Food blogging

My 15 favourite things from Eat Drink Blog 6 #EDB15

Posted by Gary

Here is a list of my 15 favourite things from Eat Drink Blog 6. This is the best food blogger conference I’ve ever attended. It’s the only food blogger conference I’ve attended (so far).

The food

The quality and quantity of food was exceptional. My only concern about quantity was at The Hamlet on Friday night when it just kept on coming and for the first time in my life I said no to schnitzel. I just hope none of the lovely food was wasted. I know the CEO sleep out was on that night. I hope Canberra’s homeless people had an opportunity to enjoy our bounty.

The Hamlet

Who knew there was so much on offer at The Hamlet. I’ve walked past a few times and looked in but didn’t realise just how many vendors are there and how vibrant the place is.

This is a photograph of pizza at The Hamlet as Eat Drink Blog 6 opens
Pizza at The Hamlet as Eat Drink Blog 6 opens
This is a photograph of the Chief Minister giving a short sharp speech to open Eat Drink Blog 6 in Canberra at The Hamlet
The Chief Minister giving a short sharp speech to open Eat Drink Blog 6 in Canberra at The Hamlet
This is a photograph of Amanda Whitley of HerCanberra, the major sponsor of Eat Drink Blog 6 at The Hamlet
Amanda Whitley of HerCanberra, the major sponsor of Eat Drink Blog 6 at The Hamlet

I’m thinking on Fridays as I leave work at the hospital, I might have to swing past and pick up something from the Spit Shack. I managed to snare a lovely big piece of roasted lamb fat as well as a delicious rolled roast pork sandwich.

This is a photograph of a Pie Day pie with mushy peas and mashed potato at The Hamlet at Eat Drink Blog 6
A Pie Day pie with mushy peas and mashed potato at The Hamlet at Eat Drink Blog 6
This is a photograph of a huge lamb sambo from the Spit Shack at Eat Drink Blog 6
A huge lamb sambo from the Spit Shack at Eat Drink Blog 6
This is a photograph of a Pork roll from the Spit Shack at The Hamlet for Eat Drink Blog 6
Pork roll from the Spit Shack at The Hamlet for Eat Drink Blog 6
This is a photograph of Fran Marshall from the Food Marshall having all the whiskey at Marble and Grain
Fran Marshall from the Food Marshall having all the whiskey at Marble and Grain

 

Sitting on the grass at the Capital Regional Farmers Market meeting bloggers

On the Saturday morning we went to the Capital Regional Farmers Market for a cooking demonstration and breakfast. I had a cheese and spinach gözleme. As it got closer to bus pick up time, a bunch of us wandered outside and sat on the grass. It was good to meet many of the bloggers I’ve been following on social media but have never met in person.

This is a photograph of the Capital Regional Farmers Market cooking demonstration. Croquembouche.
Capital Regional Farmers Market cooking demonstration. Croquembouche.
This is a photograph of the Capital Regional Farmers Market cooking demonstration. Croquembouche.
Capital Regional Farmers Market cooking demonstration. Croquembouche.
This is a photograph of my breakfast, Gozleme from the Capital Regional Farmers Market
Gozleme from the Capital Regional Farmers Market

Matthew Evans and his stories about Canberra in the 1970s

I never realised the Gourmet Farmer grew up in Canberra and completed his chef apprenticeship here. Matthew shared stories of the Canberra food scene in the 1970s and how he went from chef to writer and reviewer. He also shared some stories about litigation and then his transition to the Gourmet Farmer.

This is a photograph of Matthew Evans at Eat Drink Blog 6
Matthew Evans at Eat Drink Blog 6 with Lady Larissa flowers in the background
This is a photograph of the Lunch voucher for Saturday at Eat Drink Blog 6 on my thigh
Lunch voucher for Saturday at Eat Drink Blog 6
This is a photograph of half of Tin Can's menu at Westside Acton Park Shipping Container Village
Half of Tin Can’s menu at Westside Acton Park Shipping Container Village
This is a photograph of Erin from Mouthless Mutters at Tin Can at Westside Acton Park Shipping Container Village
Tin Can at Westside Acton Park Shipping Container Village with Erin from Mouthless Mutters
This is a photograph of Tin Can surf and turf bao pack with pork, fish, prawn and soft shelled crab at Westside Acton Park Shipping Container Village
Tin Can surf and turf bao pack with pork, fish, prawn and soft shelled crab at Westside Acton Park Shipping Container Village
This is a photograph of Sugar cane juice from Tin Can at Westside Acton Park
Sugar cane juice from Tin Can at Westside Acton Park with Le Court in the background
This is a photograph from inside the Aviary Westside Acton Park | Shipping Container Village Canberra | Free wine for bloggers at Eat Drink Blog 6
Inside the Aviary Westside Acton Park | Shipping Container Village Canberra | Free wine for bloggers at Eat Drink Blog 6
This is a photograph from the Aviary room at Westside Acton Park | Shipping Container Village Canberra
The view from the Aviary Westside Acton Park | Shipping Container Village Canberra

Food photography and video tips from Tess Godkin and Alice Lau

Both Tess and Alice were awesome sharing some of their knowledge on photography and videography. Some Canberra food bloggers are keen to learn more from Alice about her smartphone photography and videography skills. Alice also has her own Girl in a Food Frenzy YouTube channel which I highly recommend you subscribe to.

This is a photograph of Tess from Tess Godkin Photography shooting a salad she's just styled
This is a photograph of Tess from Tess Godkin Photography shooting a salad she’s just styled

Dinner at A. Baker and the lamb neck

This is a photograph of some of the bloggers sitting at tables on an outside terrace at A. Baker for Eat Drink Blog 6
An outside terrace at A. Baker for Eat Drink Blog 6
A photograph of Shaved cured meats, A. Baker bread, olive oil
Shaved cured meats, A. Baker bread, olive oil
This is a photograph of an entrée plate of Shaw River buffallo mozzarella, black garlic, smoked walnuts, quinoa
Shaw River buffallo mozzarella, black garlic, smoked walnuts, quinoa
This is a photograph of an entrée plate of Braised octopus, skordalia, baked panchetta, blood orange , almond
Braised octopus, skordalia, baked panchetta, blood orange , almond
This is a photograph of my main meal. Charred lamb neck , harissa, bean, radish and sumac salad, smoked whipped ricotta at A. Baker.
Charred lamb neck , harissa, bean, radish and sumac salad, smoked whipped ricotta at A. Baker
This is a photograph of dessert, a Black sesame bavaro is, strawberries, pink peppercorn meringue, sorrel at A. Baker
Black sesame bavaro is, strawberries, pink peppercorn meringue, sorrel at A. Baker

The A. Baker dinner was a gala event so instead of shorts I wore jeans (because I’m classy lol). I was fortunate to be at a table with bloggers who didn’t consume vast quantities of food which meant I was in a fantastic position to enjoy not just the impeccable quality but a good quantity of glorious locally produced food to sate my appetite. It was great to be at a dinner and see everyone bring out their cameras to shoot food. I think all bloggers have family and friends who query the need to shoot a photograph of every dish at a dinner, but at A. Baker there were no qualms. The wait staff were amazing and happily enabled the food photography frenzy that went on.

As much as I love shooting RAW, I have discovered for social media purposes the JPEG photographs I wirelessly transferred at the time to share on Instagram and Twitter were less noisy than the RAW images I’ve processed and shared here.

I’ll be writing and sharing a separate post on this session later.

Brathaus spicy pork and Moroccan lamb bangers with egg roll for breakfast

Given my eating faux pas from the Friday night when I said no to some Brathaus schnitzel I made up for it with a Brathaus spicy pork and Moroccan lamb roll with a fried egg for breakfast on Sunday at the Nishi Gallery.

This is a photograph of my Sunday breakfast, a Spicy pork and Moroccan lamb sausages with egg roll at Eat Drink Blog 6 from the Brathaus, Canberra
Spicy pork and Moroccan lamb sausages with egg roll at Eat Drink Blog 6 from the Brathaus, Canberra
This is a photograph of a sculpture of a fat man with man boobs and big belly. Nissi Gallery Public Art making man boobs fashionable in Canberra.
Nissi Gallery Public Art making man boobs fashionable in Canberra

A. Baker almond and custard pastry

After a savoury breakfast you need coffee and cake. The almond and custard croissant from A. Baker was a perfect sweet balance. The coffee from six8 coffee roasters was also pretty good and helped stimulate my neural networks which were craving sleep after a late night out. I needed stimulating because the Merry Maker Sisters are just so perky.

This is a photograph of an A. Baker Almond and custard croissant
A. Baker Almond and custard croissant
This is a photograph of the Six8 Coffee Roasters caravan at Eat Drink Blog 6
Six8 Coffee Roasters at Eat Drink Blog 6

Listening to Tara’s deep husky voice after a late night at A. Baker

It would be inappropriate for me to comment on Tara’s partying at A. Baker. Suffice to say on Sunday morning as master of ceremonies and panel facilitator, Tara sounded a little tired. At one point she was trying to get bloggers back to their seats and I think she would have preferred mind control over raising her voice.

It’s always nice to hear a story about Cooper her loyal and trusty whippet.

This is a photograph of Tara Cheyne as the MC on Sunday at Eat Drink Blog 6 with Carly Jacobs (Smaggle)
Tara Cheyne as the MC on Sunday at Eat Drink Blog 6 with Carly Jacobs (Smaggle)

Cooking demonstration and lunch at The Boathouse by the Lake

The Boathouse by the Lake is one of my favourite Canberra restaurants. I’d eaten there twice prior to Eat Drink Blog 6. It was great to meet the owner, James Souter; two of the chefs, John Leverink and Alex O’Brien; and the sommelier, Kate Hibberson. I’ll be writing and sharing a separate post on this session later.

This is a photograph of Lake Burley Griffin from The Boathouse by the Lake
Lake Burley Griffin from The Boathouse by the Lake
This is a photograph of the final plating up of Yellow fin tuna, avocado, chicken skin crackling and wasabi jelly with wasabi sesame seeds
Yellow fin tuna, avocado, chicken skin crackling and wasabi jelly with wasabi sesame seeds. Sorry about the blur associated with the tips of the forceps, chicken skin crackling and herbs.
This is a black and white photograph of The Boathouse by the Lake chefs JOHN LEVERINK and ALEX O'BRIEN
The Boathouse by the Lake chefs JOHN LEVERINK and ALEX O’BRIEN
The photograph is of a main meal of Duck breast, almond tofu, mustard and legumes
Duck breast, almond tofu, mustard and legumes
The photograph is of a dessert made up of Smoked chocolate ice cream, beetroots, speculaas, and baby coriander
Smoked chocolate ice cream, beetroots, speculaas, and baby coriander

The hospitality

It was overwhelming. I often caveat my comments about Canberra along the lines that except for the horrid dry weather, I love the people, I love that it’s a small town with no traffic and that it’s spread out so I can enjoy driving my car (I’m a proud owner of diesel VW lol I wonder when the recall will occur!). The friendliness, helpfulness and generosity of local Canberra business people couldn’t be better exemplified than by the demonstration of generosity they made to everyone who participated in Eat Drink Blog 6. The hospitality was tremendous. Please visit the sponsors page at the Eat Drink Blog website for more information on these generous Canberra business people.

The organising committee

The organising committee of Eat Drink Blog 6 did a fantastic job of developing a program that showcased part of the burgeoning Canberra food scene along with sessions that were important for bloggers to develop their craft. We heard about search engine optimisation, food photography, videography, restaurant review writing and blogging to earn money and for some, make a living.

I cannot imagine how much time and effort went into meeting with potential sponsors, securing sponsors and venues and then nailing it all down. applause for the organising committee.

The bloggers I met

It goes without saying part of the reason for attending a bloggers’ conference is to meet people we only know virtually. It was really good to meet people in real life. Many of the interactions were fleeting but it’s nice to have that little connection. It’ll make commenting on posts a little more meaningful having met the person behind the keyboard.

The freedom to pull out my camera and shoot food carefree and happy

I’ve sort of already alluded to this but I’m a bit of a gear nerd and part of why I like blogging is the photography. I just like the idea that with a twist of a lens, a thought to the exposure triangle, a press of a shutter button, with a little processing and uploading of electrons we can share our photographs with each other. Add a few words and click publish and we have shared something of ourselves.

I really liked seeing what everyone was shooting with. It ranged from smartphones to small point and shoots to mirrorless systems to big arsed DSLR cameras. One blogger had a D700 with a battery grip. That says commitment!

My first ACTION bus ride

If it wasn’t for Eat Drink Blog 6 I would still have never caught an ACTION bus. The big bendy bus and others we rode were all comfortable and clean.

Things I didn’t like

  • The end was too soon. I’m sure I could have eaten more if I had bigger trousers.
  • Saying goodbye to new friends. Not to worry, I’ll continue to follow them online.
  • Reaching a new belt hole milestone. This isn’t good. I’m planning a summer holiday.
  • Having to say no to schnitzel on Friday night. First time. Never again.

 

If you attended Eat Drink Blog 6 what were your favourite things?

 

If you want to see the photographs as a gallery click here. Click on one image to see it full size. To see the EXIF data (including a map if the photograph was geotagged) click on the information (i) icon in the top right corner. You can navigate through the gallery using the arrow keys or by swiping if you’re using a tablet or smartphone.

Link love for Eat Drink Blog 6

One of the things we learnt from Todd was how link love can help.

I’ll build on this list as I get more links from Canberra Food Bloggers.

Serina Eat Drink Blog – a frugalista overview

Erin Want to know where to eat in Canberra? Follow the food bloggers: Eat Drink Blog 2015

Rose Eat Drink Blog 6 – Australian Food and Drink Bloggers Conference Canberra

Serena Eat Drink Blog 2015

Flore  My first Eat Drink Blog

Chrissy Eat Drink Blog Repeat

Sandra EDB 15 Canberra, a food bloggers conference

Fiona The wine of Eat Drink Blog 6

Jodie EDB, a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach

Anisa Eat Drink Blog 6, A wrap up

Michele EXPLORING SOME OF CANBERRA’S BEST FOODIE HAUNTS PART 1 – AT THE HAMLET WITH EAT DRINK BLOG 2015

Michele EXPLORING SOME OF CANBERRA’S BEST FOODIE HAUNTS PART 2 – AT WESTSIDE WITH EAT DRINK BLOG 2015

Michele EXPLORING SOME OF CANBERRA’S BEST FOODIE HAUNTS PART 3 – AT CAPITAL REGION FARMERS MARKET WITH EAT DRINK BLOG 2015

Michele EXPLORING SOME OF CANBERRA’S BEST PART 4 – LOCAL FOODS AND DRINKS WITH EAT DRINK BLOG 2015

Shari LIFE: EAT.DRINK.BLOG – MY 5 FAVOURITE PARTS OF THE CONFERENCE

Alex Eat Drink Blog 2015… Food, fun and photo freedom

Ang EDB15 – One Month On: Eat Drink Blog Canberra and What I Learned

Alice Eat drink blog 2015

Nicole EAT DRINK BLOG LEARN

Fran Eat Drink Blog 15 – A Post in Pictures (1 of 3)

Liz Eat Drink Blog 2015 – Postcards and morsels and a little slice of history

Beck Canberra – a Love Story

Why I write? A Blog Hop on Yummy Lummy

Posted by Gary

You might have seen this thing called Blog Hop going around blogs locally and internationally. It’s a chance to gain a little insight into the minds and motivations of bloggers, and an opportunity to reflect when answering the questions yourself.

Lisa from Bake Bike Blog passed the ‘blog-hop-baton’ to me. Lisa is a Canberra local who cooks, rides, runs and blogs. I’m mainly in touch with Lisa through Instagram where she shares images of her delicious food, her child and selfies after she’s been for a run or ride.

The blog Hop posed the following questions…

What I am working on?

I really don’t plan my writing. It basically happens and depends on what I’m eating. Any planning that does occur is a result of weekly meal planning or going out to a restaurant.

The main thing I’ve been doing is migrating from WordPress.com to WordPress.org and working out the joys of a self hosted blog.

The other thing I’m doing is teaching myself as much about photography and food photography as possible from watching YouTube videos and reading blogs. I’ve always had an interest in photography, although food is a very different subject to photomicroscopy and clinical wound photography 🙂  Moving from film to digital has made it a lot easier (yes I’m old enough to know about film).

