We are excited to announce another exclusive contest open only to the Association of Food Bloggers Members. We are challenging members of the Association to come up with their own creative recipe featuring SERV International‘s product in the SERV’n It Up Contest. The contest is being run in conjunction with SERV International, an organization that provides meals to impoverished countries for the cost of a nickel. Participants have six weeks to come up with their own unique recipe.

SERV International will provide the contest participants with a generous supply of the mix to craft their own tantalizing recipe, in return for their posting their own original recipe that will be showcased on their blog or website. Participants are encouraged to use any ingredients they like (including meat). Get creative with the recipe – make it ethnic, or even a dessert.

The winner will be chosen by Association of Food Bloggers founder, Malika Harricharan, and members of the SERV International Team. The winner of the best recipe will:
• Be featured in the SERV International Cookbook (along with other contestants)
• Be featured on the SERV International website
• Have their recipe featured at the SERV Ball in Atlanta on December 9th. The meal will be prepared by a noted local chef with credit to the winner.

Interested? To enter, contact Malika Harricharan: info (at) associationoffoodbloggers.org. Please provide a link to your site and tell us why you would like to enter the SERV’n It Up Contest. Deadline to enter is April 25.

Terms:

• Bloggers must use, mention and hyperlink to SERV International and the Association of Food Bloggers in their post
• Must include at least 2 photos on their site
• Recipe must be their own creation (with the SERV product as the base)
• Must mention that a life saving meal is only 5 cents via SERV International
• All recipes must be live by June 20, 2013

About SERV International
SERV International is a non-profit organization located in Atlanta, GA that provides meals for impoverished nations through donations. Most of their supply goes to Kenya and the Dominican Republic. Their meal packets come in dry form and when heated and mixed with water they provide vital nutrients to starving individuals. They are also high in calories with each packet providing 680 calories.

Serv International is doing amazing things to help feed those less fortunate. In some of these countries, the children are still only fed one meal every OTHER day. Bloggers, even if you don’t enter the contest, you can still help spread the word. Blog, Facebook, Tweet, etc, about these life saving meals. Please use the hashtag #5centmeal.

To enter the contest, email Malika – info (at) associationoffoodbloggers.org. Hurry, deadline is April 25th. We can’t wait to see the tantalizing recipes you’ll come up with!

We were lucky to get an interview with Chef Rebecca Lang. Rebecca Lang is a food writer, cooking instructor, television personality, and a ninth-generation Southerner. Born and raised in South Georgia, she is author of Southern Living’s Around the Southern Table, and several other cookbooks.

She has appeared on Fox & Friends Weekend, WGN America’s Midday News, and numerous regional and local networks. Rebecca and her cooking have been featured in more than 50 nationally televised Southern Living food segments and in other publications such as The Washington Post, Wine Enthusiast, The Daily Meal, Glamour and Fitness magazines.

She serves as a contributing editor for Southern Living and myrecipes.com, teaches cooking classes across America, and writes a blog that has been featured on the James Beard Foundation Blog, Delights and Prejudices, and noted in Food News Journal’s Best of the Blogs.

Q&A with Rebecca Lang:
You’ve spoken fondly of your grandmother, Tom. Is that where your inspiration to cook came from? 
Absolutely. She was the most talented cook I’ve ever known. Tom was also happy each day, just to be alive, and good to the very core of her soul. I am so blessed to have known and loved her.
 
Do you have any cooking traditions / recipes that you share with your children?
I keep as many family traditions alive as I can in the kitchen. Food, recipes, and cooking techniques are as much as part of tradition as browsing through old family photos. My children know where my skillets came from, the way Tom’s biscuits looked, and why sitting at the table is so important.
 
What is your favorite kitchen tool? 
It would be a tie between a fish spatula and a Microplane. Zest makes everything better so I use my Microplane nearly daily. A fish spatula stirs grits better than any other utensil. I just bought two more so I always have one at arm’s length.

What food is your guilty pleasure? Cake batter. Sometimes I make a cake just for a batter fix. Needless to say, the cakes tend to turn out a bit smaller than intended.
 
What is your favorite food trend right now?
I’m not sure it’s a trend, since it’s such a foundation of food, but I’m thrilled that we’re moving into a realm where people are demanding food with little or no preservatives and without ingredients no one can pronounce. We must be conscious and careful of what our children eat.
 
