Tag Archives: best australian blog winner

I get asked questions about blogging, photography and food styling regularly. Eventually I’ll create some sort of FAQ page but in the meantime, I thought I’d cover some of the most frequently asked questions in this post.

It’s longer than I expected so you might want to grab a cup of tea. Here we go!

Blogging

How long have you been blogging?

Just over three years.

Do you have any tips about food blogging?

I do. Check out How to Blog about Food: useful tips for new, emerging and aspiring food bloggers and The Business of Food Styling: a Denise Vivaldo food styling workshop and 12 tips for new, emerging and aspiring food stylists.

How do I build a following?

Create great content, promote your content, engage with readers, get to know other bloggers, be helpful and share information.

How long does it take you to do a blog post?

On average, four to six hours. Longer travel posts can take up to two days. If it’s a recipe post there’s research, concept and development. Then shopping, recipe development and testing. Then cooking and food and prop styling. Then photography and editing. Then writing up the recipe. The story comes first or afterwards and it can take days, months (or years!) to get right. Then final edits, publishing and promotion. A lot of work goes into it.

Can’t anyone start a blog?

Yes. But that’s like saying anyone could write a novel. In theory that’s true but not everyone has the self-initiative, skills and talent to actually start one, much less the commitment and determination to persevere with it.

No, what I mean is, you don’t have to be qualified or anything…

That’s the beauty of blogging. You’re not judged by your qualifications or by who you know; you’re judged on your talent, skills and story-telling ability.

No, I mean, some blogs aren’t very good…

People blog for all kinds of reasons. What you might deem ‘not very good’ might make its creator very proud. It might be his or her way of sharing their stories and memories or meeting like-minded folk. In any case, I’m sure you’re intelligent enough to work out which blogs you like and want to follow for yourself.

How do you make money from blogging?

Some bloggers run advertising on their blogs or affiliate links. Some do sponsored posts or become ambassadors for brands. Some freelance and consult. Some write books or create products or virtual courses.

Most of my income is derived from work that I do off my blog and I’ve deliberately set it up like this. However, it’d be fair to say that new clients often find me via my blog.

Do you accept unsolicited guest posts?

No.

Why don’t you do more restaurant reviews?

First of all, I don’t do reviews. I will blog about my experience in a restaurant if it’s part of a bigger travel post like this, this or this, or if it’s also a personal story like this. But I don’t do restaurant reviews per se because I like blogging recipe and travel stories more.

How did you do it? How did you create a successful blog?

Firstly, everyone has a different idea of what success means. I started my blog because I thought it would help me become a better writer and it has. So from that point of view my blog is a success and everything else has been a bonus.

I think when you do something you love, you pour your heart and soul into it, and you work really hard, it shows. Having said that, while I haven’t been blogging that long I got my first paid writing job more than 17 years ago and this writing experience was definitely helpful. I also have a background in marketing and this was also useful.

Being a slightly obsessive perfectionist is not bad thing when it comes to blogging. There are a lot of stories that I haven’t blogged because I don’t think they’re good enough yet. At the same time I constantly see flaws in my published posts so I’m always driven to improving what I do.

Recipe Development

Are you a trained chef?

No. I’m a home cook.

How do you develop recipes?

I start with an ingredient or flavour combination and then build it from there. A recipe might be inspired by a dish I’ve eaten, something I’ve read in a cookbook or blog, the weather, or most often, some spectacular produce at the market.

I have a great nose and a food memory – I can remember the taste, texture, look and feel of dishes I ate 25 years ago. I also read a lot of cookbooks and blogs and have attended numerous cooking classes and food and wine workshops.

I have always cooked by tasting the dish and adjusting the flavor as required, even when loosely following a recipe.

My recipes are created with the average home cook in mind and most can be prepared without too much fuss and bother after a crappy day at work. If you want fancy, complicated recipes or molecular gastronomy you should go to a nice restaurant to eat because nobody eats like that at home.

Working with PRs and Brands

I want to work more with brands. How do I develop these relationships?

