Welcome to a Three Blog Tour….

Welcome to a Three Blog Tour….

Hi There!  Thanks for finding your way here to my blog, Curry and Comfort, today.  Do you love checking out food blogs as much as I do?   I have always loved cookbooks and spending time in the kitchen with my mother and family.  Then one day about five years ago I discovered the wonders of food blogs on the internet and started to follow a few.  I remember waiting excitedly until the next new recipe would get posted.  Five years ago I never thought I would join in and start my own food blog.    

 Life is funny that way, because as shy as I am, I did start Curry and Comfort 3 ½ years ago and have loved every minute of it.   One of the greatest joys I have found while blogging is becoming a part of the food blogging community and getting to know all my fellow food bloggers.  These people are so creative, kind and giving.  They share, not only their recipes, but their lives as well.  

Photo from Cookistry

 A fellow food blogger, Donna at Cookistry,   invited me to participate in this Food Blog Tour.  I happily joined in since it’s a great way to get introduced to some new food blogs.     

I met Donna on a Facebook group that is a blogger program run by Good Cook (a kitchenware company).  As part of the blogger program, we would be given kitchen gadgets and equipment to try out and create recipes.   I am always impressed on how creative Donna’s ideas turned out.  

Donna is a great cook, but I think she is an even more fabulous baker.   She’s so fabulous at baking that she wrote her first book, Make Ahead Bread, that is due out November 4^th..   Her accomplishments also include writing reviews on products/gadgets at Serious Eats, where she is a featured writer.  She takes reviewing and testing kitchen products so seriously that she even started a new blog just for reviews called:  http://reviews.cookistry.com/.  Donna is one busy lady and she’s always out and about in the food community boards helping and encouraging other food bloggers

Now as part of this tour I have to answer 4 questions so you can get to know me a little better. 

What am I working on currently on the blog?

Well, it’s summer time so that means I have two kids at home with me all day long.  I decided to create a new feature post called “Kids in the Kitchen”.  My kids get a chance to be a part of the planning and cooking process. I always say this blog has become like a 3^rd child in my life.  So I wanted my actual children to be a part of it as well.  I also believe that every child should learn to cook and get comfortable in the kitchen.  Cooking is a great skill to empower a young person to learn how to take care of themselves. I wish they required all kids to learn how to cook more in schools, just like they are required to do art or music.    When school starts, I will continue the “Kids in the kitchen” feature to reflect some of my kids favorite lunchbox ideas. 

How does my work differ than others of its genre?

My blog title has the words “Curry” and “Comfort”, so you would think my blog was all about curry recipes and the comfort I get from eating loads and loads of curry. I do some curry recipes, but my blog is a real mix of all kinds of dishes from around the world. The fact is the comfort part is actually my love of all food that brings you comfort.  Since I grew up most of my life in the United States, I find great comfort from all the food you find in this great melting pot of cultures.  I love to try new recipes and experiment with recipe ideas.  Some of my recipes may sound a little crazy, but I think having fun in the kitchen and at the dinner table is important.  The best part of my blog, I feel, is that most anyone can find something to enjoy and cook.  So look around and enjoy.

Why do I write what I do?

I basically write about the foods my family eats on a daily basis.  I have been doing a lot of low carb recipes recently, but I also love smoothies, stir fries, pastas, rice dishes and the list goes on.  I have appetizers, snacks, desserts, vegetarian, vegan, meat dishes, seafood dishes, pastas and of course, curries.   Basically, you can find dishes ranging from apples to zucchini and everything in between.  I believe that variety is the spice of life, so my blog reflects my love for a variety of food.