You’ve traveled extensively. What is your favorite eating city? 
It’s a tie between Austin, TX and San Francisco. Of all the places I’ve visited, they are two of the most inventive food cities but still very comfortable and approachable.
 
Atlanta has gained much attention in the last couple years, much in part due to the Atlanta Food and Wine Festival. As someone who resides in the area, do you have a favorite restaurant / dish? 
I could eat pimento cheese at Empire State South all day and finish it off with the sweet hushpuppies at The Optimist. Of course, both require good Champagne.
 
I couldn’t agree more with your rules of etiquette for grocery shopping. Can you tell us what stands out about Central Market in Dallas? 
When I first walked in Central Market it took my breath away. The flowers, produce, whole spices I’d never seen, the bakery, and the cooking school were beyond top-notch. Everyone on staff was incredibly nice and welcoming. Before leaving for the airport, I ditched what I could on my carry-on and filled it Central Market’s famous homemade tortillas. The grill was ready when I got home and a feast wasn’t far behind. I just wish they’d expand in an easterly direction.
 
I wrote in my book, Food Lovers’ Guide to Atlanta, about how glad I am to see the food revolution come full circle. We bought fruits and vegetables from roadside stands and grew some in our backyard as a kid. Now farmer’s markets have popped up everywhere. Do you have a garden? Do you buy organic foods? 
I plant a tiny garden (we have a very small yard) and love to grow tomatoes and okra. Last year I grew eight varieties of heirloom tomatoes. Squash and peppers are usually in the planting routine too. It’s very important to me that our children understand the full cycle of seed to plate. They are tickled pink when they can pick something and bring it into the kitchen.
 
It seems that it can be rather difficult to land a book deal, what are your thoughts on self-publishing? Do you see that perhaps leading to a book deal? 
There is place for self-publishing, but I always encourage writers to stay the course and don’t give up on traditional publishing. Publishers employ some of the world’s greatest editors and designers. I love the collaboration among a talented team.
 
One of the things that surprised me the most when I published my book was how little help I got from the publisher. Can you share one secret that an author can do to promote their book? 
Don’t be afraid to arrange events yourself to fill in gaps that may be in your promotion schedule. Half the work of writing a book is promoting it. Authors have to be actively involved in the planning and execution of promotion. I was incredibly lucky in that I had tremendous help and support from both my recent publishers (Oxmoor House and Andrews McMeel).
 
 
 
 

Recently, we told you about Seth Resler and his Mystery Meet: Find Dining podcasts. If you are a savvy food blogger and want to share a great culinary find in your city, then you should definitely be on the Mystery Meet podcast. We also wanted to share some more exciting news with you about a new project from Mr. Resler. The event, coming this fall, is the Taste Trekkers Food Tourism Conference.

It’s the first of its kind, and will bring together chefs, restauranteurs, food writers and dining out fans for three days of incredible events all surrounding people who plan their travel around food. Food and travel seem to go hand in hand, right? The event is going to be held in Providence, RI from September 20th – 22nd and is being organized by Mystery Meet’s founder, Seth Resler.

To find out more information about Taste Trekkers, watch this short video:

Seth has also started a campaign on Kickstarter to help raise funds to produce the Taste Trekkers. It would be great for your to help spread the word about the conference. Some ways you can help are to:

Write a blog post about it
Mention is on Facebook / Twitter
Pledge your support

I plan to attend Taste Trekkers and hope to see you there!

In the world of blogging, traffic is king. Many bloggers have been popping up in Google search results thanks to a new Google tool called the rich snippet. The rich snippet tool allows a small picture of you to be shown when someone googles content for which you are the author. It`s basically a little piece of HTML that a blogger can use that will allow their Google + profile picture to be connected to blog posts they create.

Why would you want to do this? It has been proven to drive traffic to your website. Studies have shown that by including this Google Authorship Markup, the traffic can increase by as much as 150 percent. The understanding is that when a picture is seen on a search engine listing, it adds credibility to the post. People naturally like to click on articles that have images attached. Have a look at the image below. Which article are you more likely to click on?

So, how do bloggers capitalize on this feature? Here are options for setting up Google Authorship Markup.