There’s no trick I can tell you. Work hard. Do good work, consistently and steadily. Put it out there. If people/brands like it, they’ll approach you.

Personally, I don’t try to create relationships with brands – I just blog what I want to blog. Keeping my blog a place where I can explore things creatively is incredibly important to me: I care about creating stories that I can be proud of and that readers might respond to. That’s what’s most important to me – not creating PR-friendly stories.

If people/brands like what I do and want to work with me, great. If not, equally fine. I only want to work with brands that ‘get’ what I do and whose work or products I equally admire. Over the years I’ve turned down a lot of paid work because it simply wasn’t a good fit or I felt I would be compromising my ethics and/or credibility.

I’ve published some tips for bloggers who want to work with brands here – Bloggers and Brands: why we’re mostly doing it wrong,

Do you eat out for free all the time?

No. It’s very nice to be invited to events but I have to be selective about those I attend due to work and family commitments. I do eat at my parents’ house a lot though. Does that count?

Do you get sent heaps of free food?

No, but that’s because I only very occasionally accept samples.

How do you respond to people asking you to blog in exchange for tickets, invitations or samples?

I politely explain thatI don’t trade tickets or products for blog exposure as I only blog something if I can find an interesting story to tell. I tell them that I appreciate their understanding on this. Having said that, if they’ve asked me to blog like this then it’s unlikely I’ll work with them because it’s clearly not a good fit.

Update: I refer them to my agent.

What do you say to brands who want to work with you but want to ‘reward’ you with exposure, vouchers or links instead of payment? 

I politely explain that I work with brands for compensation and that if they have a project with a budget I’d be happy to chat. I also direct them to Bloggers and Brands: why we’re mostly doing it wrong.

Update: see previous question.

General

How can you be so small if you eat so much?

I’m not sure. My cunning Asian genes? Running around after my kids? My mother tells me that I exhaust people. So there’s all the energy I expend doing that. I also try to practice hot yoga regularly.

Credits

All photos by me as usual except the photo of me by Kevin Khaw. Makeup by Celeste Wong.

More posts about blogging

• How to blog about food: 8 tips for new, emerging and aspiring food bloggers
• Bloggers and brands: why we’re (mostly) doing it wrong
• The business of food styling, a Denise Vivaldo workshop and 12 tips for aspiring food stylists
• Tips from Eat Drink Blog 2: the Australian Food Bloggers Conference.

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Got a question?

Did I miss something? Feel free to ask me a question below and I’ll do my best to answer it.

Happy Birthday to The Hungry Australian!

It was three years ago that I tentatively hit publish on my first ever post, my dad’s Chinese Sausage Omelette. For any aspiring bloggers or photographers out there, go check out my early posts and raise your eyebrows at my photos. See? We all start somewhere.

It’s hard to explain all the ways blogging has changed my life.

Three years ago I was introduced to food blogs, quickly got hooked and a whole new world of publishing and social media opened up to me. The immediacy of the blogging medium was instantly appealing; later, I discovered that a blog is also a platform, a calling card and a wonderful way to make new friends.

Three years ago I was thinking about returning to work again after a spell as a stay-at-home mum with a husband that travelled a lot. I couldn’t imagine going back to the senior management work I used to do as it was all-consuming but great, flexible jobs seemed to be practically non-existent.

Now life is a constant juggling act — my idea of the perfect holiday involves a lot of sleeping as well as eating — but I get to do interesting work flexibly from home and my supportive family and ex husband hold the fort each time I head off on a work or media trip.

Three years ago I would never have imagined that The Hungry Australian would be judged both Overall Winner and Best Food Blog at the Best Australian Blog 2014 competition. It was a tremendous surprise but a very nice one. Thank you again to the Australian Writers’ Centre (AWC), and also to Random House and Trafalgar for my fantastic prizes – I’m especially excited about visiting Turkey in October.

