Over the past two years, I have learned quite a deal about blogging. I was hoping to share what I have learned with you today!:
And Two!: The second thing I have learned is that you are only going to get better by trying and by practicing. This is not limited to cooking solely. By consistently logging onto your blog and clicking on the "New Post" link, you are already bettering your skills!
Thirdly: BEE YOURSELF. Honestly. I cannot stress this enough. People are not intrigued by flavorless posts (All food-related puns intended). Don't be afraid to have fun and show some of your awesome personality. The reason you have friends is not because you are dull. People are attracted to you because of your great personality. Blogging is no different. If you allow yourself to show through in your writing and in your posts, I guarantee you will attract 'regular customers.'
Quatre: Very related to number 3- find your voice! Find your voice and have fun with it! Your voice may be of a more serious nature, or your posts may be full of one liners! It's okay! As you continue to write regularly, you will develop your voice and blogging personality.
vs. 
5: Photography. Photography. Photography. This one is a biggie. It is absolutely huge in importance with food blogging. Trust me, I am no expert in this field. I am an eternal student with food photography. Research is your best friend. Cozy up with some of your favorite cookbooks (hopefully they have pictures!). Study what you like about the photography and try to implement it with your own photoshoots. This is absolutely something that will improve with time. The more you do it, the better you will get. And I highly recommend submitting your photos to websites like Food Gawker or Tastespotting. If they are not accepted, they will tell you why, which will help you immensely with learning how you might improve. I am a constant student of photography and I still need improvement! Look above to see how much I've improved so far!
The best way to capture your food in a yummy way? NATURAL LIGHT. Most forms of artificial will wash out your food and make it look unappetizing. For the majority of the year, mother nature will provide you with all of the lighting you will need for great photos!
Cameras. I hate to say it, but cameras can often make a big difference in your photography. It was not until Christmastime that I got my DSLR. It made a world of a difference. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using a point-and-shoot or even your Blackberry, but using a DSLR will take you to the next level. Without getting technical and trying to type words that I'm not quite sure how to spell, I will just sum this up in a few points: (1) photographing with the DSLR, the image quality is better and (2) the DSLR has an adaptability that is phenomenal in that you are able to alter the camera to shoot beautiful photos, no matter the environment, this is because of its manual controls and widespread settings.
Sechs: Related to number 5: EDITING. Editing is crucial in having great food photography. You do not have to spend ten bagillion dollars on photography editing programs to create great food photos. After I had read about Photoscape- which is free - I downloaded it. My life was never the same. Download it. Do it now I say! You did?! K, thanks :)
Seven: There are many great ways to learn food- aside from culinary school, of course- and one is to really do research! Peruse the internet, magazines, cookbooks, and cooking shows. The Food Network is a great resource. Take notice to which ingredients the people that really know what they are doing are putting together. Also, do not be afraid to experiment. Sure, it can be expensive, but not if you start in a small way with side dishes and slowly work your way up to big experimental meals. You will be surprised at how well you will learn how to pair ingredients.
Ocho: Traffic. No not the super awesome band from the 60s and 70s. (Although I do love Stevie Winwood!) The amount of people that visit your website on a daily/weekly basis can be easily improved. Bloggers adore getting comments and are more than happy to "return your call," so to speak. Visit other bloggers, and make yourself known in their comments section! You can also improve the amount of hits you get by really putting yourself out there! Blogging community websites like Foodbuzz and Tasty Kitchen are two great websites that will get you out there!! Do not underestimate the greatness of Facebook and Twitter, either! Get. Yourself. Out. There! You're obviously not a shy guy or gal. You would not be putting your recipes out there for the world to see if you were a bashful creature.
Niner: Loosen up! Have fun! And enjoy the ride! Trust me, you are only going to improve from where you are at this moment! Don't be afraid to take risks, become food obsessed, or making yourself look like a ninny pinny. I have done all of these and have lived to tell the tale!
When people think of cheese in desserts, I am sure that one thing comes to mind - and it is probably ‘eww.’ It is possible that another thing may come to mind when you think of cheese in a dessert - a cheesecake.