How does my writing differ from others in the genre?

For Yummy Lummy I try to write as little as possible. I’ve never thought of myself as a writer. Of course I do a lot of writing but very little of it is creative. High school was mainly technical and descriptive. University was much the same. As a clinician my writing is brief and pointed with information relevant for patient care.

I’m always in awe of other food bloggers. They have marvellous descriptions of their food. Many of them tell stories, sometime related to the food and sometimes completely unrelated to the food. At times though, when I start reading another blog, if the text is too long I skip to the images.

You may have noticed when I write recipes I do them in my own way. I hardly refer to quantities. Everything is in dot points. I’m not sure there’s a subject and predicate in every sentence. That said, if I baked like I used to, everything would be written like it’s a scientific report with exact quantities and a methodology that would resemble a laboratory manual. In my mind, baking is like making media in a microbiology laboratory kitchen. When I was training we used to cook pavlova with science grade sugar and egg whites that were left over after making egg yolk agar. We could also steam Christmas puddings in the industrial steamer. If I ever get back to baking I’d design my blog like a laboratory manual with emphasis on quality management and it would be compliant with ISO 15189 lol 🙂

Why do I write?

I often ask myself why do I blog? It’s the same as why do I tweet? Why do I share where I am on Foursquare? Why do I post status updates on Facebook? I’m a show off. I like to share with people what I know. I’m also competitive. Getting points for Foursquare check ins is a game to me. I’m hopeless with computer games but for me Foursquare is a game. Social media including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and blogging allows me to show off what I know. Of course I am careful what I share. I keep quiet about much of my life. We all have rules governing what we do and codes of conduct to adhere to. I think social media and blogging is my reaction to the rules of life. 

How does my writing process work?

Being a food blogger makes the process easy. I don’t need creative juices to come up with an idea. If I’m going out to eat that’s the motivation already sorted out. If I’m cooking dinner, I know that I’ll capture an image and post it on twitter, instagram and facebook. If the food looks good enough to share a recipe then it will become a blog post.

Technically a lot depends on the quality of a photograph. For restaurant food I use a Canon point and shoot camera (Canon PowerShot G16). For home I use a Nikon DSLR (Nikon D5300). I shoot in RAW and process in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. I have my MacBook set up with a DropBox so that as soon as images are loaded from an SD card they’re imported and the file names are changed to a YYYY-MM-DD_HH.MM.SS format. In Lightroom the processing automatically converts the final jpg to an image 2400 pixels long, the image is geotagged and a watermark is added.

I now blog using WordPress.org and I usually write in the native application adding images manually.

Now it’s time to pass on the Blog Hop baton. I’ve chosen two Canberra food bloggers. Elias and Michele are relatively new to blogging. I enjoy their posts and I hope you will follow their work. I’ve asked Elais and Michele to share a little about themselves.

A photo of Michele Walton and Elias Hallaj
Michele Walton and Elias Hallaj

Elias Hallaj | CBR Foodie

Elias started the food blog CBRfoodie in 2014 to identify affordable and tasty food in Canberra and share food stories. He’s lived in Canberra for 14 years and has a home in West Belconnen that he shares with his lovely wife, their five children, two dogs and two cats. As there is no money in being a food blogger he earns a living working for the Labor Party. Elias says he can talk for hours about politics and campaigning if prompted, but is equally comfortable spending time with his family eating honest food and watching the occasional zombie movie.

Michele Walton | Fine Eating

Moving back to Canberra where she grew up, after many years in a small country town, Michele feels totally spoilt by all the amazing dining opportunities. She’s always loved the way food brings people together and adds joy and flair to life. But it seems that so often, enjoying food and especially eating out often with friends makes it very difficult to also have a healthy weight. As a dietitian, Michele spent her professional life helping people tweak what they love to eat to lose weight and be healthy. So she’s always on the look out for a great tool or tip that works. When she finds one, it’s too good to keep to herself, she has to share it around.

Bloggers and Blogs mentioned

Lisa Bake Bike Blog http://www.bakebikeblog.com/

Elias CBR Foodie http://cbrfoodie.org/

Michele Fine Eating http://fineeating.wordpress.com/