The Fumbling Foodie

Watch the Fumbling Foodie at Work!

Tonight my good friends Michael Goodman and Hilari Weinstein were here for dinner. My first rule: Never use your guests as guinea pigs. So dinner consisted of three tried-and-true dishes:

Bistro Style Chicken Drumsticks with a Raspberry Vinaigrette

Milles-Feuilles Asparagus

White Chocolate Souffle with Raspberry-Chocolate Sauce

Thanks to uStream, I did the whole thing on live video for everyone to see. In case you missed it (and have nothing better to do than see a middle-aged guy potter around in the kitchen), you can watch it:

I Stream Ustream

UStream.tv that is.

Last night at the Social Media Club I was introduced to UStream. Anyone can use it to stream live video out to the world. You can also record those video sessions for playback later.

Sunday (1/13/08) I will be preparing dinner for two good friends and I've decided to LiveStream it.

Come watch me fix diner at:

http://www.ustream.tv/BloggerDave

Sunday January 13, 2008 at 3pm Mountain time

Crass Commercial Plug

Greg, Amy, and the rest of the gang at Your Guide to Green are not only my clients they are genuinly nice people. Their online store offers a wide variety of hand-picked environmentally-conscious items. If you are looking for green gift this Christmas please check them out:

http://www.yourguidetogreen.com/shop/

Gilroy Garlic

I found an interesting post on Slashfood about how imports of Chinese garlic are killing California garlic growers, even though the Chinese garlic has been called 'tasteless' by comparison.

I guess I'm going to have to start looking for labels on the garlic I buy.

Cooking on Father's Day

Adam over on Men in Aprons lists 10 Great Ways Not to be a Man in an Apron this Father's Day.

Not trying to be disrespectful to Adam, but I can think of one reason TO be a man in an apron this Father's Day: I am not only a father, but also a son. Dear Old Dad is 84 this year. Dad loves my cooking. Each holiday at my house I prepare a meal as if it will be the last time I get to cook for him. Because it might be.

Fast Food: Ad vs Reality

I found this on Slashfood:

http://www.thewvsr.com/adsvsreality.htm

Someone is posting side-by-side Ad photos vs the real thing.

Maybe I should start doing similar: Publish the photo from the cookbook as well as the actual photo of the finished product. Of course (1) it would be more of an indictment of my culinary skills that anything else and (2) the authors may come after me for ruining their reputations ;-)

My Friend Shelly

My long-time good friend, Michelle Conlon has finally started a blog. Michell and I have known each other for almost ten years and I was really excited to learn that she is finally blogging:

http://Gardenerslog.blogspot.com

Charisma Clinic

I'm trying to help a friend and get the word out: Hilari Weinstein is the best business presentation coach I know. She has certainly done wonders for me.

Hilari has started a series of workshops called The Charisma Clinic. Unfortunately the local newspaper screwed up the url.

If you are in the Phoenix, AZ area and you depend upon your presentation skills to bring you new business, I urge you to check this out.

Daily Eats Interviews Fumbling Foodie

I met Tery Spataro of Daily Eats at a recent Social Media Club event. It's always fun to meet another foodie blogger in person. Tery is a wonderful, enthusiatic person who has taken her blogging a lot farther than I have and I admire and respect her for that.

I was delighted the other day when she asked me if I wanted to be interviewed for a podcast. I thought about it for a whole three nanoseconds before saying 'yes!'. Today we did the podcast and it turned out great. You can listen to it over on the Daily Eats blog.

Social Media Club Phoenix

A few of you know that I lead a double life (quadruple life actually but that's a story for another day). I have a consulting business called Business Blogging Pros. When I'm not fumbling around wearing the cape and the suit with the double-F on the front, I masquarade as as a mild-mannered busines and marketing consultant.

So I get this email out of the blue from Francine Hardaway that says, "We have formed a Phoenix Chapter of the Social Media Club. Wanna come? Of course. I'm sure that Francine doesn't remember me from Adam, but I've known Francine for a long time, clear back in the days of the Arizona Software Association.

It was an interesting mix of people who have been blogging for eons and Get it (It's the first time here in Phoenix that I've run into people who know who RageBoy is and recognized my Streetcard and from whence it came) and people who were just beginning to explore the world of blogging.

One of the most fun aspects of gatherings like this is connecting face-to-face with people that I have known only through their blog. I have been a reader and fan of Escape from Cubical Nation for a long time and was delighted to meet Pam in person.

I also met another Foodie. I have had my own food blog for over a year and it is always fun to meet another foodie and swap URLs. This time it was Tery Spataro of Daily Eats. Interestingly, while I am a 'producer' foodie (my interest is in the preparing the food), Tery is a 'consumer' foodie. It will be interesting to see if I can get Tery over to the Fumbling Foodie household sometime for a meal.

If you are in the Phoenix area and are a blogger the Social Media Club should be a must-attend event for you. I can't tell you how great a feeling it is to be around 'birds of a feather'. On the other hand, if you are interested in learning more about blogging and other social media then the Social Media club is a great place to learn too.