Creating posts for The Hungry Australian is a joyful exercise, using so many different skills and challenging me each time I begin a draft post. I am someone who is easily bored but I can’t imagine becoming bored with blogging because I find it so creatively fulfilling: I’m always trying to improve what I do and there are always new things I want to learn.

Constant learning and creative fulfilment aside, the thing I love most about blogging is all the wonderful, food-loving people it has brought into my life. It still amazes me that this little blog connects me with people all over the world and has opened so many doors for me. It just goes to show that a shared passion for food can make friends of strangers.

Thank you for being part of The Hungry Australian and sharing in my pursuit of a delicious life. Without loyal readers and supporters, this blog would be a very different place so thank you for your comments, emails, shares, re-tweets, pins and posts. I look forward to sharing more stories, recipes and write-ups of exceptional food and travel experiences with you over the coming year.

White Chocolate & Feijoa Cupcakes

My daughter is sensitive and articulate and loves spending hours on the couch reading and writing in her diary. Differently, my son is boisterous and exuberant and enjoys racing his toy cars along the walls. They are chalk and cheese in many ways and yet they both share a deep love for food and a helpful willingness to be bribed by it.

But even with food their tastes diverge: my daughter loves anything made with vanilla but doesn’t like chocolate while my son has a deep and constant love for chocolate. So when considering what to cook for this post, I decided to make something that we could all happily eat. So I made a white chocolate and feijoa version of these Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes.

A word on the ganache: after I’d beaten it I decided to Instagram the beater:

When I took the beater back to the kitchen and checked the mixing bowl the ganache had already started to set! I quickly reattached the beater to my KitchenAid, beat it again and the ganache became pliable again but the texture was not quite as satiny smooth as before. The moral of this story? Don’t muck around trying to post pics as you make these: when the ganache is freshly beaten and ready to use, start icing immediately.

I haven’t gone down the fancy icing path because these cupcakes should not be saved for that once a year special celebration – these cupcakes should be eaten as often as a balanced diet will allow and I don’t faff around with icing bags for our everyday eats.

How do these cupcakes taste? Well, my ex ate three cupcakes while mumbling something about them being the best cupcakes he’d ever eaten. I’m not sure about that but these are definitely my new favourite cupcakes. I hope you enjoy them, too.

INGREDIENTS

• 125 grams unsalted butter
• 100 grams white chocolate, broken into pieces
• 240 grams feijoa and rosella jam (I used this).
• 60 grams apricot jam
• 2 large eggs at room temperature, beaten
• 40 grams sugar
• Pinch salt
• 150 grams self-raising flour
• 150 grams white chocolate, broken into little pieces
• 150 mls double or thickened cream
• Silver, gold and/or white pearls to decorate

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a 12-serve muffin tray with muffin cups.
2. Melt butter in a small saucepan and then add chocolate. Take off the heat and stir with a wooden spoon until chocolate has completely melted.
3. Add jam, sugar, salt and eggs and mix until combined.
4. Add flour and then mix until fully combined.
5. Spoon mixture evenly into 12 muffin containers  and bake for 25 minutes.
6. Leave in tin for ten minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. To make ganache, add cream and chocolate to a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from heat then let cool for 10 minutes.
8. Transfer ganache to your mixing bowl then beat with an electric mixer for a few minutes until thick.
9. Ice the cupcakes with an offset spatula or dessert spoon, smoothing the tops.
10. Decorate cupcakes with balls or sprinkles.
11. Once made store in an air-tight container if not serving straight away. You can refrigerate these but make sure you take them out 30 minutes before eating so they return to room temperature. Best eaten within 2-3 days.

NOTES

• If you can’t find feijoa and rosella jam try using apricot or fig jam instead.

More cake recipes

• Strawberry and Rhubarb Upside Down Cake
• Berry Birthday Cake
• Fig & Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Balsamic Glaze
• Sponge Cake with Berries and Cherries
• Rosewater, Cardamon and Pistachio Bundt Cake

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Nearly everything that has happened since I started The Hungry Australian in mid 2011 has been a welcome surprise. But nothing has been quite as surprising (astonishing?) as finding out on Wednesday that I’d won the Australian Best Blogs 2014 competition organised by the Australian Writers’ Centre (AWC). 