Throw out everything that you know about cheesy desserts because we are going to get a little funky. And I don’t mean old gym shorts funky. I mean funk-aay.
Cue Kool and the Gang because this is a funky fresh dessert.
...Get down on it. Get down on it! How you gonna do it if you really don’t wanna dance, by standing on the wall? Get your back up off the wall!...
This may seem like a time consuming dessert, but remember! the Mona Lisa was not painted in an hour. The same goes for this edible masterpiece.
Click here to vote for my recipe to win!
Apple and Cheddar Ice Cream- using Cabot’s Seriously Sharp Cheese
Yields: 12 to 15 servings
½ cup granulated sugar + ½ cup granulated sugar
2 cups whole milk
Pinch of salt
3 large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup of Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheese, shredded
4 fuji apples, peeled, cored and diced
Directions:
1. For the Custard Base: In a medium saucepan over low to medium heat, combine ½ cup of sugar, milk and yolks. Please be diligent to make sure that it doesn’t boil and turn into scrambled eggs! Cook until the mixture thickens. Refrigerate for 3 hours up to overnight.
2. In a medium saucepan, cook the apples and sugar. Cooking until the apples have softened, approximately 5 minutes. Place 3/4 of the apple mixture into a food processor and process until it liquefies. Set aside.
3. In a bowl, whisk the heavy cream and cheese together with the custard. Whisk your little arms into shape until it is well combined!
4. Using your ice cream machine, combine the liquified apple mixture and cheese custard mixture and freeze for 25 minutes. When there is 3 minutes remaining on the freeze time, add the remaining 1/4 of the apple-sugar mixture that was not processed.
5. Place into a freezer-safe container and freeze for 3 hours up to overnight.
Today is your lucky day, ladies and gents. I am going to share with you Dean Martin's swinging Burger Recipe:
Courtesy: The Art of Manliness
Happy Friday you guys.
I wouldn't call myself a trend setter. I am more of a trend ignorer.
Well, my trend of not following the crowd pauses for a moment. Don't worry, it's for this post only. Promise.
I think you'll forgive me. I know you will because I've already forgiven myself.
A recent fad in the foodie world is the meatloaf cupcake. It is so stinking cute that I cannot contain myself. The most adorable part? You top it off with mashed potatoes as a "frosting". I mean seriously?! I'm melting over this cuteness.
You can use your mom's killer meatloaf recipe and your grandmother's to die for mashed potato recipe. The trick is in the construction.
However, if you're stuck on finding a recipe, I will share with you my meatloaf recipe. And yes, it's abnormal, but so delicious. I put zucchini and corn in it. Yum! And I use turkey for a healthier meatloaf.
The meatloaf cupcake. Amazing. Really. I encourage you to follow this new trend, too! What a great appetizer these would make, too!!
...Now I'm off to go do some planking. KIDDING!!!!
Meatloaf Cupcakes with Mashed Potato Frosting
Yields: 4 servings or 12 meatloaf cupcakes
Ingredients:
(For Meatloaf)
2 lbs ground turkey
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 TBS milk
1 cup of corn
1 cup of zucchini, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 TBS mustard
(For Potatoes)
4 russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded and boiled
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Liberally coat your cupcake pan with oil.
2. Combine all of the ingredients for the meatloaf. Form baseball sized balls and lightly press them down into each cupcake slot.
3. Bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes.
4. While the meatloaf cupcakes are in the oven, make your mashed potatoes. Set aside until cupcakes are ready.
5. Pipe the mashed potatoes on top of the cupcakes, as if it were frosting, while cupcakes are still in the pan.
6. Place cupcakes underneath a broiler for approximately 3 minutes, or until the potatoes have nicely browned.
A perfectly in season dinner that I dare you to try. Okay, so I won't dare you, because that insinuates that it's nasty. And it's not nasty. It's actually quite tasty!
Anywho, I require you to try it. There. That's better. Yeah, DO IT! :o)
Click here and check out my recent article for the Examiner.
