Finding fame through a food blog Finding fame through a food blog (August 05, 2005)

Local woman’s writing included in international sampling
by Jerri Long

More than two dozen people showed up at Towne Center Books on a recent warm July evening to meet the publisher and two authors of “Digital Dish: Five seasons of the freshest recipes and writing from food blogs around the world.” A “blog,” as some readers know, is an online journal and the term comes from a shortened version of “World Wide Web Log.” Editor and publisher Owen Linderholm, himself a passionate cook, explains in the book’s introduction, “Food blogs aren’t just a list of recipes. They are accounts of inspired cooking and odes to the beauty and flavor and sensuousness of creation. And they are travelogues that whisk you away to far off places.”

“They are also a way for a creative cook to keep track of what she previously created,” admits Ellen Ferlazzo, a 17-year Pleasanton resident whose food blog, “Chronicles of a Curious Cook,” is one of 24 included in the book. “My daughters will ask me to prepare the same dinner I did when we had certain guests over,” says Ellen. “I can’t remember how I prepared it, so I decided to keep a journal for a year, but now it’s been three years, and I’m still at it.”

Actually, the food blog came after Ferlazzo had established a website, CheapCooking.com. A longtime consultant in high tech communications, Ferlazzo recalls, “Work was very slow during 2002-3, and some of my professional e-mail lists were full of young out-of-work people who needed desperately to save money and were looking for cheap places to eat. They didn't think about cooking at home because that seemed just as expensive or just too hard. I had time on my hands and wanted to learn how to build web sites. I always learn best with a ‘real project,’ so I decided to create a site that would teach people how to eat cheaply at home.”

The success of that “real project” surprised even Ferlazzo. This month, there have been over 30,000 unique visitors to CheapCooking.com – slightly below the 37,000 who checked out the website in June, after USA Today declared it a “hot site.” Those who visit the site linger for an average of three pages to “explore cheap and easy recipes, menu planning, and shopping tips” as the site promises. Visitors can order two e-books: “Getting Started with Cheap Cooking” and “Cheap Cooking with Chicken,” including “23 mouth-watering recipes.” Ferlazzo donates a portion of the proceeds to Operation Dignity, “a veteran-run, veteran-focused homeless organization” that is based in Oakland. More than 2,000 website visitors have chosen to also subscribe to Ferlazzo’s newsletter.

“When I started the food blog, which is just a part of CheapCooking.com, there were not that many blogs that focused on food,” says Ferlazzo. “Today there are hundreds. So, as we found each other online and read each other's blogs, it became something of a community. When Owen, the publisher, decided to start the publishing company (Press For Change) and publish this book, he wrote to his favorite blogs and about half of us agreed to the book deal. He said he liked mine because it was ‘real’ and practical. Some of them are pretty fancy, some are focused on wine, and some are focused on restaurant reviews rather than cooking.”

Part of what’s “real” on Ferlazzo’s blog is her account of what it is like trying to juggle a flourishing career with single parenthood and still provide healthy, economical meals day in and day out. And she grows her own vegetables, too.

“I still don't think of myself as a creative cook,” confesses Ferlazzo. “I am good at following directions though, which is how I got started. It took me a while to feel comfortable not following a recipe. Now when I want to play around, I tend to read over five or six different-but-similar recipes and then take the parts from each that I like.”

Others obviously disagree with Ferlazzo’s modest self-appraisal of her culinary talents. Sunset Magazine featured a Ferlazzo recipe in October 2004, and a few years earlier she was interviewed for an article with recipes in the Calgary Herald – which gave her an international following even before this year’s publication of Digital Dish.

Ferlazzo is one of four Bay Area food bloggers included in “Digital Dish,” and two were present for the local book-signing: Linderholm of Lafayette, whose blog is entitled “Tomatillo,” and Guy Prince of Richmond, who writes “MeatHenge.” The latter name was invented after Prince and a buddy got a rare bargain on nine pounds of ground beef, which they attempted to grill as a single patty. Inevitable leftovers finally were cut into oblongs and assembled as a model of the famous Stonehenge. Photo-illustrated meat grilling continues to be his specialty.

The book, which takes blog excerpts from the summer of 2003 through the summer of 2004 (hence the “Five Seasons” referred to in the subtitle) includes samplings from specialists on Italian cooking, home canning, fresh vegetable preparation, Southern American cooking, South East Asian cooking, Central European recipes, improvisational cooking and more. The book has three handy indexes: by web log, by recipe title and by main ingredient. It is a fun read even for those of us who may never attempt half the recipes.

Those who missed the local book-talk and signing can order, “Digital Dish” at Towne Center Books, 555 Main Street or call 846-8826. It is also available via ChepCooking.com. Orders also can be placed directly to Press For Change Publishing, LLC, P.O. Box 1321, Lafayette, CA 94549 or www.PressForChange.com. There is a $5 fee for shipping and handling.
Best Bruschetta

by Ellen Ferlazzo

Okay, here's the bruschetta with variations. It is one that is truly hard to measure. I just chop, add, season, taste, add more whatever. It works best when you've got great tomatoes, of course, preferably home grown!

* 1 cup chopped tomatoes

* 2-3 T or more chopped fresh basil

* 1-2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)

* 1 green onion, chopped (optional)

* 1 T capers, drained, or chopped black olives

* salt and pepper to taste Sometimes I mix in a bit of olive oil. Serve with toasted baguette slices. For a party, I like to mix the basil in with some softened cream cheese and spread it on the bread and broil it, then top with the bruschetta. I picked up that trick from my sister.

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