*Mind blown*

A huge thank you to AWC national director Valerie Khoo, judge Carli Ratcliff and everyone else at the AWC who worked on these awards. Thank you also to competition sponsors Trafalgar and Random House. I’m so excited about all the fantastic prizes I’ve won. You have collectively made my day, week, month and year!

I’d also like to congratulate all the talented bloggers who were this year’s finalists and winners. Do check them out.

Nowadays, I’m a slashie: I’m a writer/photographer/recipe developer/food stylist/consultant/blogger. Everything that I do on this blog I now do for my clients, depending on what’s required. Turns out having an eternally curious mind (short attention span) and a broad range of skills (could never do just one thing) are good things in this new, digital economy. But I am a writer first and foremost because it’s something I have to do, regardless of whether anyone is reading. So winning this writing-focused competition is especially meaningful to me.

Now following in the footsteps of the three previous competition winners — Cook Republic (2013), Edenland (2012) and Styling You (2011) — is a tremendous honour but it is also somewhat intimidating. However, I’ve come to realise that the best way I can honour the judges’ decision is to continue doing what I’ve always done, which is to blog the stories that mean something to me and that hopefully resonate with readers, too.

So you won’t be seeing any dramatic changes in terms of content on The Hungry Australian: I’ll continue sharing my own recipes, stories about myself, my family and friends, and write-ups of exceptional travel and dining experiences. I will buy a new camera lens and some props I’ve been eyeing for some time but that’s about as far as it goes. 

Now while blogging itself is a solitary occupation I wouldn’t be the blogger I am today if it wasn’t for the support, help and love of family and friends. 

*Drum roll*

Thank you to …

My friend, Kerina, who suggested that I start a blog. To which I replied, “What’s a blog?”

My parents, who still aren’t quite sure what I do, but who support me in too many ways to count, and who look after my kids so well every time I take off on a work/media trip.

My kids, who keep me grounded and make me laugh every single day.

My brother, who helps out with computer stuff and rolls his eyes when I talk.

My ex husband, who let me share some of our stories and a few of his recipes here.

The talented bloggers —  Cyn, Peter, Billy and John — in the Servved network.

Adelaide bloggers, Erin, Celeste, Tash, George, Alex, Kirsty and Shai, plus others blogger buddies throughout Australia and beyond. You know who you are and I’m very glad we’re friends.

Great local photographers, Grant and Kevin, who took the photos of me on my About page.

Andrew and Johan for technical support at different times.

Last, but certainly not least, thank you for reading The Hungry Australian and allowing me into your life. Thank you for your comments. Thank you for subscribing. Thank you for sharing my blog via your likes, shares, re-blogs, re-tweets and pins. Thank you for reaching out to me. Thank you for sharing your own stories and anecdotes with me.

Here’s to a delicious life!!

Christina xx

Layered Pavlova with Pomegranate and Flowers

I know there has been a glut of desserts on The Hungry Australian lately but I just had to bake a cake to celebrate this award. After considering several ideas, I decided to do a version of Pavlova, my favourite Australian dessert. I’ve previously blogged a Raspberry and Pomegranate Layered Pavlova recipe and this is the same recipe with some minor adjustments. It was a bit of work to prep the flowers but a special occasion calls for a special cake.

