guest post!—>eden d.

hey guys. i have some serious stuff going on right now and eden was nice enough to send over a guest post right away. just another reason i love, love, love this community.

here’s eden.

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Hey Meals and Moves readers!

My name is Eden and before I begin, I feel the need to put a disclaimer that sarcasm is my first language (cynicism is my second).

Just a little about me: I guess I am what you would consider to be a “food blogger” but not in the traditional sense. I’m a professionally trained chef and work as a private chef. I could go on and on about my fabulosity, but you can just go read my blog to get in on that.

Anyhow….on my blog, I often like to write about blogging! So I thought why not list some things that differentiates a blogger from a chef, since I’ve basically played both sides of the field.

On meal timing…

Chefs: Most chefs work late hours. I don’t, since I don’t work in a restaurant, but when I did, I didn’t get home until at least eleven. So they tend to eat late. They are kind of like vampires only not as sexy.

Bloggers: Bloggers like to wake up at the wee hours of the morning to workout and do photoshoots of their oatmeal. The early morning usually offers the best lighting for the food porn for their blog. So meal times with food bloggers is usually early.

On Patience:

Chefs: Most chefs are impatient. I know I sure am. This is why they never just sit and wait for water to boil. They’re always trying to multi-task and do twenty things at once. But like the iPhone, they somehow manage to pull it off. There is no idle time when an order is being made in a restaurant. Sit and wait, and you’ll get fired!

Bloggers: Bloggers need to be patient. First of all, if you’re a new blogger, you cant expect to get your book deal overnight. Second, most blogger has some sort of “health” challenge whether it be giving up carbs or running a marathon and usually that doesn’t happen overnight either. Third, when you eat out with a blogger, you REALLY need to be patient because you will only get to eat the food once the 30 min photo session of the food is completed. I suggest you order something cold.

On Substitutions

Chefs: Most chefs hate substitutions like Charlie Sheen hates Dr. Drew. They simply find them ridiculous. Nothing peeves a chef more than having someone order the beef wellington minus the pastry (too many carbs), minus the butter (vegan), minus the mushrooms (because its fungi), minus the beef (once again, vegan). They don’t mind a few tweaks, but they don’t like it when you re-write the menu.

Bloggers: Bloggers thrive off substitutions. Otherwise, they’d just be copying someone else’s oats-in-a-jar. Plus, having gluten, meat, carb, sugar, fat, trans-fat, dairy, nut, free anything on your blog automatically triples your traffic. Seriously!

On Free Time:

Chefs: As I mentioned chefs work late, so most of the their spare time is spent sleeping. And you wanna hear something crazy? Of course you do! Lots of chefs smoke (gross, I know). But here is maybe where they overlap with food bloggers, they love farmers markets and a lot of their spare time is spent browsing the local produce and getting their fix of free samples.

Bloggers: Bloggers have an array of things they do on their downtime, it depends on the blogger. Most have a dog (or dogs, like janetha!) and will spend time playing with them. Some blogger have, gasp, KIDS! Like I mentioned some are out their running marathons and traveling making all their readers insanely jealous. But I’m sure a lot of their time is spend promoting their own blog on twitter, facebook, and of course, on other blogs! And sometimes, you’ll indeed find them getting their samples, with the chefs.

Questions (because Meals and Moves always has them!):

1) Are you more of a chef or blogger? I think I’m a good combination of both. I don’t smoke but I don’t run marathons!

2) And to be random, whether you are a blogger or a reader, if you got a book deal, what would you name your book? I actually am in the process of writing a book (not really a “food” book, more of a life as a chef overcoming an eating disorder book) and I’m constantly thinking about the title, but its between “Don’t Bother Me, I’m Eating” and “Never Trust a Skinny Chef”.

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thanks so much, eden! hope everyone has a great weekend and i hope to be back soon.

xo. janetha g.