Welcome to The Real Blogger Project!
It is one day where bloggers are giving their readers (and other bloggers!) a no holds barred, behind the scenes look at what really goes on when a blogger is creating a new post for their blog...
There may be a little more that goes into the final posting of a Frugal Foodie Mama recipe than you all may think.
Typically, a new recipe on my blog starts with an idea that more than likely comes to me at night as I am falling asleep or early in the morning while I am lying in bed awake.
That spark of an idea is then followed by a decent amount of Google research to see if it has already been done and what worked and didn't work with their recipes. Sometimes I have been inspired by a recipe I already love from another blogger or recipe site.
In the case of the recipe I am showing you a behind the scenes look at today, it was inspired by Julie's Eats & Treats' Homemade Beer Bread. (Seriously, all. This beer bread recipe is so easy and delicious!) Her beer bread recipe is perfectly delicious as is, but I had an idea to add my own little flavor spin to it.
Please tell me I am not the only one who does this. Every time I cook or bake with brown sugar, I have to snag a spoonful right out of the bag! :) (And no, not with the same spoon that I measured the sugar with for the recipe!)
I call it the sacrificial spoonful to the baker.
This is my typical "chef" wear- pajama pants and a tank top. No, I am not always cooking and baking in a pretty dress and a vintage apron. ;) I know that is how you all picture me, right? (Just say yes...)
This is the "mess". Yeah, I know. It isn't much of one. This was the rare occasion in which a recipe I made only required one bowl. That doesn't happen often, folks. ;)
To be fair, I usually end up with a sink full of dirty dishes.
And I am also one of those "weird" people who isn't comfortable cooking or baking in a dirty kitchen, so I always clean it up before starting a new recipe.
Just to dirty it up again.
At this point, the recipe is all written out and ready for me to type up later. I hand write all of my recipes for the blog in good old fashioned composition books. I just bought composition book #3 this past week.
And welcome to my photography "studio"! :)
Presently, the room in my house that gets the best natural lighting during the day is my teenage son's room. So, yeah... I invade it with my backdrops and food props a few times a week. I use a folding wooden lap table for my staging area. The "chalkboard" backdrop is actually a black foam board that I scribble on with chalk and then I smeared and smudged in the chalk marks with a cloth.
And yes, that is one of my cats in the background just chilling in the papasan chair... typical. ;)
After shooting this recipe (maybe a total of 15 minutes?), this is what I come back into the living room to find...
Oh, here's the mess! ;) She decided it would be better to paint her face with her chocolate milk rather than drink it. And you all are not even seeing what her outfit looked like!
So, that recipe photo shoot was immediately followed by giving baby girl a bath.
You all know that I couldn't end this post without giving you a little delicious sneak peek of this new recipe coming to the blog very soon (like before the end of the month soon!)...
There is still a bit more that goes into a finished recipe post. I have uploaded all of the recipe photos from this shoot to my laptop, but I still have to choose the 3-4 that I will use in my actual post and then edit them. Then there is the actual writing of the post and the typing up of the recipe.
And then once the recipe post goes live, there is the social media promotion through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and so on...
A blogger's work is never done! :)
So, what did you all think? Were you surprised by anything in this post?
Is there anything else you would like to know about the glamorous behind the scenes life of a food blogger that I maybe didn't mention? ;)
Be sure to check out the behind the scenes posts from the other bloggers taking part in The Real Blogger Project today! They are all linked up below...
