Food Blogger Interview: Becca of AmuseYourBouche
Dishfolio's food bloggers have a lot of knowledge
and wisdom to share, that's why it's always great when they give us
the time and opportunity to share their thoughts with us! Today,
Becca of AmuseYourBouche,
a place where she shares her favorite simple vegetarian recipes,
was gracious enough to answer our interview questions!
Tell us about your food blogging goals: What are they? How are you accomplishing them?
Currently, I'm just enjoying building up my blog's following, slowly but surely. I'd love to eventually be able to make a living from my blog, but at the moment that's a bit of a pipe dream! I know I've got a long way to go yet, but I'm pretty pleased with the progress I've made so far so perhaps one day it'll happen!
Who is your foodie hero and how do they inspire you?
I watch a lot of cookery shows on TV, but to be honest the people who inspire me most are the writers of the food blogs I love to read, especially those who blog full-time. They've achieved everything I want to achieve, so it's hugely inspiring to see that it might one day be possible! Some of my favourite blogs are Pinch Of Yum, Bev Cooks and The Novice Chef - they're so creative with their recipes and they take beautiful photos, along with telling great stories.
What's your go-to literary tool and how does it make your food blog successful?
I do sometimes try to use humour. I'm never too sure if other people find me funny, but since I manage to amuse myself I figure I'll stick with it and maybe one day someone else will appreciate me! But really I just write for myself first, since I think that makes my writing seem more real and natural. There's nothing worse than a blog post that seems really forced, especially when the writer is clearly just trying to get as many keywords in their writing as possible. It's just not fun to read.
What ethical food issues get you talking with your friends and family?
I'm a vegetarian, but to be honest we don't tend to talk that
much about food issues. I don't really like to talk about my 
vegetarianism too much in real life - I'm
definitely not a preachy vegetarian, and I'd hate people to feel
like I was lecturing them. We do like to get together for meals,
but I guess we spend too much time eating to engage in too much
serious conversation - it's the only time we're quiet!
Are you making money with your food blog? If so, what's your secret blog monetization ingredient?
I do make a small amount of money off my blog, and it's steadily growing, but unfortunately not quite enough to make me a millionaire just yet. I'd love to get it to the point where I could quit my day job! At the moment I use Adsense and I'm also in the BlogHer ad network, both of which I really like. I'm always looking for new ways of making money without making my blog appear too spammy! One of my pet hates is pop-up ads or those with sound - they make me click away from a blog immediately.
Describe your all-time favorite
recipe.
That's a really tough question - I don't often make the same thing twice (one of the curses of always needing new blog content!) so it's hard to think of just one single recipe. I try to cook vaguely healthily most of the time, but if I could choose anything it would definitely involve plenty of cheese and plenty of carbs!
What's the best food photography tip you've learned in the past year?
Use natural light! I look back at some of my old photos that I clearly took at night, and they make me shudder. The difference that natural and artificial light can have on a photo is insane. Also, I've found that I really like to shoot vertically rather than horizontally - somehow I find it immediately makes a photo look more interesting.
How many cookbooks do you own and which do you reach for most often?
I probably own about 10, so far fewer than I'm sure a lot of other people have. I absolutely love looking through cookbooks, especially those with lots of big pictures, but for some reason I don't find myself cooking from them too often. I prefer to use recipes from blogs, or just things I've made up myself.
If you had to choose a kitchen tool you couldn't live without, what would it be and why?
It would be my mini-food processor. It's only small, but since I'm usually only cooking for my fiancé, and myself it's perfect. I use it multiple times a week to make breadcrumbs, pesto, sauces, and all sorts of things.
What keywords or cooking types would you like to be best known for?
'Simple vegetarian recipes' is my tagline. I never realised how lazy I am until I started my blog and realised that almost all of my recipes take less than about half an hour.
