Twenty Questions with A Good Appetite
Even if you don’t have A Good Appetite, you’ll be hungry the moment you check out our featured blog this week. Kathy and Matt cook up more delicious recipes – and post more frequently – than most foodie sites out there. Give them a visit and you’re sure to find some favorite recipes for the holidays!
How long have you had a food blog (or other foodie type site)?
We started A Good Appetite in February 2007. We took about a 6-month break when we moved from San Francisco to Minneapolis. We started up again in January 2008 & have been going nonstop since then.
How would you describe your site to new readers?
Our site is full of weekly menus & recipes that are just basic good food. We size a lot of recipes, including those for baked goods, down to feed two people. We have become more & more focused on cooking what is seasonable here in the Upper Midwest. We also have been experimenting with a lot of artisanal food making with things like canning & cheese making.
What made you decide to start your site?
Kathy had been writing a knitting and craft blog for a while & had enjoyed the interaction online with like-minded people. Since both she & Matt liked to cook & eat she thought a food blog would be something fun for them to do together.
Is there any personal meaning behind the name?
There really isn’t any special meaning behind the name other than we both have good appetites.
What advice do you have for new bloggers?
Start a blog for you not because you hope to have 1000’s of readers or make tons of money. Very few of us are making a living at this. It can be a lot more work to keep up than you think so if you don’t enjoy it you won’t keep it up.
Get involved with the online food blogging community. Join things like the Foodie Blogroll , Daring Bakers or Recipes to Rival. You’ll “meet” a lot of great people & also get inspired for your own blog.
What’s the best thing about being a food blogger?
Meeting lots of wonderful people online has probably been the best part. There are people all over the world we now consider friends even though we haven’t met them in person.
What the worst?
We post 5 – 6 times a week & try to have as many of those posts include recipes as possible. That means we have to try a lot of new recipes out all the time. This can be a lot of fun but it also means you don’t get fall back on your favorites as often as you might like.
What food blog inspires you the most?
Oh, there are sooooo many!
The Left Over Queen, www.leftoverqueen.com – Jen has really been an inspiration to so many food bloggers & brought us all together through the Foodie Blogroll. We’re so excited to see her new adventures on her farm in Vermont.
Kalofagas, www.kalofagas.ca - Peter is so much fun to read & we enjoy his focus on Greek food. His pictures make us want to hop a plane to sunny Greece now.
Eating Out Loud, www.eatingoutloud.com – Allen has a beautiful site & we really enjoy his writing style.
What’s Cooking, www.whatscooking.us – Ben takes some of the most beautiful food photos you’ll find on the web & also gives tips & tricks to take them. Plus he offers up some fabulous Mexican recipes.
Fake Food Free, www.fakefoodfree.com – Lori has helped us to think more about what we are eating plus we’ve enjoyed reading bout her life in Brazil & other travel exploits.
Here’s just a few more we read every day – http://simplegoodandtasty.com, www.heavytable.com, www.ellesnewenglandkitchen.com, www.lipsmackinggoodness.blogspot.com
This list could seriously go on & on as we follow about 100 food blogs.
What camera do you use?
A Cannon Power Shot A720IS. It’s a nice little point & shoot, small enough to fit in a purse but has enough settings to play with. We have an EGO light & backdrop, which has made a big improvement in our photos.
Do you have any formal training in the field of cooking?
Neither of us has any formal training in cooking but both of us grew up with parents who are good cooks & like to experiment with recipes.
Do you watch a lot of cooking on TV?
We used to watch a lot more than we do now, the shows just don’t seem as interesting anymore. We do tend to be inspired by the travel/cooking shows like Diners, Drive-ins and Dives & No Reservations.
Do you have a favorite chef, celebrity or otherwise?
For celebrity chefs, we really like Alton Brown & Anthony Bourdain.
There are many wonderful local chefs in the Minneapolis area but we really respect Scott Pampuch of Corner Table. He has really done a lot to foster the farm to table movement in the area as well as serve some great food.
How challenging has it been to find a loyal reader base?
It takes a lot of work. You really have to spend time reading other people’s blogs & commenting on them, submitting photos to sites like this, as well as posting on Twitter or Facebook. It helps to be active in online groups like the Foodie Blogroll, Daring Bakers, etc…. On top of that you have to keep the content on your site fresh, content is king in the blogging world. We found our readership really grew when we started posting 5 – 6 times a week. It also helped to get featured on non-food sites like Craftzine & Boing Boing. We aren’t as big as some of the most popular food blogs out there but we are really proud of the amount of followers we do have.
What types of food do you enjoy preparing most?
We really like comfort food & finding ways to take it to the next level, whether that be adding caramelized onions to mac & cheese or finding the perfect spice blend for a roast chicken.
In the warmer months Matt really enjoys cooking things on his grill & smoker.
Do you have a signature dish or two?
Kathy’s signature dishes are probably her Grown-Up Mac & Cheese and her Creamy Wild Rice Chicken Soup.
Matt is known for his fabulous chilies & really knows his way around roasting a chicken. Lately everyone wants to come over for his ribs since he got a smoker.
Favorite kitchen gadget?
Kathy – A good sharp chef’s knife is probably the most useful thing in the kitchen.
Matt – My poultry shears because you can’t butcher your poultry without them
If you could choose to be any food, what would it be?
We would both be bacon, because really bacon makes everything better & everyone loves it (We think even vegetarians secretly crave it.)
If you could banish just one food from the earth, what would it be?
Kathy – Truffle oil, its overdone & overpowers the dishes its in.
Matt – Eggplant (much to Kathy’s dismay), it’s a texture thing.
What’s the one super power you wish you had?
We are laughing because we both said it would be to blink & have the kitchen be clean. All that cooking certainly makes for a lot of dishes!
What’s your favorite thing about “Refrigerator Soup”?
We like the way it’s laid out & the chance to read about other bloggers.
To see more of Kathy and Matt’s food photography, recipes and to subscribe to their blog, please visit them at A Good Appetite.
To learn about how you can get Featured, please email us at twentyquestions [at] refrigeratorsoup [dot] com. Note: Priority is given to those bloggers who consistently submit photographs, so please keep that in mind before inquiring. We are currently booked through February, 2010, but welcome inquiries from those interested in being featured.
Featured bloggers from weeks past…
Twenty Questions with Sunita’s World
Twenty Questions with Spicie Foodie
Twenty Questions with Greedy Gourmet
Twenty Questions with Sweetopia
Twenty Questions with Real Mom Kitchen
Twenty Questions with Inspired Taste
