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| The fam at the Omaha Zoo |
Thanks for stopping by Food Pusher! I'm Kelly, mother of two awesome boys (ages 10 & 11), wife of one awesome husband, and a part time teacher of some of the best kids in Iowa. I grew up in Southern California, moved to Portland, Oregon for a couple of years, then back to SoCal, and now I live in the Heartland—Des Moines, Iowa. My mother is a major food pusher, as was her mother. My dad’s sister is also a food pusher, so I guess I get it from both sides of the family.
Over the years, I have become known to family and friends as someone who likes to bake and cook. When I moved to Iowa, I immediately started competing in the Iowa State Fair Food Competition and won a few ribbons. My eye was on the BIG prize, though: a $3000 cash grand prize in the Tones Cinnamon Roll Competition. It was via that competition that I met a woman who introduced herself as a “food blogger.” She wanted to take pictures of my first place (NOT grand prize winning, though) Pulled Pork Cinnamon Rolls to post on her blog with the recipe. “Sure,” I told her.
Although a friend of mine had been prodding me for a couple of years to start a food blog, I thought it was too techie for me, but when I saw what this other woman had posted on her blog, it dawned on me that it wasn’t all that difficult to do. I could take some simple pictures of my food and post the recipes. So, my husband started my Blogger account for me, and we mulled over a name for a few minutes. Since he’d started calling me a food pusher like he called my mother, I figured it was a good enough name for my blog. So, this Food-Pusher blog was born. Honestly, I don’t know why the hyphen is in the name. I should probably figure out how to remove it, but it’s there for now.
Here you will find recipes for foods I actually cook. It happens frequently that my family has to wait an extra ten minutes for dinner while I plate up and take some pictures of the meal. One time I had made something different, but hadn’t taken pics because it was probably winter and it was too late (no natural lighting left). I exclaimed, “Wow! This tastes SO good!” to which my 11-year-old said, “Why don’t you take a picture of it, Mom.” You know, like when someone catches you staring and says, “Why don’t you take a picture? It'll last longer.” Almost sassy, but the kid was actually being sincere.
I even take pictures of the cafeteria food at the school I work at. I realized that a lot of my students who are from other cultures don’t know what a “loco beef taco” or a “barbecue ribette on a bun” is. So, I started taking pictures with my cell phone of all of the food. Each Friday afternoon, I put together a “pocket chart” at the lunchroom entrance that has a picture version of the weekly lunch menu. It’s been fun to see all kinds of students checking out what they will be served for lunch later in the week. Plus, I’ve had the chance to get to know Terri, the lunch lady, who looks for me to come with my cell phone to take pics whenever there is a new lunch item that day.
I’m really glad I’ve stared this blogging thing. It’s a relatively healthy hobby that keeps me at home where I like to be. You might notice that I don’t have ads on my blog. There are two reasons for that. Okay, maybe three. First, I think it makes a blog look cluttered when you get too much advertising. Second, blogging about food is something I do for fun. I hear all the time, “You should sell this stuff,” or “You should open a bakery,” to which I reply, “As soon as I start doing this for money, it will stop being fun.” I need this fun in my life, so I will continue to do it for that reason. Third, I think I'm too lazy to figure out how to monetize tastefully. I blog for recreation and relaxation, although I sometimes do make myself too busy. I've decided to try making a little money at this, so you'll notice a couple of Google AdSense spots on my blog. Feel free to ignore them, and please know, I won't let the ads get out of control.
I’ve written too much. You might have already noticed that I like to keep my posts short and sweet. If you still have questions for me, please feel free to email meor post a comment under a recipe you have questions about. I try to keep up with the comments, but sometimes my real life gets in the way. If you have a truly burning question, go the email route. You’ll get quicker results.
Enjoy the recipes!