adopt a blogger | with knife and fork

It’s a kind of recipes at dawn this, Chile Verde vs. asparagus tart, one blogger pitched against another. Masterchef without the cameras, or the publicity, or the random commentary, or the…….well almost any of it. Just a bit of fun.

You might remember back in early May I was ‘adopted’ by Karen over at ‘Karen Cooks’. We did a blogo-interview of each other to introduce our very different worlds and in the meantime I’ve been asking Karen lots of questions about food and blogging and incorporating things I’m learning into my blog. Anyway, we thought it might be fun to have a cook-off: each pick a recipe from the others blog that would be a bit challenging and new and then cook and blog it. We agreed that we mustn’t pick something too easy but also we aren’t to email back and forth to ask for guidance if we get stuck, we’ve got to make our own judgements on how to substitute things. No winner, no loser just some fun.

But as soon as you start to think about it there’s lots of hurdles and tests.

By Karen, and she’s in Harve, Montana! Go on, go check the map like I had to.

Now lets get a few things straight here I don’t mean I’ve been orphaned all this time and finally found someone to adopt me at the fine old age of, well lets just leave my age out of this shall we….

I mean that as a relative ‘newbie’ to the world of food blogging I’m taking part in Kirsten’s (over at Dine and Dish) Adopt-a-Blogger initiative. I found Kirsten when I first started swirling round the foodie blogosphere and landed at Tinned Tomatoes where I spotted the ‘I’ve adopted’ badge. Now ‘Blogging for Dummies’ tells you to get to know your fellow bloggers and to take part in blogging events and the Adopt-a-Blogger seemed like the ticket. I get to have someone older and wiser (in blogging terms) to call upon for three months with my questions etc, probably get new traffic and the adoptor gets the joy of guiding someone through some of the maze of the blogsphere. Great.

After Kirsten has matched us all up we get to meet online and start to chat, it’s kind of like a latter day version of pen pals. To take part we’ve promised to introduce each other to our respective worlds and at the end of three months to blog about what we’ve each learned. I’ve already been badgering Karen with lots of questions and tweaking my blog to incorporate some of her tips.

Anyway without further ado here is Karen (of Karen Cooks), as cross examined by me, in her own words:

GSD: Tell me a little bit about yourself, where you live and what you do when not food blogging?

K: I live in the U.S. I lived in the Southern California and Arizona deserts for 42 years prior to moving to Havre, Montana last summer. When I’m not food blogging, I’m cooking! I like to garden and also do mosaics.

GSD: Why did you want to join ‘Adopt-a-blogger’ and what do you think being an adoptor will be like?

K: I thought I might have something to offer a new food blogger… there are so many things to figure out and hints and suggestions that one might not know about.

GSD: How long have you been food blogging, what made you want to start and do you have any other blogs?

K: I started my food blog in August 2008. I was reading another food blog and thought “I can do that!” So, I did!

GSD: Tell me about the Eagle webcam.

K: I found the Eagle webcam during my many travels around the internet. The webcam is in West Virginia and poised on a nest built by Bald Eagles. Here we can get a glimpse of a three eaglets, now almost 2 months old and their daily routine. It’s been fascinating to watch them grow! I think they are beautiful birds.

GSD: How would you describe your style of cooking and who do you normally cook for?

K: Most of the time I cook just for me and my gardener, aka husband, although I love to cook for company. I love to read cookbooks for inspiration on making my own dishes. I guess my style of cooking would be ‘see it and make it with changes to suit our tastes’.

GSD: I can see some interesting items on your freezer list in the ‘Roasted Grape Tomato, Spinach and Asiago Pasta’ post, tell me about the regional dishes, specialities of ingredients you enjoy?

K: We are hunters and fishers, so we eat a lot of game. Cooking wild game at times can be challenging as the meat may tend to be tough. I’m always on the lookout for different wild game recipes.

GSD: What are your Top 5 dishes/foods and what, if anything, makes you go ‘urgggh, no thanks’?

K: I’m definitely not a picky eater, but there are a few things that I’ll pass on. One of them is menudo, a Mexican soup-type dish made with tripe and hominy. I’ve tried tofu several different ways, but just don’t care for it. Other than that I guess I’ll pretty much eat anything! LOL

GSD: Who are your favourite cook book authors/cook books?

K: I really don’t have a favorite. I love to read cookbooks but have stopped buying them. There are just so many good recipes on the internet.

GSD: What’s your couldn’t live without kitchen gadget?

K: This is a hard question. After thinking about it, I couldn’t live without my silicone spatulas. I use them for everything! And of course my Kitchen Aid stand mixer!

So please go check out Karen’s blog yourself for lots of good stuff including the latest Montana snow (on 13 May!).

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Tag: adopt a blogger

Can I cook Chile Verde?

I’ve been adopted!