Writing Process Blog Tour

Well, I have to admit that when Lori of Creating Beauty in the Kitchen invited me to join the Writing Process Blog Tour, I had barely heard of it.  However, Lori’s enthusiasm for the tour, as with most other things, was infectious, so it got me very excited to join up!  I love the idea of the tour, because it is yet another way for us to get to know other bloggers better, but from a slightly different angle.  Here we get to talk more about our writing process, which I find is often not discussed as much as other aspects of our blogs.  On the tour, I post one week and invite 3 other bloggers to post the following week.  They in turn,  invite 3 others who post the following week, and on we go; touring each others’ blogs.

First of all I want to thank Lori. To see her post on the tour and learn a bit more about her, click here.  I just love Lori’s blog and I honestly cannot believe that she is so new to cooking.  She tells us that up until 4 months ago, she hated cooking! This completely shocked me when I started delving into her blog because she is such a great cook!  Lori’s focus is low glycemic cooking and very often  her recipes are also gluten free.  Her recipes all look so enticing and her photos are mouth-watering. I so admire her creativity as she invents new,  low glycemic recipes.  In her own words, Lori has discovered that “cooking can be fun, adventurous, exciting and creative” and this delightful attitude shines through all of her writing.  Check out her blog and I know you will become a big fan of hers, just like me.  Then we can all follow her together as she creates beauty in the kitchen.

Here are the questions that I have been asked to address in this tour:

1.  What am I working on?

Well, I am working on stacks of recipes!  It seems that the more I cook,  photograph and write, the more ideas flood into my head and I have a hard time keeping up with myself, if you know what I mean! I am really enjoying my Moroccan Series and intend to keep adding recipes as I am inspired and as I experiment with more of the recipes from books and classes. I also recently took a number of French cooking classes, so I would like to start another series on French cooking, as time permits.  If I can keep this up, I can see adding other ethnic food series too! Wow, so much food, so little time!

2.  How does my work differ from others of its genre?

To be honest, I’m not sure that my work differs from others of this genre.  I have been following many other bloggers and have come to realize that there are lots of us who are excited to blog about recipes from around the world, from our travels, our families and childhoods. What I really love about blogging is that it feels like I have a wonderful new community of like-minded people with whom to share this passion.  This is one of the most gratifying things about blogging and I can’t say enough about it!

3.  Why do I write what I do?

I have always loved cooking and the creative aspect of it and for many years I thought that I wanted to write a cookbook.   Perhaps this blog is an ode to my creative spirit that seems to be flourishing in this medium and to the idea of a cookbook. All of us who blog about food are really creating our own personal cookbooks, aren’t we?  With respect to blogging, I feel like it can be a very transformative experience, on as many levels as we allow. For me, I feel like there has been a lot of growth in my writing and photography and this really excites me. Aside from memos, newsletters and emails at work, I haven’t done much writing since university, so it is fun to do a bit of writing again, although I don’t take it seriously at all,  and don’t stress out about it like I did when I first started blogging.  So it is really the creative aspect of this experience that juices me the most, and until I find a new passion,  my creativity will find its expression here.

4.  How does my writing process work?

Oh my, this is a complex question because it changes from post to post.  I am a really organized person, so that part of me says that I have to get organized.  I will write lists of recipes that I want to do and start planning, but then inspiration comes from a picture,  a movie,  another blog post or a restaurant meal and the list gets forgotten.  What I really love is when the recipes and images just arrive in my mind, completely unbidden.  I find this aspect of creativity completely fascinating! Some of my favourite recipe posts have come to me this way.  So I guess what I am telling you is that I don’t have a “set-in-stone” writing process.  It tends to be pretty fluid and sometimes inexplicable! I really just enjoy going with the flow and allowing this blog to evolve as it will.

Now, I would like to introduce the 3 other bloggers who so kindly agreed to join me on this tour, in no particular order:

Noony, of Noony Tales: From Laos with Love, has one of the most diverse blogs I have ever read.  Noony’s family came from Laos as political refugees and so she blogs about her experiences growing up between 2 worlds. I have enjoyed reading so many of her posts because she presents a very unique perspective.  How she finds time to create such an amazing blog is beyond me: she conducts arboviral disease surveillance during the day and is an adjunct professor of Health Sciences by night!  What I really admire about Noony’s blog is the huge range of posts she writes.  Noony is a poet, a story teller, a photographer and a cook.  You must check out her blog – you will love what you discover there and find yourself anticipating her next post!

Indu of Indu’s International Kitchen  is a gift to the blogosphere!  I was so happy when she agreed to participate in this tour because I too would love to know more about her writing process.  Indu has created a vast resource of exotic recipes from Kerala, South India, other parts of India and many other countries. I could get lost in her blog for hours, reading her delicious posts and planning sumptuous  meals based on her recipes.   One of my favourite aspects of her blog is that she has included videos! Yes, you can actually watch her cook some of her favourite Kerala delicacies.  We are all so thankful that Indu finally made her blog public, because unbelievably, Indu’s blog was private until December 2013.  I encourage you to enter her International Kitchen and spend some time with her.  I assure you, you won’t want to leave!

Next up:  Petra, of Food Eat Love,  is an extraordinary blogger. Her blog shows her passion for international cuisine and I discovered a long list of tantalizing recipes that I would love to cook, when I was exploring her blog.  When you read Petra’s blog, you will get a sense of a very grounded person, but yet she is a powerhouse in the kitchen. In her very relaxed manner,  Petra pulls off meals that would overwhelm any experienced chef.  For Fiesta Friday # 16, Petra brought an entire Barbecue meal, including chicken, lamb, beef, vegetables, salads,  and 2 fruit dessert dishes.  It all just seemed so effortless for her and I can only imagine how her lucky guests happily feasted on this gorgeous meal.  I am so happy to pass the writing process blog tour on to Petra and can’t wait to learn more about her!  I know that you are really going to enjoy Food Eat Love and that your are going to love eating her food.

Please enjoy exploring the blogs of these 3 very fine bloggers and look for their Writing Process Blog Tour posts on June 2, 2014.