INGREDIENTS

• 10 egg whites
• Large pinch salt
• 2.5 cups sugar
• 5 teaspoons corn flour
• 2.5 teaspoons white or red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean extract
• 725 mls thickened cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean extract
• 2 large pomegranates, seeds only
• Assorted flowers to decorate

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Line three baking trays with baking paper and draw a 20cm circle on each.
3. Wipe mixing bowl with vinegar and then beat egg whites with salt until soft peaks form.
4. Add sugar in five batches (1/2 cup at a team), beating thoroughly between each addition until meringue is thick and shiny. Try holding the bowl upside down – if the meringue doesn’t move, it’s thick enough!
5. Add cornflour, vinegar and vanilla extract and gently fold in.
6. Divide mixture equally between three baking trays and spread gently to fill in the circle shape (an offset spatula is great for this). Smooth the top and the sides.
7. Place the trays in the oven and immediately reduce heat to 120 degrees Celsius. Bake pavlovas for 90 minutes and then turn off heat, leaving them to cool in the oven.
8. When ready to assemble, whip cream with 1 teaspoon vanilla bean extract.
9. Take one pavlova and spread with a third of the cream, leaving a 2 cm gap around the edge. Decorate with 1/3 of the pomegranate seeds and then repeat with a second layer.
10. Place the final pavlova on top  and cover with cream.
11. Decorate the top layer with fresh flowers as prepared below and half of the remaining pomegranate seeds.

NOTES

• I suggest you read my previous Raspberry and Pomegranate Layered Pavlova recipe before you begin this one for some extra assembly tips.
• Fresh flowers are not food safe unless they have been organically grown and are free of pesticides. And some flowers are poisonous and/or dangerous for human consumption even if they have been grown organically. So unless you are certain of the flower type and its source it’s best to prepare all flowers with a barrier between the flowers and the cake.
• Gently wash and leave flowers to air dry. Work out where you want to place the flowers and then cut stems accordingly.
• If inserting the flowers into the cake, wrap the stem completely in florist tape (available from florists, naturally) before inserting the wrapped stem into the cake.
• For flowers that will be placed onto the cake, place small  and unobtrusive discs of cling wrap on top of the cake before you carefully place the flowers on top.
• To insert flower stems into pavlova, use a sharp knife to pierce the cling wrap to make a hole and then insert the flower through.
• To serve, remove the flowers and cling wrap and then scatter the top of the pavlova with the remaining pomegranate seeds.

My favourite posts

Some of you have been reading The Hungry Australian from the very beginning, some of you joined in along the way and some of you are no doubt new readers, curious to see what all the fuss is about. For new readers, here’s a selection of my favourite posts. I’ve love to redo some of the photography and food styling but these are the stories I like best. 

 Posts about family

• Cockling at Goolwa Beach
• My Grandmother’s Penang Assam Laksa
• Thai Prawn Salad
• Red Bean Soup
• The Smelly Cheese Shop Cheese Appreciation Class
• Collingrove Homestead
• A birthday cake for my brother

Posts with a recipe

• Sponge Cake with Berries and Cherries
• Anne of Green Gables and an Upside Down Plum Cake
• Messy Pavlova or Eton Mess Down Under Style
• Mini Chilli and Caramelised Onion Jam Tarts
• Red Lentil Dahl for a rainy day
• Mini Trifles, Robert Frost and new beginnings
• Bruschetta with Quail Egg, Truffle Paste and Asparagus

Posts about exceptional travel and dining experiences

• Exploring Dubai: Spices, Gold, Diamonds, Fruit and Vegetables
• Discovering Tasmania: Kate’s Berry Farm, Palate at Saffire Freycinet, Freycinet Lodge, Freycinet National Park and Freycinet Marine Farm
• Hamilton Island Race Week, Kylie Kwong Lunch and Shannon Bennet (Vue de Monde) Dinner
• Discovering Queensland’s Food Producers at South Bank’s Regional Flavours Festival
• Duncan’s Dungeon: First Froots dinner with Duncan Welgemoed (Bistro Dom) at Lola’s Pergola

Posts about blogging

• How to blog about food: 8 tips for new, emerging and aspiring food bloggers
• Bloggers and brands: why we’re (mostly) doing it wrong
• The business of food styling, a Denise Vivaldo workshop and 12 tips for aspiring food stylists
• Where to next for Eat Drink Blog, the Australian Food Bloggers Conference?
• Eat Drink Blog 2: the Australian Food Bloggers Conference. A write up of the 2011 conference.

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