect to meet so many food bloggers from all over the world – I had assumed that mainly UK food bloggers would attend, yet many had travelled from Europe, including Belgium, the Netherlands and Hungary, as well as even further afield from the United Arab Emirates.

Twitter was totally hijacked by the #FBC11 hash-tag as we tweeted our way through the best-bits of the programme and even tweeted eachother in the same room to try and put names to faces!

(Gretchen, Sally, Zita and Guilia)

One of the main guest speakers even came all the way from Florida. Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen shared all her tips on how she successfully turned her food blog into a business. She now speaks internationally all about her work as a blogger, recipe writer, TV food presenter, weekly columnist and cookery book author (with two children and only working three hours a day!)

Other international speakers connected with us over Skype and it was hugely exciting, for me in particular, to have the opportunity of meeting some of our home-grown experts and journalists, such as Fiona Beckett of The Guardian. Journalist and Broadcaster Tim Hayward of Fire and Knives and Alex Mead of Food and Travel Magazine also gave talks on the Friday evening, which I was sad to have to miss.

We also watched a recipe demonstration by chef and food writer Anjum Anand, who made a really delicious carpaccio of courgette, from her forthcoming book on vegetarian Indian cookery. ‘Up-and-coming’ chef Caroline Mili Artiss also partnered up with sponsors Cuisinart and Olives from Spain to show us how to make her version of a spicy black olive tapende.

(Anjum Anand and Caroline Mili Artiss)

The whole weekend was extremely varied in content and there were many highlights. It’s almost too hard to pick my favourite bits as all of it was hugely relevant, informative and memorable…but I’ll try!

My Pick of the Best Bits

I was really taken by Fiona Beckett’s workshop on Writing Style. It was perhaps particularly relevant for me, as Fiona told us that she had a mid-life career change from politics, becoming a journalist and food writer by taking a Post-Graduate Diploma in Journalism. Fiona started out her career in food writing by getting a position on a features desk and after this, started to freelance. She stumbled into blogging more recently, as a published cookery book author and as a regular food feature writer for British print publications. She now writes no less than four separate food blogs each highlighting a different foodie interest!

Fiona is a real champion of new talent, having collaborated with Signe Johansen and James Ramsden in their ‘student days’ of food writing, believing also that “Blogging has brought fresh voices to the food world and are a breath of fresh air.” Fiona also talked about the differences between blogging and writing for print media, which she has followed-up with a post about on ‘How to Blog like a Journalist’ on her own blog Food and Wine Finds which is well worth a read…

Other essential points made by Fiona included having to be more thorough in your research as a journalist, being more critical and impartial, the importance of observing what is going on, finding your voice as a writer (and how this can be different in a blog post to the voice you have in a print piece) as well as advising us to step back from our blogs sometimes to really think about how to add value to a post. What is it that our readers really want to know?

(Answers in the comments box, please!)

Fiona also spoke about how to craft a feature from a blog post, how to find an interesting angle on a particular topic and how to really grab your audience in a piece. She went on to talk about good recipe writing, or “Delia’s Law” as she calls it, as well as giving tips on writing restaurant reviews, book reviews and how to build up contacts as a journalist. All in all, I thought that Fiona’s advice was down-to-earth, generous and perfectly timed for my own recent adventures in food writing!

Almost in complete contrast to Fiona’s advice on traditional avenues and methods of food writing, were three separate workshops presented by Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen who talked in depth about how to turn your blog into a business and specifically, how to build traffic, community and how to monetize your on-line blogging journey. Her own real-life examples of how she turned a simple food blog into one of America’s leading business-blog sites was nothing short of staggering and yet in a strange way, believable and inspiring all at the same time.

I’m quite sure that we all came away from Jaden’s presentations feeling as though we could drive millions of visitors to our sites, bring in revenue from affiliate programmes and advertising and once we’ve expanded our social media platforms, visibility and brand even land our very own book deals! How realistic this is remains to be seen, although on the plus side, Jaden believes that British/European bloggers are about three years behind America so we have plenty of time to watch and learn.

One of Jaden’s essential pieces of advice to all bloggers is to hire a graphic designer and get a professional logo. I’d say her second most valuable point for us all was to work out our own personal value and worth and really think about the opportunities that come our way, including what we write about and how it helps us, rather than how many bloggers all-to-often help to promote big-name companies for very little or even for free.

We also listened intently to Nando Cuca from Cuca Brazuca who was in his own personal element having an audience of women captivated by his advice on SEO! He also talked about generating traffic by adding plenty of keywords, tags and categories and later on hosted a workshop on the future of blogging. In Nando’s experience, video blogging is relatively straightforward and adds value to your content adding the extra dimension of auditory stimulation. Nando was extremely entertaining as well as knowledgeable, encouraging us all, I’m sure, to give it a go! Look out for plenty more ‘You Tube’ channels being added to the food blogging world!

I think another personal highlight for me was taking part in a food photography workshop by Béatrice Peltre of La Tartine Gourmande, which, apart from anything else, was a unique opportunity to watch a truly creative professional at work. I am hoping to write a separate piece on this workshop for The Foodie Bugle because it really was remarkable and was certainly one of the most enjoyable parts of the whole weekend for me. I now have an expensive ‘wish-list’ of camera equipment to buy and so may well need to put some of Jaden’s advice into practice!

(Béatrice Peltre)

Above and beyond all of this was having the opportunity of meeting so many other like-minded and equally ‘passionate’ food bloggers (a word we were told not to use as often as we all do!) The community atmosphere was so strong, with everyone eager to make friends with each other and share their own individual experiences of food blogging. In a world where so many of us now increasingly interact socially over the web without ever meeting face-to-face Food Blogger Connect provided the perfect home for us all to finally meet to nibble, natter and network in the real world.

It was such a pleasure to meet all my fellow foodies and already, I await next year’s conference (already set for 22nd-24th June 2012) with eager anticipation.

(Christina, Judith, myself and Helen)

The Bountiful Plate
Mostly About Chocolate
Fuss Free Flavours

Thank you so much to Bethany Kehdy of Dirty Kitchen Secrets (the founder of Food Blogger Connect) and to Joslin Souza for putting together such a remarkable weekend for us all at The Hempel Hotel and to all of the brand partners.

(Bethany, Mayssam, Nando, Joslin and Caroline)

Olives from Spain anyone..?!

July 9, 2011

My 100th Post & Top 10 Blogging Tips

As I sat down this week to try and bring some kind of order to upcoming blog posts, I noticed that this particular post will be my 100th post! In some ways, it feels as though I have been blogging forever and in other ways it feels as though my blog is still very young and has lots of growing to do…

Starting a blog has certainly been a steep learning curve but never a chore – a sign, hopefully, that I made a good choice when it came to deciding to write about food.

A couple of people have recently mentioned to me that they are thinking of starting a blog but don’t know how or where to start. So, this has prompted me to share my Top 10 Blogging Tips with you –

Chose your subject carefully – there are millions of blogs out there, pick a category such as gastronomy, parenting, crafts, fashion etc and make sure you are really passionate about whatever you are going to write about (See Wikio Top Blogs for an idea of what’s out there) Some blogs include a mixture of categories and this is fine too as long as you have enough to write about.

Do try and think of a niche or a particular angle within your category to have more chance of standing out but don’t narrow yourself down too much at the start. Blogging is a creative process and your blog will evolve.

Think about who you are writing for. So, in the case of a food blog, are you writing for mums, parents, food-lovers, those who are apprehensive about cooking? Are you writing with a particular nutritional angle in mind? Do you particularly like baking or is there a particular challenge you’d like to set yourself?

Chose a platform – Blogger and WordPress offer free publishing platforms and a choice of designs/templates and tend to be the most popular. Once you have a platform/blog up and running you can add ‘widgets’ fairly easily to encourage followers and highlight your most popular posts etc

Think of a blog name and check it is available through your chosen blogging platform. Consider buying a domain name to make it easier for people to find you and to make it easier to move if you need to.

Connect with people through Social Media e.g though Facebook and Twitter. Read and comment on other blogs to generate community spirit (this can take as much time as actual blogging!)

Consider how much time you want to dedicate to blogging and when you will blog – try and stick to it otherwise blogging can quickly take over your life!