 How does my writing process work?
          Actually, writing the blog post is the hardest part of blogging for me.  I love the recipe development part and the cooking part the most.  Next comes the food styling and taking the photos.  I have actually put a lot of practice, research and investment in photography equipment so I can improve my photos.  We first eat with our eyes so you want a dish to look as good as it tastes.  When I first started blogging I just snapped a few photos, never edited them and just stuck them on the posts.  Now I cringe when I look back at those older posts... what was I thinking?  These days I do a weekly feature called “Throwback Thursdays” so I can recreate my older recipes to get better photos. The first year plus, I could never get accepted by what the food world calls the "Food Porn" sites.   I received so many rejections from Foodgawker that I just stopped submitting my work.   Then after a lot of practice, I finally got accepted by them.   Now I regularly get featured at Foodgawker  and I have a real sense that I have come a long way.   It's only after I cook, take my photos and edit them that I sit down to write a blog post. Unfortunately, by that point, my mind is off to the next dish I want to cook and create.  So like I said sitting down to write is the hardest part for me.

Now it’s my turn to pick three blogs that I follow and introduce you to them.

Meet Sandra from Sweet Sensations : 

Photo from Sweet Sensations

Photo from Around My Table

First I have to introduce you to one of the sweetest blogging friends I know named Sandra from  Sweet Sensations.  I met Sandra from a wonderful food blogging community called FoodBuzz.  She has been such a loyal and wonderful blogging friend from day one.  Always dropping by to check out my recipes and always leaving a comment to encourage me along.  Sandra is a fabulous baker.  Her cakes and desserts are always amazing.  She is so well thought of as a baker and cake maker that she is hired to do parties and cratering events with her fabulous confections.    

Sandra also has an amazing talent for decorating tables or tablescaping as I call it.   I like to cook, but I generally just lay the food on a boring table with no thought to theme or the event.  Sandra painstakingly takes the time to customize her tablescapes and decorates each one lovingly to the event, holiday or theme.  Her tablescapes got so popular that she decided to start a blog called  Around My Table.  So make sure to check out both her lovely blogs and you will be dining in style.

Meet Christiane from Taking on the Magazines:

Photo from Taking on the Magazines

Photo from Taking on the Magazines

Next is my blogging friend Christiane from Taking on the Magazines.   I also met Christiane in my early days with Foodbuzz.  She soon became one of my favorite visitors to my blog.  Christiane needs to be my neighbor because she posts a recipe almost every day and I know she must have leftovers over there for me to enjoy. Christiane’s blog is all about testing cookbook magazine recipes and then she tells you really how they turned out.  Sometimes the magazines get it right and sometimes the recipes could use a little help.   I complimented Christiane the other day that she is one of the best all-around cooks in the kitchen. She can cook, bake, grill and whip up just about anything.   I envy and admire her no-nonsense view on cooking and her no fear attitude.  You will always be drooling over her recipes and she will give you a good chuckle or two when you read the fun stories that go along with the recipes too. 

Meet Emily from  Life on Food:

Photo from Life on Food

Photo from Life on Food

Emily at Life on Food is another friend from the old Foodbuzz days.  I hope you are sensing a theme here… I met some really great people over at Foodbuzz and these people have been with me from almost the beginning of my blog.  Emily always pops by to check out what I have been up to on the blog.  Emily always amazes me because she is able to post food recipes several times a week and still carries on a full time job.  Not only is it a full time job, but she travels around the country more than anyone I know.  She’s always in some new town or city and she shares all the food (sometimes even the hotel food) that she has to dine on.  I truly do not know how she has the time to cook so much, but I think she finds it nice to cook a home cooked meal after all the hotel and restaurant food she has to eat due to her job.  Emily is a great all around cook and baker.  She is also a big time reader because she even features what she’s been reading lately from time to time.  It’s a nice blog to stop by and visit with and she always makes you feel at home.

  

Well that’s it for my part in the blog tour today.  I hope you enjoy it.  Make sure to check out my friend’s blogs.  You will find something wonderful, I promise.

Copyright: All recipes, content, and images (unless otherwise stated) are the sole property of Curry and Comfort. Please do not use without prior written consent. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.