FOBLOKI - Ed of IsItEDible

Our Inside the FOod BLOgger's KItchen guest for this week is .... drum roll please... yours truly! Ed of IsItEDible! Over the past few weeks, as I've been interviewing all of these esteemed food bloggers who have graciously participated in the FOBLOKI, I've also been thinking about what my own responses to some of these questions would be. So, here's a sneak peak into my food blogger kitchen. Please excuse the multiple personalities.

IsItEDible: Welcome to FOBLOKI, Ed. Please give us a glimpse into your culinary past. What is your earliest cooking-related memory?
Ed: Thanks, Ed. It's my pleasure to be here talking to you. Um, I mean talking to me. Um, nevermind. SOOO the very first thing I can remember making was a recipe from a kid's cookbook. I think it was called Buddy's First Cookbook, but unfortunately it's long lost now. It was a fairly simple recipe; 1) Use your hands to roll a teaspoon of peanut butter into a ball. 2) Roll the peanut butter ball in crushed corn flakes. 3) Repeat as often as you like. Gourmet stuff, huh?

IsItEDible: Absolutely. Hey! Didn't you make that for breakfast this morning? Anyways, moving on. Why did you initially decide to start a food blog?
Ed: I never ever thought I would be a blogger. I didn't quite understand the concept and thought it was a bit egotistical. Of course, I have since comes to my senses. The catalyst was an article about food bloggers that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle featuring several Bay Area bloggers such as Amy from Cooking with Amy. I had never heard of a food blog before (I know! GASP!), but after some web surfing, I felt like I was Dorothy in the land of Oz. I already had started a food/entertainment journal so the blog became an online extension of that. And I soon realized that it was a great way to keep my friends updated about my life while connecting in to this virtual community of wonderful people who like to cook and eat.

IsItEDible: Hmm. So are you a friend of Dorothy? And how long have you been blogging?
Ed: A friend of Dorothy? Absolutely! And I 've been blogging for about two and a half years.

IsItEDible: How did you come up with the name for your food blog?
Ed: I wanted to play off my name. And "Driver's Ed", "Special Ed", and "Sex Ed" just didn't seem appropriate for a food blog.

IsItEdible: I already know the answer to this question (actually I know the answers to ALL these questions), but please describe for everyone else the process you use to create a blog entry:
Ed: I like to go through my cookbook collection, magazines, and suggestions from friends to find recipes to try. While I am cooking, I keep notes on scrap paper about the ingredients, cooking times, etc. While the food is in it's final stages, I set up my tripod and clear the worktable where I usually take pictures. I've started consulting more with Dean (who was feeling left out of the food blog fun) on food styling and plating. Then, it's a mad dash to plate the food, take about 15-30 pictures, and then sit down to eat before the food gets cold. I often start typing up the notes into a draft later that night, but sometimes it takes me a day or two to get around to finalizing and editing the text. I use PICASA to "fix" up the pictures, again consulting with Dean to select the best shot. Unfortunately, due to my work and travel schedule, I haven't been doing as much cooking lately, but hopefully that will change by the end of this month.

IsItEDible: And how does all thisfood blogging relate to your job?
Ed: It doesn't really. I work for a nonprofit organization that works with other nonprofit organizations on how to strengthen their strategic planning, fundraising, board development etc. But my job does require me to do a bit of writing, and the FOBLOKI idea actually evolved out of a series of interviews with nonprofit advocates that I started writing for our newsletter.

IsItEDible: Do you have a favorite blog post that you have written?
Ed: The Chinese chive cakes. These were my favorite food growing up, and I had never tried making them from scratch by myself before. Writing the post brought back fond memories of sitting and the kitchen table helping my mom and dad to make them.

IsItEDible: What a coincidence. That's one of my favorites, too! What has been one of the most difficult blog posts to write?
Ed: My 2005 birthday post.

IsItEDible: What is one thing we wouldn't know about you just from reading your blog?
Ed: At the age of 4, I was adopted by a roving band of circus acrobats. To this day, I can't get on a bike without it bringing back painful memories. Just kidding. There's lots of thing folks may not know. 1) I am a coke addict. Actually a diet coke addict. I MUST have at least one can a day. It's a bad addiction. 2) In college, I sang in a coed acapella group. 3) Also in college, I was part of a winning team that crammed 20 people into a Volkwagon Jetta in 8.7 seconds.

And now the QUICKFIRES...

IsItEDible: What foods warm your heart?
Ed: Chinese chive cakes & carrot cake

IsItEDible: What foods strike fear in it?
Ed: The ever popular sweetbread

IsItEDible: What turns you on in the kitchen?
Ed: [censored]

IsItEDible: What turns you off?
Ed: Cooking in a messy kitchen

IsItEDible: In the kitchen, what sound or smell do you love?
Ed: Pan-fried ribeye steaks in a cast iron skillet

IsItEDible: In the kitchen, what sound or smell do you hate?
Ed: Breaking glass or plates

IsItEDible:What word or phrase is heard most often in your kitchen?
Ed: "Do you like it?" and "Zoe, no begging!"

IsItEDible: What's your favorite kitchen appliance/gadget?
Ed: Deep-fat fryer (even though I have never used it)

IsItEDible: What recipe or dish are you known for?
Ed: My quiche. It's uncoventional because of the Miracle Whip, but all my friends who have ever tasted it always ask for the recipe (before they know it has Miracle Whip in it).

IsItEDible: What recipe or dish would you like to attempt?
Ed: Deep fried macaroni & cheese

IsItEDible: Ed, thanks so much for the interview. It was a pleasure speaking with you, and I hope we have a chance to do it again very soon!