Don’t rush posts just to get them out, it is always better to save a draft and come back to it later when you have time.

A blog ‘grows’ – the more you write, the more your writing and content will improve and more people will start reading it and following it. Don’t get too bogged down with statistics and rankings.

Join groups and associations to get help, feedback and your first few readers (outside your immediate family!) and join in with blog events as this is a great way to stumble across other blogs, gain readers and inspiration for blog posts. The UK Food Bloggers Association is great for food bloggers and British Mummy Bloggers and The Netmums Blogging Network are both good places to start for parent bloggers.

Many people ask how you make money from writing a blog. The short answer is – you don’t, unless it is linked in some way to your business in which case you are attracting readers as well as potential customers. A few pennies can trickle though from advertising if you want to go down that route and of course, there are some perks if you are lucky enough to get sent products to review. You can get paid to write posts for commercial sites, but you’d obviously have to be a good writer first. You may also be able to attract freelance writing work or perhaps recipe development but there is huge competition for such work.

Yes, blogging can lead to bigger and better things, but book deals and career changes purely through blogging happen to the few rather than the many. Don’t let that stop you though – anything is possible if you put your mind to it! I have met many people along the way even in the last six months who have had some brilliant opportunities through blogging, including book deals and paid posts.

The best book I read before I started my blog was a book called Will Write For Food. Published by Da Capo Press, it is written by an American author, Dianne Jacob, who knows just about everything there is to know about successful food writing. I found this book to be invaluable when thinking about writing about food and it is still my number one resource. It is the kind of book you’ll want to read armed with a highlighter pen as there is so much useful information inside and of course, you can never find the right bit when you need it.

Dianne’s book has recently been revised and includes up-to-date advice on writing a blog, a cookery book proposal, a food memoir, how to write reviews, how to develop recipes and much more. Dianne also quotes and shares input from well known food writers and bloggers, such as David Lebovitz, who also writes the forward.

A very handy line from the book:

“If you’d like to blog as a hobby or write articles for fun, you’re in good shape. “A day job and a rich husband helps,” one agent advised me.”

That kind of sums up my point about making money from it! However, the book is simply crammed with top tips for writing about food, whether you are considering it professionally or just for fun, with an easy-to-read and informative style;

“At this point you’re probably thinking “Why should anyone care about what I have to say?” Good question, and it is a valid one. If all you want to do is document what you ate, probably few people will. Your job is to make readers care. Food blogging is about more than your performance in the kitchen or a list of dishes you ate in a restaurant. Instead, develop your storytelling skills so readers keep coming back.”

Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Blogs, Reviews, Memoir, and More

The very best advice I can offer came through my friend Jessica Chivers at her recent book launch – “You don’t have to get it right, you just have to get it going” – which I think sums it all up quite nicely.

Most of all, blog because you enjoy it! One of the very best things is not having a deadline or pressure on you to write, you write when you want to and when you are inspired to. I am encouraged to write because it is a lovely way of connecting with the world, it’s kind of nice to know that someone is reading and perhaps picking up a few tips or recipes to try along the way.

So, thank you for reading my blog and for encouraging me to write more, keep going and reach my 100th post with so much enjoyment!

If you have a blog, why do you write and what do you get from it? What made you start?

Blogging Tips and Know How

Blueberry and Vanilla Cheesecake Pancakes

Ingredients

Instructions

Blog Refresh

3 Years of Blogging

Things I’ve learnt along the way

Toffee Apple Tarts

Ingredients

Instructions

Writing: Entrepreneurial Journalism: Building Your Food Blog Business by Mark Briggs.

What’s your view on the new landscape in media created by blogging? Do you welcome ‘entrepreneurial journalism’ or should bloggers stick to hobby blogging?

Did you attend #FBC5 this year? What was your experience of it?

New Blog Name & Logo!

New Site – My Polish Kitchen

Cake Creation

Good Heavens!

Thank YOU all for your support, encouragement, thoughtful comments and friendship. Here’s to many more posts and recipes!

Pressure Cooking KEEPS your food Fabutricious! By Laura Pazzaglia‏

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