You first need to get a Google + account and then have your email verified and that the email used has the same domain name as the blog. According to Google, as long as the byline on the blog post matches the name on the Google + account, it should be able to pick it up. One thing to remember is that while Google may be all-powerful, they are not infallible. There may be cases and occasions when it doesn`t work. They should be sporadic and if you re-input the information, that should take care of it.

Option 1: Link your content to your Google+ profile using a verified email address.

 

Option 2: Set up authorship by linking your content to your Google+ profile

The next step involves visiting the contributor`s page of your Google + account. This basically tells people what websites you write for. Make an entry for your food blog and it once again should make the connection. Make the contributor link directly to your bio page on the food blog. If you don`t have an author bio page (in which case, why don`t you?) you can link directly to the post.

The three biggest problems involve people not going through the email verification process properly, not making a direct contributor link connection and not adding the tag correctly at the end. If it`s not working, try looking at those three areas and make sure everything is correct. Having this rich snippet at the end of your byline link should put your photo with the search results.

If you use WordPress, there are plug-ins such as Author Sure that will do all of this for you. You’ll still need a Google + account, but the plugin does make the process easier. What’s more, it also works if you have multiple authors on your blog. The Google Authorship Markup can be a major boon for a food blog, so next time you`re writing a new post about Rangemaster or the newest and coolest tool of the day, don`t forget to add that little extra piece of HTML.

Some time ago, Yelp gave their reviewers cards that read “You’ve Been Yelped!” I guess the restaurant should feel a bit of panic at the idea, unsure if their food and service was up to snuff for the yelper. Will they get a 2 star or a 5 star review? In the meantime, Yelp gets the word out. Now there’s a new card in town: the ReviewerCard.

When I saw the Yelp cards, I thought to myself who would have the gall to leave these cards? Little did I know I just had to wait a couple years for an even more ballsy card to carry. It is called the ReviewerCard. The difference is that you whip this sucker out BEFORE your service. Basically, it tells the restaurant you are a badass reviewer and have a ton of social media profiles so they better give you top notch service…or else. Well not exactly, the threat is implied. Kind of like when you park your car in a sketchy neighborhood and someone offers to “keep an eye on it” for a five spot.

A quick perusal of the ReviewerCard site shows a lengthy questionaire for membership and a statement that everyone is accepted, according to the Reviewer Card site. The site states that the cost of the card is free, though many articles state it is $100 to get the card.

Since it’s inception, there’s been a backlash between the restaurant community and food writers. Some of the words used to describe the card are “blackmail” “unethical” and “extortion.” Though the ReviewerCard site states “Members will get to enjoy the premium service they deserve, while continuing to provide insightful, honest, and valuable reviews to other customers.”

Should it be as easy as flashing a card to get a hotel room at half off? Be put at the head of the line for a table at a popular restaurant? Freebies when dining out? What about the other paying customers that don’t enjoy those benefits aren’t they entitled to be treated well too?

As bloggers, some of us enjoy media events with fabulous food, but it comes because we are good at our craft, have an engaged audience and readership, and truly want to share our passion for food, not because we threaten to post negative reviews. I hope restaurants and other establishments see the ReviewerCard for what it is and not be bullied into giving steep discounts and freebies.

Mystery Meet was started by Boston resident, Seth Resler. Mystery Meet brings together foodies in a city to explore a restaurant together. The catch is participants don’t find out the restaurant they are going to until the day before, hence the “mystery.” To add an interesting twist to Mystery Meet, Seth also includes Find Dining podcasts.

In these Find Dining podcasts, he interviews foodies (bloggers, chefs and food critics) to find out a restaurant recommendation in their city. During the Mystery Meet Find Dining podcast, the interviewee can highlight:

• What you love about your city
• Why is it a culinary spot to visit
• Some of your other favorite spots

What’s in it for you:
You get showcased on the podcast. Seth gives you the chance to tell your story and share why your started your food blog or why you have such a passion for food. Share your favorite spots and tell the world why they should be reading your blog.

Social media promotion galore! Besides the featured restaurant you will be asked about, Seth will ask you a bevy of other questions like where your favorite dessert spot is, or where or favorite cheap eats spot is, or where do you go for a romantic meal, just to name a few. When the podcast is live, he links to EACH establishment on social media channels, promoting you in the process.

