My granddaughter Becky chopping tomatoes for her cooking challenge
No Foodie New Year's Resolutions for me this year, instead an" I Did it List". It feels so much more postive to reflect on what has been done then to set myself up for possible failure with grandiose and unachievable goals.
I thought it would be a very short list, but as I began to write it grew and grew and I realised that a lot of little things had added up to a great foodie year. Hopefully 2013 will be as good, or even better.
- I had a lot of fun developing and sharing new recipes.Which mean that my family didn't have to put up with" the same old same old" food every day but were persuaded to try new dishes and ingredients.
- My blog doubles as the Family Recipe Book.I haven't put up all my stash of recipes yet, but they are on the way. Now when anyone asks me for a favourite recipe I can just point them to "Shoot and Eat" and it's theirs. And if any of my family and friends send me a great recipe I can add it in and also link it to my Facebook pages.
- I set my granddaughter a foodie challenge and when she has learnt how to cook 20 new dishes I've promised to take her out shopping and buy her a gift. She's well on the way to finishing it, and now she can make smoothies, cook scrambled eggs, bake a chocolate cake, toss a salad and make Spaghetti Bolognaise. She clamours to cook the next dish whenever she comes over and it's given me a real buzz to have been able to build her cooking confidence.
- When I check my statistics I've been amazed to see how far flung my readers are: from Afghanistan, to South Korea, Argentina and China. It's really humbling to think that people from so far awayhave somehow stumbled onto my blog and taken the time to read what is happening in my kitchen
- Thanks to Alison Mawer who started the New Zealand Food Blogger's Association which is a great point of contact for New Zealand Food Bloggers http://www.foodbloggersnz.com/ for pointing me in the direction of Dianne Jacob's book " Will Write for Food," It has given me lots of food for thought.
- I added my blog to the list at http://www.everyrecipe.co.nz . and it's also a way to see at a glance what new recipes other New Zealand Food Bloggers are creating day by day.
- While enjoying browsing in Couscous and Consciousness http://couscous-consciousness.blogspot.co.nz/ I discovered The I Heart Madjur Jaffrey Cooking Club at http://iheartcookingclubs.blogspot.co.nz/ .I own several of her recipe books which I started to cook from again and am enjoying being part of a group of Indian Food Lovers and reading their contributions as well.
- And I've continued to indulge a passion for adding to my cookbook collection. There's been some amazing finds in local opportunity shops and garage sales. My bookshelves have run over and there are piles of books on the floor. I'm getting a reputation as a hoarder, and do I care? Not at all. Each one is a treasure in its own way.
- I joined IWW ( International Writer's Workshop) to improve my writing skills and it has so broadend my horizons and challenged me to write in a variety of genres.
- Food Photography is my real passion and I have so much yet to learn. Writing a food blog is a great excuse for creating picture making opportunities. I like to shoot using natural light. It continues to surprise me just how much the light differs at different times of the day, even in the same place inside our house or out in the garden.
- Writing a food blog has been a great excuse for starting conversations about food with all sorts of people who cook, grow or produce food locally. I've learnt a lot from them and they have made my life more interesting.
- Was food blogging worth the trouble? I think so. So far so good!
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