Project Food Blog: Challenge #1

Question: What defines you as a food blogger and why should you be the next food blog star?

For me, blogging isn't about stardom. It's about relaxing with a glass of wine as I type up a post in the evening. It's about negotiating with my husband about how many times I can pull out my camera during dinner. It's about connecting with the amazing people and businesses who share my enthusiasm for really great food.

So let me skip the whole stardom thing and instead try to define myself as a blogger. It all started with the kitchen.

People that read my blog know that I wasn't born a cook. In fact, cooking is something in which I had absolutely zero interest. Wait...that's a lie. I was always interested when *other* people cooked, but I never wanted to do it myself.

The reason? It all seemed too complicated! I didn't want to take the time to learn with words being thrown around the kitchen like: blanch, braise, emulsify, flambe, roux, score, sear, sieve, and many more. It was much easier dialing the phone and having my meal delivered to me.

My no-cooking mentality changed when I got married October of 2009. I wanted to be able to cook for my husband and future family. Three weeks after my wedding, I started my blog to record my progress.

As it turned out, it was a great place to record my adventures both inside and outside the kitchen -- even those times I gave up and dialed the phone.

Veggies, Cake & Cocktails has turned out to be a place where I can share...

restaurants where I dine...

cocktails I consume...

and the way I bring these together in the food that I cook!

My goal is to show all those people who think they can't cook how fun and easy it really can be.

So forget emulsifying your blanched braising! If I can go from a diet of nothing but Chef Boyardee and McDonald's (not kidding) to making scallops and risotto, anyone can.

I hope that people who follow me through my mistakes and my successes will see that sometimes an imperfect cook can make the perfect meal.

Cooking shouldn't be scary, it should be fun!