Hi and thanks for visiting SeasonalCookbook.com! Let me tell you a little more about myself. I decided to do my About Page in Q & A format since I think this format is more conversational than the typical first-person narrative.
Below are some of the Questions I have for other Food Bloggers that I don’t feel are usually answered in the typical small Bio.
So I decided to ask myself those SAME questions and respond to them.
Are You A Professional Chef?
Absolutely not! I am just a guy who loves food and didn’t really even know how to cook until a few years ago.
Why Should I Listen To You?
That’s a good question. One of the reasons I started this website is because I couldn’t relate to all of these professional chef or professional nutritionist food bloggers.
I mean, they are so much more advanced than me. Some of these folks even get hired by companies to develop recipes for them, own high-end professional catering businesses, or are experts in certain nutritional fields (e.g. Whole30, Paleo, etc.).
Some of their recipes are amazing, intricate, advanced, that they were a bit difficult for me to follow. So I never did.
For a time, I thought you needed to be some well-known expert in the niche or have a PhD in nutritional science to even share recipes online.
What Was Your Motivation For Creating SeasonalCookbook.com?
I wanted to create a food blog that catered to an audience that was like me – someone who was relatively new at cooking, wanted simple, healthy recipes, and to show people that it was okay to share recipes, cooking tips, and food photos that were not just oh-so-perfect.
You’ll notice I often include photos in my recipe posts that are slightly blurry, not perfectly centered, or even highlight MISTAKES that I made during the recipe or when plating my dish.
I wanted to create simple recipes that my visitors would actually follow and show, by example, that it’s okay to not be perfect.
If you are food blogger who is thinking about starting a food blog, then maybe this website will provide some inspiration for you to finally get started, knowing that you can ‘learn as you go’ just like I am!
Encouraging others to try making some of the recipes on SeasonalCookbook.com became my mission and to do this, I strive to share recipes that are easy, use relatively few ingredients, are healthy and something I haven’t seen many other food blogs do – tailor recipes to the specific seasons.
What Are Seasonal Recipes?
I mention throughout this site that I share and create seasonally-inspired recipes.
This simply means that I try to share lighter fare in the warmer months and richer, heartier foods in the colder months. But by rich and hearty, I don’t mean unhealthy.
An example of a seasonally-specific recipe would be my Acorn Squash Stew that is a perfect soup for cool Fall days. If I share a soup recipe in the summer, which is rare, it is only going to be something that’s chilled, such as my Cool As A Cucumber Summer Soup recipe.
If I share a fish recipe, I try to use a type of fish that is in-season versus something that’s been frozen for months.
Of course, you may be visiting this site in July and just happen to want a recipe for Winter Vegetable Lasagna and that’s OK!
You can read any of the recipes on SeasonalCookbook.com at any time of the year, but I use the different seasons as inspiration for the recipes I post and share during that period in the year and, to a lesser degree, what ingredients I use in those recipes.
Do You Share Ideas With Other Food Bloggers?
I make every attempt to contact other food bloggers and let them know if I have added a link to any of their articles or recipes and ask whether they want any changes.
I also do this if I include their recipes in round-up type posts, as well.
How Do You Take Your Food Photos?
I am still using my old Android Smart phone (Samsung Galaxy J4), I am embarrassed to say! I could have waited until I had an expensive DSLR camera and the skills to create award-winning food photos before starting this blog, but I didn’t.
One of the coolest quotes I read online (and I can’t remember who said it) was whenever you have a decision that is causing you to procrastinate or delay something, “Always Err On The Side Of Action…”
So, yes, I could have waited until I had better cookware, more experience preparing recipes, I was an expert at food photography, or I had a million Pinterest followers, but I decided to “Err On The Side Of Action” and start SeasonalCookbook.com with the intention to learn and improve as I went along.
What Are Your Goals?
To continue to share my seasonally-inspired recipes, add more content to the site on a regular basis, and become better at food photography. Yes, I would like to upgrade from my old smartphone to a ‘real’ camera and learn to take better photos, but I want the site to get to the point where I have those options – I am not quite there yet.
What’s Ahead For SeasonalCookbook.com?
As I mentioned above I want to continue to add new recipes, more non-recipe content and to expand the reach of the website by, hopefully, collaborating and exchanging ideas with other food bloggers.
If you want to receive updates or ask me anything at all, please click this link to be added to my mailing list.
Happy Cooking!
