Recap Event Announcement And Giveaways- Celebrating 2 Years Of Blogging

So I have been so busy that I missed an important date, I failed to notice that my little blog is now 2 years old. Something I started just as a diary to keep my recipes safe and organised is now so special to me. In last 2 years I have learnt many new techniques, tried new dishes, made new friends and became more passionate about cooking. Ever since then whatever I wrote on this space is with complete devotion and dedication. All you readers have been so supportive and encouraging by participating in the events, liking the posts on Facebook, commenting on them and following me on twitter- it is you all who keep this blog running. Thank you very much.

I am also grateful to Mr. Husband for motivating and criticizing the dishes and clicks -without which I would have not improved. He reads all the posts and picks out the grammatical errors- which is annoying sometimes but I know he wishes only good for me. He waits patiently when I click food photos, understands my craze for props and finally finances them. Thank you :)

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Past 2 years have been very exciting and I enjoyed every bit of it. What happened in these 2 years, what I did, what did I achieve-I am sharing with you all?

• Total number of blog posts is 310, out of which 5 are Travel post and has no recipes. I also wrote an article on -‘’What a food blogger does?’’
• There are total 38,450  published comments on my blog. Each one of it is very special to me.
• The most popular blog post is Milk Powder Churma, followed by Spinach Muthiya.
• Tuesday’s tip section is the most liked feature of my blog. There are total 20 tips that I have shared. I have received lot of comments and mails requesting and asking for more tips. I am still trying to grow this section, till now ‘how to deodorize the fridge’ is the most popular tip.
• Readers says that I have improved a lot in food photography. I finally own DSLR Cannon 600D and I am enjoying it. First picture  I clicked with it was of Gond Ke Ladoos . Many of you have been asking to do blog post related to food pictures only. Let me know if you are interested.
• Number of people following Merry Tummy 650. Facebook fans- 457; Twitter Followers- 80; Pinterest- 62 followers. I think the numbers are great. :)
• Merry Tummy has hosted 6 events with giveaways and received more than 120 entries at each one of them.
• Lately I am on YouTube-I have posted 4 recipes with videos. See the YouTube section HERE and please subscribe.
• I have worked with 19 brands and PR agencies and wrote product reviews. All the reviews were unbiased and fair. I was only compensated to keep the product and was not given any monetary benefit. I enjoyed doing product reviews a lot and will do more.

Other Achievements:

• The healthy recipes that I share are also showcased on Times Of India’s health section-HeathMeUp. You can see my articles HERE.
• Roasted Tomatoes Garlic Soup recipe has been featured in New York RedBook Magazine. CLICK HERE.
• Gormandize UK have interviewed me which can be read HERE. I also won First Prize- an amazing Coffee Machine in the Christmas Baking Competition organized by them-CLICK HERE.
• Country Living has also featured the Roasted Tomatoes Garlic Soup recipe on their site. See HERE.

Snapshots of Features

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‘'To succeed you have to believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a reality''. This is just the beginning I am sure the best is yet to come. To celebrate 2 years of blogging I am having an event with a giveaway.  It is a Recap Event- an that will give me rush of memories and have recap of my blog posts.

How to participate:

• Follow my any recipe from the blog and make it in your kitchen. Write a post about it giving link back to the original recipe. You can make some modifications as per your taste but GIVE RECIPE SOURCE back to my page
• Simply copy this at the end of the post- Sending this for Merry Tummy Recap Event.
• Usage of logo is compulsory as as it helps to spread the word.
• You have to like Merry Tummy's Facebook Page, Follow me on Twitter and Follow Merry Tummy. (Compulsory)
• Only after your first entry, share the event details at Facebook page. (I want more people to know about the event). Keep your post public in Facebook so that I can see it. (Compulsory- have to do only once)
• Event runs from 29 May 2014 to 1 August 2014.
• Bloggers and Non bloggers are welcome to participate. Send a mail to agrawal.shweta.n@gmail.com with the subject line as Recap Event with the following details:
• Your Name
• Recipe Name
• Blog Name
• Recipe URL (Please send the Recipe URL and not the blog URL)
• Picture of the dish (If it is not on the blog)

Giveaway:

I am sure this will excite you. First prize is WAFFLE MAKER/MACHINE (worldwide).

The one who send maximum entries wins. 

Hope you like the event. Any questions-mail me. Get set and cooking:)

Confessions Of A Food Blogger...

You are always told and taught that no work is less important- right?? So how would you feel when someone thinks what you are doing has no worth or is super easy. When someone asks me what I do, I tell them I am a food blogger. OK, so you write recipes-that’s it? This is what people generally reply or think.

So here are some confessions of a Food Blogger-

• That I produce recipes; I follow the recipes and then publish them on my blog. I do this, so that my errors are not repeated by someone else. I do this, so that others learn from my experiences. I do this, so that someone else is benefited through my tried recipes.

• That there are times when I click 200 pictures of the new meal that I have prepared and not even one is good enough to go on the blog. So, so, so many times I have cried and prayed to  Weather God to let the sun shine because I am baking a cake and want to click pictures.*cry*cry*. I wish they could appreciate that clicking good pictures, understanding the camera, styling the food is a very time consuming and difficult task- just like any other work.

• That the whole process of blogging is a complex structure. One needs to think about not just what to cook, but to also buy the required ingredients, cook it up, note the quantities of the ingredients used, let the food cool, present with style, click pictures keeping in mind unlimited camera settings, edit the pictures, typing the recipes, write the content so that it is enjoyed by the readers...no it doesn’t end here. Then one needs to share the post on social networking sites- Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and many such online communities. This by the way helps us to get traffic, page views and visitations.

• That I receive questions, suggestions and emails that want my immediate attention. For instance, once a mother saw this Mango Pickle recipe and she wanted to know what can be done to preserve the pickle as her daughters were travelling to USA for studies (she mentioned it was urgent). I saw that email at 6am and I did reply to it right away.  So yes, food bloggers do have some urgent emails and queries to respond to.

• That I can handle criticism but not insanely rude comments on my site. Okay! I understand that you tried my recipe and you didn't like it, but, remember we all have different taste buds- right??

• That so many people copy our content without giving any due credits. It is hard to fight and argue with such people. Sigh! But this is the fact.

No guys, neither I am sad that I am a food blogger, nor am I trying to show off what I do.  I just want people to read this and understand that like any other 9-5 shift job, blogging is also 24/7 profession that needs complete dedication, hard work and patience.

My food blog is not a hobby. It’s not my ‘work’. Merry Tummy is my world and I am so glad and happy to do something that I love every single day. Thank YOU all, for appreciating my work, leaving comments, following my blog and doing any little thing that makes me feel special about being a Food Blogger. THANK YOU.

What do you think food blogging is? Have you come across people who think blogging is easy? How do you handle criticism? Please share your stories.

(All the posters and pictures above are my creation)