No need to be nervous at all. Seth is a wonderful host, with fifteen years in the broadcasting industry, and makes it so easy to speak freely and express your thoughts. Don’t worry about fumbling…thank goodness for editing!

I was recently featured on an Atlanta Mystery Meet Find Dining podcast. I dished on the Association of Food Bloggers, the food scene in Atlanta and of course my restaurant recommendation for Atlanta. You can listen to the interview below:

Tip: Brush up for your quick fire round by listening to past podcasts. Want to be featured on Mystery Meet Find Dining podcast? Contact Seth here.

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By Markeya Williams

2012 was an exciting year for many food and cocktail trends. It was also the year that ended
with many trends on the horizon and awaiting their turn to blossom from the minds of geniuses
and out into the world to turn us on.

Leave your ‘sweet tooth’ behind

2013 is the year of the bitter, sour, and spicy! Let’s talk digestifs if you will; though it does
appear to be and odd place to begin.

Amaro. Interpreted as “bitter” in Italiano. 2012 ended with great interest in such digestifs as
Averna and Fernet-Branca, which made quite the reintroduction to society along with aperitifs
such as Campari and Aperol.

The American palate is being forcefully pushed toward bitter and herbaceous and we should
all be grateful. Don’t believe me? Next time you’re out on the town, order a Fernet-Branca or
perhaps a Menta-Branca and watch your bartender’s eyes light up then hold on to your chair for
the astringent, though pleasantly smooth and very grown up experience that is Fernet.

House made (wonderfully inviting new buzzwords) bitters, simple syrups, and shrub syrups.
It’s a pretty surreal experience to sit at the oak in your favorite watering hole and observe hand-
written labels boasting “grapefruit shrub” or “house bitter blend”. It almost takes you back to

Organic Chemistry class, but with a more entertaining result.

Photo Credit: Markeya K. Williams (DrFoodie Photography). ArtBar (Cambridge,
Massachusetts)

House made hot sauce is also challenging us all beyond Texas Pete (not that there’s anything
wrong with that). But aged, fermented Korean chili paste (gochujang) and even fresh
horseradish based hot sauces are leading the way these days. Most are simple, but brace you for
a few with a storyline.

Photo Credit: Markeya K. Williams (DrFoodie Photography). Kitchen (Boston, Massachusetts)
Chef Scott Herritt’s Frog legs with House made Hot Sauce

Salted & Boozy Desserts

Not so unusual in Asian cuisine, salted desserts are capturing and holding the attention
Westerners. Salted caramel has eased us into this trend. We’ve found salted caramel swirled in
vanilla ice cream, enjoyed bacon chocolate, stout(ed) chocolate, bacon cotton candy, and salted
caramel candies/chocolates. It’s quite an interesting ride! Adult milkshakes (think banana with
rum) are also all the rave!

Photo Credit: Markeya K. Williams (DrFoodie Photography)

Photo Credit: Markeya K. Williams (DrFoodie Photography) Corn popsicle at The Painted
Burro Mexican Restaurant (Somerville, MA)

Mei Mei’s Kitchen (Boston) Cider ice cream w/ salmon roe and brown butter powder

Crisp fried chicken livers with orange marmalade, fried tobacco onion, and garlic seared greens.
Estelle’s Southern Cuisine (Boston, MA)

Fun-Filled Deviled Eggs

I never imagined such a phrase would ever be written, but restaurants everywhere seem to be
competing on how to design the trendiest deviled egg. Think smoked, spicy chicken liver, pesto,
or smoked salmon with capers and you’ll understand what I mean.

Spicy, Smoked Chicken Liver Deviled Eggs. Estelle’s Southern Cuisine (Boston, MA)

Not Your Average Kid’s Meal

Fancy kiddos celebrate! Your child is not a second class diner with limited choices of chicken
nuggets and mac n’ cheese. Even the palates of babes are becoming more sophisticated. Treat
your little gourmands to panko hand-breaded chicken, whole grain items, pot stickers, even small
filet mignon and they may not expect a toy afterwards.

