Blogger Spotlight: Cooking On A Budget
This week, we're proud to feature Patty Anderson from Cooking on a Budget in the Blogger Spotlight. For those new to the column, every Friday, we highlight a member of The Daily Meal's Culinary Content Network, a limited group of bloggers who write about food and drink.
We look to this group of talented food writers for inspiration and participation in The Daily Meal, whether for restaurant recommendations or new recipes to try out for dinner. Our editorial team covers All Things Food and Drink, and we tap the CCN to keep up to speed on what is happening around the country and the world — from fine dining to home cooking.
The Daily Meal: What is the mission of your blog?
Patty Anderson: My mission is to help families that feel they can't serve wholesome food on a budget.
How'd you get started?
My blog started off as a way to keep my mind active and to log family recipes for my children during a time when I had been considered disabled due to numerous medical conditions. I started the blog in 2010.
What are some foods you can't live without?
Butter, garlic, cheese and fresh garden tomatoes.
Do you have any food you can't stand?
Brussels Sprouts – I've tried them several times and I just do not like them.
What is your proudest post?
Steakhouse Potato Gratin. With over 118,000 views this is perhaps one of the best, if not the best recipe I've created. The post is well written and the photographs are beautiful.
What would you say is your biggest blog blunder?
Not knowing what I was doing at the get-go and putting the blog address under my own name on the Blogger platform, rather than Cooking On A Budget. Although it is the title of my blog I wish the blog's URL reflected that.
What is your most memorable comment from a reader?
This was left on my Ground Pork Enchiladas recipe and left me feeling pretty darn good: "Donald Gies: "This recipe was outstanding. My wife almost licked the plate she loved it so much. You gotta love a recipe that you have to make a roux."
Whats on your cooking playlist?
Unfortunately we don't have a system to play music, but if I did it would include music from Zac Brown Band, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and Jonathan Edwards
What are some food blogs you love?
Simply Sated, and Milk and Honey.
Any food apps you love?
Yummly and Fridgg
What is the best thing about blogging?
When someone lets me know that they've really enjoyed a recipe I've created because they actually made it themselves and it has become a family favorite in their home. I like that, I really do.
Worst things about blogging?
Having to market yourself all over creation to get people aware of your blog and then of any new posts once you set up your blog. And for those of us trying to earn a little money with blogging –it is part of the job to get exposure and get folks to visit the blog. People don't understand how much effort and work and time goes into a food blog. Maybe if they did they would get why bloggers get upset over people stealing their photographs.
Do you have a recipe you're currently obsessed with?
Recently I was obsessed with an appetizer from Michael Jordan's Sports Bar Café. They used to call it Garlic Go-Go Bread and now just Garlic Bread. I recreated the recipe at home and nailed it on the first shot. It turned out exactly like what I was served in the café. I am very proud of it.
What would even your most loyal followers be surprised to learn about you?
I regret not discovering my love of cooking much earlier in my life. However from late teens and into my mid thirties, I was a typographer and graphic designer of sorts for various type houses and printing companies in Connecticut, Maryland and Washington, D.C. After that I had an office job for a leading cable tool manufacturer for 13 years before deciding to open a small food to go restaurant where I could also market a line of sauces and marinades that I developed. Some of those recipes (a couple) are on my blog.
Five of your all-time favorite posts: