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Welcome to the liveblog of the BlogHer Food '10 panel "Vocation - Recipe Writing."
Here's the description:
The majority of food bloggers attending BlogHer Food include recipes in their blogging repertoire. What makes a good recipe? What assumptions can you make about the readers' cooking level, such as whether they know how to "fold" or "blanch"? What does it take to take your recipe-creation skills to the next level and actually be hired to be a recipe developer or tester? What are the challenges in creating recipes that are truly yours rather than those that are "inspired by" or "adapted from", and when is it worth the effort? And if you do so: Can you copyright a recipe to keep others from reposting it as their own? Join author Elana Amsterdam, who blogs at ElanasPantry.com, food editor Jennie Perillo, who writes at InJenniesKitchen.com and personal chef Gaby Dalkin, who pens WhatsGabyCooking.com to discuss the ins and outs of recipe writing.
ELANA: This morning we’re discussing Recipe Writing. My co-panelists are Gaby Dalkin and Jennifer Perillo. Gaby is a professionally trained chef and food stylist, and blogs at WhatsGabyCooking.com. Jennifer Perillo is a food editor, recipe author and cookbook author. She blogs at InJenniesKitchen.com. I’m Elana, and my focus is on organic, fresh food Although I am gluten free, it’s not my main focus. I have published recipes for print media (newspapers and magazines), have published two cookbooks, and I blog at ElanasPantry.com.
ELANA: I’d like to start by asking a few questions, to get a feel for who’s in the room…
How many are writing recipes for blogs? (majority of hands show)
Newspapers or Magazines? (A few hands show)
Writing cookbooks? (A few hands show)
What would you all like to get out of this session? We’d like to spend a few minutes taking questions, so we can respond throughout the session, ensuring that we answer the questions that you have.
ATTENDEE: About half of what I write are my own recipes. I do simple things. One of my struggles is how to format the recipes. What is the most user-friendly to read? What is the best way to convey ingredients and measurements to my audience?
ATTENDEE: Can you share formatting tips, information on what readers are looking for, and what tends to appeal to readers, like appetizers, dinners, desserts, etc?
ATTENDEE: What are the different formats for each type of publication?
ATTENDEE: The recipes I make are gluten free comfort foods. I’m trying to attract mainstream readers. What is the best way for those who cook gluten free to translate the recipe to new readers?
ATTENDEE: What is the best practice for content, as it relates to SEO, whether to have a lot of context around the recipe…the history/story behind it, etc.?
ATTENDEE: Print this post vs. print this recipe. Do you have opinions? And do you have suggestions for different platforms, like WordPress?
ELANA: Gaby, what constitutes a recipe?
GABY: A recipe has to be user-friendly. No matter who picks it up, it will work. It must be easy to read, formatted to be cohesive; it needs to flow. You shouldn’t have to go back and re-read the instructions to create. The ingredient list should be “one onion, chopped.” So when you get to the directions you can write “sauté onions,” not “sauté chopped onions.”
ELANA: I always keep the order of ingredients the same order as they appear in the instructions.
ELANA: I started writing recipes 13 years ago when I was diagnosed with Celiac’s. I didn’t write down recipes then, but when my mother asked for a recipe after visiting, I began forcing myself to write recipes down so I can keep track of ingredients, measurements, etc., so I can remember what I make. I recommend keeping pens/notepads handy so you can easily jot down what you’re doing, or your thoughts while you’re reading articles/books.
GABY: I do it all on my Blackberry while I’m walking around Farmer’s Market.
JENNIFER: I work 100% from home. My kitchen is my test kitchen, so I have my laptop open. I start off my measuring my ingredients, so I have a base platform. If I do my first pass with out writing notes, I can’t go back to change anything if I don’t like it. Work with what style works best for you, when developing recipes. You should start off on the first pass and write everything down. You can’t change/tweak unless you do. Use the format
