Ducks 'n a Row

food blogging

Great Gift Ideas for Food Bloggers – and Foodies, too!

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Food blogging is not just a pastime … it is an art form. Not only does it require cooking prowess for their work to stand out but they need an eye for design and photographic skill.

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gifts, kitchen gadgets, photography, cooking, baking, foodies, recipe making, holidays

 

Food bloggers love what they do. They love to cook – they love to bake – they love to entertain. Food bloggers enjoy the bells and whistles, too. You know – the tools and trimmings that bring their work to another level. They love gadgetry, time-saving gizmos and lavish sets for their “stage” – the table!


Find a special gift for the food writer in your life this season and don’t stop with these gift ideas. There are so many creative ways to show your appreciation by exploring mood-lighting, fabrics, foliage, unique locations for their pictures and on and on. 90% of success for internet writers is visual. “One picture is worth 1000 words.”  – author unknown. The rest comes with rich content.

 

gadgets, food blogging, recipes, cooking, kitchen tools, baking

Kitchen Gadgets {Best Sellers} there seems to be no end to the variety of nifty little utensils and contraptions for kitchen FUN! This list is by no means comprehensive (how could it be?) but it gives you a good jumpstart. Think about what your food blogger (or foodie) likes to make most. That is a good place to start. Then venture out to what they may not be making for the lack of just the right thing. Go there!

Scoops:
baking tools

Photographs: online, Pinterest and Yummly are two champions in social media that bolster food posts to the highest heights. The best photo wins! Help your food blogger do it with the best equipment. Cameras, lighting kits to set the stage and education are a winning trio!

*Picmonkey is a free photo editing website that bloggers cannot do without. Paying for a premium membership as a gift would be so cool!

 

photographic tools, picture taking, camera accessories, gift ideas, lighting

Research: there are so many rich resources that help chefs and bloggers to improve their craft. Cookbooks, books on food photography, cooking magazines and classes (photography and cooking) are all great sources of enrichment that food bloggers love!

Staging: what separates the amateurs from the pros? In the blogging world – imagery! Food bloggers don’t need four or more place settings. One or two will do. Plates of all kinds and sizes along with interesting glassware, placemats, tablecloths, napkins, vases, candles and trays make for photos that “wow” their audience. Yes, it is a show!

Out of the box ideas: Unique pieces of wood, burlap or marble can make for excellent backdrops on the “food blog set.” How about a decorative tray? Use your imagination.

recipe blogs, food blogs, food photos, food images, trays, staging, props

Here are some props you can get for them to stage a great photo session:

 

 

Enjoy!


 

Yummly – A Food Blogger’s Dream Come True!

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Yummly is a dream come true for food bloggers. Whether you exclusively write for a recipe blog or pen the occasional food-related post, each recipe that you share has exponential possibilities when Yummly is in the equation.
food blog, Yummly, recipes, blogging, blog trafic, cooking
First let me tell you, I had been resisting Yummly. Here’s why: as a blogger, I was overwhelmed with so much social media. No room for more. It was exhausting trying to keep up with all of them. So, I had mentally drawn a line. Then, Christina talked to me.
As a regular contributor to Christina’s recipe blog It Is A Keeper, I was looking for my recipes to bring lots of new traffic to Ducks ‘n a Row. It wasn’t happening. Now, I did get that big boost from my Pink Lemonade Pie bonanza, but that was just one post. I was looking for a regular increase in traffic for all the effort I was putting forth writing for another blog.

When I shared my disappointment with Christina, she asked me the big question “Are you on Yummly?”  When I said “no” she strongly encouraged me to give it a try.

Yummly isn’t social media in the sense of what we commonly think. Yummly is a recipe sharing platform. We save the recipes we love. How do we do that? We “Yum” them (i.e. click the Yum button.) The recipes we Yum go right into our own database where we can access them by categories anytime we want them. Here is my Yummly Page: Ducks ‘n a Row on Yummly

Benefit #1 Everyone can take part, not just bloggers. But food bloggers get a huge extra benefit: the great big food-loving world out there will yumming (saving) OUR recipes to their accounts. Traffic!

Quick results? Oh yeah. I kid you not. It took a day. Just one day, for me to realize that Yummly is a powerful source of exposure – and traffic – for our recipes. Every day since that wonderful first day I have had an additional 100 – 500 new views straight from Yummly. And I am not even officially a Yummly publisher yet.

Benefit #2 Yummly regularly shares awesome recipes from their publishers – that could be you or me!– on their own social media. Yummly is on Facebook, Twitter, Stumbleupon, YouTube and Pinterest. Yummly is VERY POPULAR on social media – wait till you see how many followers they have!
So, let me share with you a brief rundown of how it works for bloggers.
  • Sign up for your free account. It is quick and easy.
  • Start yumming recipes that you like wherever you see them.
  • Add a YUM button to your blog for people to YUM your recipes. Make it available with every recipe post. You can either add it manually to each post or you can add it through Shareaholic or a similar app.  How To Add A Yum Button
So stop by Yummly and enjoy the fun of using it for yourself and getting your recipes shared. You will see results. “Get ready, get set, YUM!”
Note: the three recipes in the image above are mine and they would ♥ to be Yummed! Hint hint! So, after you set up your account, come back here and practice by Yumming them – or any of my other recipes. Thanks!
Enjoy!