The
Food Fetish Friday series has featured food from over 250 unique bloggers in the past 9 months. Without these bloggers' hard work and dedication to outstanding food, Food Fetish Friday couldn't exist. So I have devoted a new section of Food Fetish Fridays to the bloggers to make this series possible and it's called
Featured Foodies.
Featured Foodie posts are a chance for us all to meet the real people behind the food. Every Friday, I select and interview an amazing foodie who has been previously featured in the
Food Fetish Friday series. We'll discover what makes these foodies tick, where they find their food inspiration, and gain valuable insight from their experiences. And of course, we'll drool over their food!
Please welcome this week's Featured Foodie!
Mellissa Sevigny is the creator of I Breathe... I'm Hungry, a food blog focused primarily on low carb and gluten free eating. She recently released The Gluten Free Low Carber e-cookbook. Having received her first cookbook at just four years old, Mellissa has been in the kitchen ever since. In 2004 she competed, and placed third in, The View's Next Food Network Star, a pilot program for the now popular Food Network show. Currently she resides in South Carolina with her husband of 19 years, their 5 year old son, two cats, a fish, and a snail named Bleebop.
Q&A with Javelin Warrior
JW: When did you start blogging? And why?
Mellissa: I started blogging in July of 2011. I never intended for it to be a big production, it was really just a way to catalog and share my recipes with family and friends. Usually when they'd ask what was in a dish, I'd shrug and say "a little of this and a little of that!" I never wrote anything down and rarely made the same thing twice. With the blog, I was able to keep track of the recipes, share them, and stay in touch with my friends in CT since we'd moved to SC in 2009.
JW: How - or where - do you find inspiration for your food creations?
Mellissa: I've been obsessed with food and cooking since I was a kid. Sometimes I lay awake at night when one random idea I'll have will take root and can lead to tons of different recipe ideas. I have a notepad dedicated just to ideas, and I constantly jot down combinations that I'm thinking of. Since I went low carb and gluten free, I'm even more obsessed with finding substitutions for foods I love: classics that I can make healthier or even create delicious alternatives for people with special dietary needs. Sometimes I will see a recipe on Foodgawker or in one of my foodie magazines and think, "I could totally make that low carb!" Then it goes in the file until I have a chance to experiment with it.
JW: If you had to pick just one favorite food to make over and over again, what would it be?
Mellissa: Probably pizza even though I don't eat it often since I went low carb. The perfect thing about pizza is that you can put anything on it which means you can constantly experiment with flavors and textures so it never gets old. If I had to choose one favorite to remake over and over that would be it.
JW: What kind of camera do you use?
Mellissa: I currently have a Canon Rebel Xsi and several lenses that I invested in. I really need to upgrade though, and I have my eye on a few models that I'm trying to decide between. Hopefully I'll have one of them in my hands by the end of the year!
JW: Your food and photos are an inspiration to me - and I'm sure to many others - but who inspires you?
Mellissa: Thanks so much and it's always a thrill to be included in your Food Fetish Fridays roundup. I've come a long way but in some ways it's only served to show me how far I still have to go and how much I have to learn. Helene DuJardin's photos are always amazing, and her book Plate to Pixel was a big help, though I need to revisit it and try some of the more advanced techniques. I love the clean lines and colors in all of the Donna Hay cookbooks, and like them I try not to have my photos too busy with props that distract from the food. I'm also a sucker for a closeup of food which not everybody agrees with. I try to include at least one in all of my posts though. I'm in awe of so many food photographers - I could browse through Foodgawker and Tastespotting all day! Not that I do that. Much...
JW: Based on your personal experiences, what three cookbooks would you recommend right now?
Mellissa: I'm a huge fan of Donna Hay as I mentioned, and I love The Instant Cook though it's not her latest. I just love the format and photos in all of her books, and the recipes are for foods I love to eat - lots of Asian flavors and simple preparations. For healthier but delicious eating, I love Ellie Krieger and her book The Food You Crave. My newest book is by Beatrice Peltre who blogs over at La Tartine Gourmande - SHE is an amazing photographer and the book is chock full of gorgeous photos, recipes and stories of her life and travels. Love it.
JW: What advice or tips for success can you offer other bloggers?
Mellissa: Improve your photography! People are visual and love drooling over food photos - they call it food porn for a reason! If the photos aren't good then your recipe won't get the attention it deserves, no matter how good your food tastes or how witty your post is. Pinterest is one of my top sources of blog traffic and it's because people pin the photos and sometimes they go viral and reach crazy amounts of people. Some of my photos (like the cauliflower puree, cream cheese pancakes, and cauliflower tater tots) have been pinned hundreds of thousands of times each and that adds up to lots of traffic. If your photos are good, you can get accepted by Foodgawker and Tastespotting which will also bring lots of visitors to your site. If they like what they find there, they can potentially become loyal followers that will visit often.
JW: When you're not in the kitchen or working on a blog, where would I find you?
Mellissa: This year I've started homeschooling our son so I'm spending a lot more time indoors than I'd like to! When school is out you can find us in the pool or garden. I also spend time volunteering locally and working with my talented husband for our business, Old World Stone & Garden.
If you missed last week's Featured Foodie, check out my interview with Carrie from Bakeaholic Mama
That mint ice cream and the chicken thighs both have me drooling. I'm saving both of those recipes. Thanks for the peek into your life, Melissa. Good luck with your first year of homeschooling!
ReplyDeleteEvery Mellissa makes seems to make me drool & and I'm so glad you enjoyed the interview. I really enjoyed getting to know Mellissa better as well... Thanks for dropping by...
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you Melissa. I'm intrigued by your cauliflower soup. Going to check it out. Normally I have chunks of it floating in my soup. Yours looks different, creamy, and delicious.
ReplyDeleteI love Mellissa so much. She is a total rock star.
ReplyDelete