The Wild Ride of a Blogger, Baker, Tradition Maker

This is my first entry for the Food Buzz Project Food Blog Contest and I’ve 1,000 words to explain:

What defines me as a food blogger;
Why do I have what it takes to be the next food blog star; and
What makes my blog unique and sets me apart from others.

Well, let me see . .

Would it be the recipes?
I have good recipes, tested recipes, and flopped recipes. But let’s face it, EVERYONE has recipes.

Would it be that I blog about what REALLY happens?
My blogging is about real-life adventures, but I’ve read blogs about 50th anniversary dinner mishaps, about landing a sought-after reservation at the latest celebrity chef’s restaurant, and the everyday successes of getting a meal on the table.
Let's face it, we ALL have adventures.

Would it be that I blog with conviction?
A successful blogger always blogs about what he/she believes in. That’s why we’re blogging, isn’t it?

Would it be that my blogging is therapy?
You bet! Blogging is my own little therapy group, a bit of rehab for the weary mom, an online cooking club, and a ‘you won’t believe what just happened’ outlet. I’m a Mom of four young kids, I don’t get much time for a bit of adult interaction, so I need an outlet, and I need the connection and the community of like-minded bloggers.
Let's face it, most of us Food Buzz bloggers use cooking and blogging as therapy.

Would it be that my blog is timely, relevant and interesting?
In the age of instant gratification, instant messaging, and real-time Twittering, it better be timely, it better be relevant, it better be interesting – otherwise, some wisecracking reader will blog a rant about you and make it go viral.

So, if I had to explain what it is that makes my blog stand apart from all the others, I would say that I don’t need the 1,000 words that the Food Buzz editors gifted me for this entry.

One word will suffice:

Experience

OK, OK, OK, I suppose I should give a bit of explanation. (And use up those 1,000 words I’ve been given).

Here goes:
Experience, hmmm . .
“Practical knowledge, skill, or practice derived from direct observation of, or participation in, events or in a particular activity; the conscious events that make up an individual life.”

Yes, I’m sporting a BA in magazine journalism and a MA in Communications, and have a 20+ year writing career under my belt. But I’m talking about experience.
Real-life, down in the dirt, living-the-life-that-you-write-about experience. You know, the kind that lives deep in your soul, and affects all that you think and do.
That practical knowledge and participatory experience that you won’t find in a textbook, cookbook, or on a Google search.

Just like so many food bloggers, my family had a big effect on how I view food. For me, it was a wonderful experience. Food and family were intertwined. We gathered for baptisms, dance recitals, and baseball games. We enjoyed homemade birthday cakes, chicken soup at Grandma’s every Sunday, and traditional Czech bread during holidays. There was mincemeat pie for Thanksgiving and carved watermelon baskets for the Fourth of July.
I grew up, went to college, and moved away from home (maybe not in that order). But still, whenever I came home, a home-cooked meal and the family were there waiting for me at the table.
I was truly happy living within my own little familial food and traditions microcosm. But then, one day, I landed a job that would rock my so-called “experienced” world.

For the next 12 years, as editor of a specialty food industry trade magazine, I traveled the globe learning about the food, culture and traditions of people around the world.

It was a wild ride that offered me the opportunity to more fully understand
the connection between food, family and friends. They are experiences that live with me every time I step into the kitchen, or get behind the computer.

These are my experiences . .





So, there you go.

Through it all, I’ve learned that the experience of food is what makes it special.
It is my life experiences – as a child, as a writer, as a wife and mom – that I bring to my blogging. Edible Tidbits a collections of “Recipes and Ramblings fit to be eaten,” . . . or should I say, ‘fit to be Experienced.”

Join me on my journey. Follow me at EdibleTidbits.blogspot.com, and on my own website FamilyEats.net where we “Reconnect with the food we eat and the family we love.” And, don't forget to click on my Project Food Blog profile (at right) to vote for me!