Irarely cook. I heat things up, or take advantage of the deli section, and try to avoid drive-thrus. But as 2013 rolled in, so did I, realizing that cooking more at home might be a good idea to save cash and my waistline. And, as I’ve discovered, it reduces stress as I turn on some music while preparing dinner.
I have a few cookbooks, with a few favourite recipes marked. But when I have an odd set of ingredients in the fridge, Google helps with a basic search to figure out what to do with an excess of cauliflower, soon-to-expire sour cream and one lonely potato. (Hint: Indian-spiced cauliflower soup.)
Then there’s Pinterest, which is itself and odd mix of recipes — I seem to come across many involving Nutella — fitness photos, and wedding ideas. But, it’s visual. The fact that I can see what the end product of my time in the kitchen is supposed to be is helpful. I wouldn’t post anything I’ve created on Pinterest, but I did throw together a vegetable soup once, posted it on Facebook, and had requests for the recipe.
Bloggers, cookbook authors, chefs…take note. The key to Pinterest is posting your image on your own website, then “pinning” it to Pinterest. Someone like me will come along to Pinterest, see your photo, click it and be taken to your website. Hopefully you’ll have your other social networks linked, and I’ll then follow you elsewhere.
Instagrammers are criticized for posting food photos. It’s one of the most common “threads” on that network. As much as we say to ourselves, “I don’t care what you had for lunch!”, I’ve posted photos (sometimes dark and blurry ones), of mac’n’cheese from almost every restaurant that serves it on one social network or another, and the majority of the time, get asked for the recipe or location.
Speaking of mac’n’cheese, my favourite recipe finder is at www.kraftcanada.ca. Easy to use, the recipes are generally easy. And I dare you to search for KD and some random ingredient. Who knew there were so many ways to prepare Kraft Dinner?
Learn more about social media strategies at the next Eat.Drink.Tweet., taking place in Kelowna on April 28th. A day-long session to plan your social marketing strategy, with an evening “tweet-up”. Visit www.allshewrote.ca for details.