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The World Food Championships Essay

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So, last Tuesday I shared the press release from the World Food Championships, announcing the competition taking place November 3-10 in Celebration, Florida. Fifty bloggers were selected from around the world to participate in a special three-day blogging Food Fight Write event ending with a cooking competition of our very own. Bloggers were chosen based on an essay we had to write about how and why we started blogging about food. I thought today I would share my essay- mostly because my parents would probably get a kick out of it. Enjoy parental units.
2015-Food-Fight-Write-Logo

WHY I BECAME A FOOD BLOGGER

By Anna-Marie Walsh
BeautyAndTheBeets.com

Many people ask how I became interested in food blogging. Well, even as recent as 5 years ago I relied on outlets like McDonalds and Subway as my food sources. As I began to realize the benefits of healthy eating I realized I better start learning how to cook for myself. I suddenly discovered how much fun creating my own meals and I wanted to share my culinary creations with my family, who only knew I struggled to get jello to jiggle. As far as my family can remember, I was the kid that would come home from school and mix flour, sugar and eggs into a bowl and eat it raw. One time I did decide to try and bake my creation and to this day I can’t recall ever tasting cookies that were more disgusting. But boy was that raw cookie batter tasty! My struggle for jello was simply a lack of reading directions. My parents were troopers though- I seem to remember that bowl of red liquid sitting in the fridge for almost a week before I finally conceded that it was never going to wiggle or jiggle. I also once recall having to scrape eggs off the kitchen ceiling when I allowed them to boil for so long that the water had evaporated and the eggs exploded. The fact that I consider myself a food blogger today would surely make my younger self snarf milk out of her nose.

My blogging career with Beauty and the Beets started back in 2011 when I began to read other blogs. I was so inspired by others and their path and I realized that blogging could be a great outlet for my creative writing. I never intended on being so public with the blog, I only wanted to document my progress for my family. Through blogging I have learned kitchen skills I never thought I could achieve. Through blogging I have tried new foods I would have snubbed my nose at in the past. I have found a key to my persistence and success has been the inspiration of fellow food bloggers. By attending local events, blogging conferences and media previews, I have been able to meet other food bloggers who share a similar journey to mine. How we have all arrived at this blogging point in our lives is fascinating. I am inspired by others and their journey and love sharing in the success as well as the failures of other bloggers. I feel my own journey has come a long way from the days of raw cookie batter and failed jello jiggles.

I have never competed in a food competition myself but I find myself always rooting for the underdogs in those TV competitions. I yell at the TV when watching competitions like Iron Chef or even Cupcake Wars. The cats often banish me to a separate room when these shows come on due to the high pitch nature of my screaming. However, rarely do you ever find any competitor who concentrates on Vegetarian cooking or focuses on healthy substitutions for sugar, butter or grease. I write about and for Veggie Heads- focusing on meals based around vegetables and grains. I rarely use added salt in any of my recipes. I rarely cook with dairy butter and never with dairy milk. However, I am a cheese-a-holic and refuse to give that up. I focus mainly on finding new ways to prepare veggies and incorporate them into our daily routines. Vegetables as well as fruits are such a vital part to our well-being yet so many people have such hatred for anything healthy. Some people would eat raw ground chuck before they would dare try a Kale chip. To so many people, veggies come in cans and you heat up your corn and peas in the microwave and call it food. They miss out on how versatile and delicious vegetables can really be. Have you ever had roasted radishes? Have you ever tried marinated Brussels sprouts?

I would be extremely nervous about competing in the First Annual Blogger Invitational Championship though I believe the opportunity to do so would far outweigh my nerves. I would love to participate and meet other bloggers at the World Food Championships, while testing my skills and creativity. I believe my culinary point of view is very simple and uncomplicated yet unexpected with a twist. I would look forward to taking my journey further in my first competition on such a big stage.

Sharon Walsh

Thursday 22nd of October 2015

Great essay. I can see why you were chosen. You really have come a longggggg way. Very proud of you - both in your cooking skills & in your writing. Good luck in the competition. Wish I could be there.

Helen Corbin

Thursday 22nd of October 2015

Absolutely LOVE IT :-) Your accomplishments are truly inspiring!!!!!!!!!!!