-Markeya enjoys sharing her experiences one bite and/or flight at a time! Her work can be found
at Traveling Foodie 2006

Ethics. We all have a basic understanding of them. If you are a member of the Association of Food Bloggers you’ve agreed to uphold the ethical standards set forth. What happens, though, when we are asked to circumvent ethics?

Some publicists offer payment to bloggers to post articles on their behalf without disclosing the post is sponsored. Another tactic some PR companies are using now is to raffle off fantastic prizes in return for writing an enthusiastic blog post. One we were invited to involved a dinner at a fabulous fine dining Italian restaurant for the blogger who was most creative about their post. This company made no qualms about instructing bloggers to not disclose that we were writing this to win a prize.

According to the law, bloggers must disclose when they receive something for free. There is not a requirement to disclose when we are trying to win a prize. This begs the question – how different are the two? Obviously, a less than stellar post isn’t going to win any prizes. So, is that really fair to readers?

In the end, we thanked our hosts for the wine and Italian fare, but left with no intention of ever writing a word about the event. Several weeks later, we bumped into a fellow blogger and the conversation turned to this event. He, too, had the same opinion. It seemed rather unethical to write about how amazing these particular wines were while not disclosing an ulterior motive.

As a rule of thumb, put yourself in your readers’ shoes when in doubt. How would you feel reading such a post or being encouraged to spend my money on something that a blogger you respect told you was well worth it. If they would feel mislead, then the answer is clear. Remember, you want to be fair, honest and transparent to your readers. You will lose credibility if you shill yourself out for every prize and freebee out there.

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If you are a beer aficionado, then you’ve no doubt heard of Growlers. No, they aren’t a scary monster that comes out at Halloween. These are large glass jugs that can be purchased at some liquor stores and filled with a variety of brews, depending on what they have on tap.

So, why buy a growler instead of your favorite six-pack of craft beer? For one thing, the cost is significantly lower. Instead of paying $10 or $12 for a six-pack, a growler may hold more like eight pours for the same price. The growler itself can be purchased for a one-time nominal fee, usually less than five bucks.

Some of the benefits of buying with a Growler vs. six or twelve packs:
• Instead of recycling beer bottles, you can use the growler over and over again.
• More pours for less money than purchasing a six-pack.
• More convenient for storing than cases.

Make sure to wash out that Growler before bringing it in for a refill at your local liquor store. Use hot water, not soap. Soap is hard to get out of the growler and the taste will likely ruin the taste of beer on your next refill.

Growlers can be stored for up to two weeks unopened if it is in a cool, dark place. Once opened, the contents in a growler should be consumed within two to three days. Although, many beer advocates would recommend that you finish it in one sitting to get the best taste from the beer. So, invite some friends over when you decide to open that Growler.

Pop up restaurants have been popular in the UK and Australia since the 2000s. A pop up restaurant is a restaurant that is only around for a short while, usually a handful of months. Pop up restaurants often take over a space that was formerly a restaurant (obviously they need something with seating and a working kitchen), decorate it with minimal décor to keep the cost down since they will only be tenants for a short while, and serve up tasty food to adventurous eaters.

The pop up restaurant trend should be expected to continue as it allows chefs to try new styles and techniques without the fear of a backlash from critics. Pop-ups allow chefs to flex their creative muscles while giving diners a chance to break free from the hum drum restaurant experience and try something less conventional for a night.

Why would pop up restaurants be popular?
It’s the Economy, silly!
With the sluggish economy, many restaurants cannot sustain themselves. Rather than have spaces sit empty, clever landlords may choose to rent space out for a short period of time. Better to get some money than none at all, right?

Scarcity
There’s a certain allure in knowing there is only a limited time to sample the food. Foodies flock to the shiny, new restaurants and want to experience them before others. With the advent of social media it is rather easy to have the word spread quickly about a pop up restaurant space, especially when it is started by another restaurant owner in town.

Mystery
Many pop up restaurants don’t post a regular menu as they simply buy what is available or locally produced for the most part. Adventurous patrons appreciate being able to have their dining experience a bit of mystery.

Just like the food trucks, there is bound to be some red tape associated with opening a pop up restaurant. Waiting for permits and a liquor license can take quite some time, cutting into the profitability of a pop up restaurant. In any event, hopefully the pop up restaurant trend will continue to pop up around cities, as it is a fun and exciting departure from typical restaurant dining.