The Session: The Hard Stuff

I was invited by the amazing Tasha (or, as you may know her on Twitter: @metacookbook) to join in on a monthly Friday beer blogging event called The Session. I love the idea; every month someone in the online beer community is the host and chooses the discussion topic. Tasha is this month's host and her questions are:

1. What do you want people in beer culture to be talking about that we’re not?
2. What do you have to say on the topic(s)?

These topics may seem a little outside of my realm of food recipes, but it's really not. The online beer community is near & dear to my heart and I want to be more involved in it. I also cook with beer quite a bit and hope to do more recipes and pairings with beer in the future (in fact, if you have a suggestion, please send it my way!). With all of that said, let's dive in.

My Favorite Food Blogs of 2013

Before the January ends, I should probably post this 2013 round-up post. While I'd be flattered to think that this is the only food blog that you read (d'awww), I know that this would be pretty impossible (and mean that you only eat like, once per week). Check out my favorite food blogs of 2013. If I missed any that you specifically love, let me know in the comments. Enjoy!

Photo from blogher.com

Two-Year Anniversary

Today marks the two-year anniversary of my first blog post on Let's Give Peas a Chance! I am thrilled to have such an amazing two years cooking and writing, and meeting others who do the same.

Best Food Blog - Two Years in a Row!

Tuesday night was the annual Mobbies award ceremony and I am psyched to say that I won for Best Personal Twitter and Best Food Blog! EEEEEEEEEEEE! Thank you thank you thank you to anyone & everyone who voted for me! I was up against some serious competition for both categories (and I urge you to check out all of the other blogs; they're so great!). So, yes, I am completely overwhelmed with how much I love y'all right now.

Winner's Circle (Photo taken by Steve Ruark)

It's Mobbies Season!

It's that time of year again: Mobbies season! For those that aren't aware, The Mobbies are an annual Baltimore Sun-promoted social media and blogging competition. Last year, I was lucky enough to win Best Food Blog (woooooo!). This year, I've been nominated again!

If you have a moment, please click through the link, log in (you can do it through Facebook, if that's easiest for you), and vote! Everyone can vote once per day between now and November 19th to choose your favorite blogger out there. Here's what I've been nominated for:

Best Food Blog -- Let's Give Peas a Chance
Best Personal Twitter -- @annmariebrok

Click on the image above or follow this link and vote today!

Please feel free to vote for me in any or all of these categories; it'd be much appreciated!

xoxo,
Ann Marie

July: My Month of 'Eating In'

After reading an interesting series of articles on Food Riot, I became more and more enthralled with the idea of 'eating in' for an entire month. I do like to make my own food, but let's be honest -- I eat out a lot. My eating out has a lot to do with two things: convenience (hey, if I'm out & about all day, I'm not heading home for a meal) and the fact that I love (!) trying new foods. But, hey, I like a good challenge, at least I'm not doing it for an unreasonable amount of time (hey, lady in NYC that has been eating in for two years!), and I think it'd be great for my budget/my cooking skills to try this for an entire month.

I love eating as much as this little turtle does.

Liebster Questions

Last night, I was challenged by the lovely Kate over at Sunshine & the Bear to participate in an adorable blogging tradition called the Liebster award (liebster means 'dearest' in German). In doing so, you nominate five dearest bloggers to answer six questions of your choosing & pass the challenge on. It gets bloggers connected to each other, to their readers, and to age-old tradition (dating all the way back to the yesteryear of 2010). I'm totally flattered that Kate chose to challenge me, so make sure to stop over at her blog & check out her answers (& the blogs of the other four bloggers she chose!). I hope you enjoy reading my answers!

The face behind the blog

Call for Guest Posts!

I’m always open to guest posts for my blog and, since I'm starting to slowly revamp my blog, this would be a great time to start cultivating new bloggers!

Here are the requirements for your post:
-It must be a vegetarian or vegan recipe that I have not already posted.
-Please include a short bio, your photo, and any links you’d like me to promote (your blog, Twitter, etc.) so I can post that on there as well so you get your credit. If you’d like to remain anonymous, just let me know that too.
-If the recipe is taken from somewhere else (like another website), please send me the link so we can give credit where credit is due.
-Take photos! I like to have 2-4 photos of each recipe. Take as many as you like and we can whittle down to the best ones. I usually like 1-2 “finished recipe” photos and 1-2 “process” photos.
-Please follow the content format of my blog (don’t worry, though, I will actually format it into the blog). Your post should include: a short intro, prep/cook times, ingredients, directions and (if necessary) any special tips for this recipe.

Remember, be creative and feel free to (and please do) branch out from the things that I normally make. I cannot wait to see what you have to contribute! Please email all submissions to: annmariebrok@gmail.com and attach any photos or additional necessary information to your email message.

Thank you so much & I look forward to hearing from you!

Ann Marie

Best Food Blog

Last Wednesday night was the Baltimore Sun's Mobbies award show. If you've been following my blog, you know that I was promoting the Mobbies a couple weeks ago. The award show is always a good time to meet other bloggers, tweeters, and social media nerds, in general. It was a great time (the Baltimore Sun knows how to throw a party!) and I am proud to announce that I won Baltimore's Best Food Blog!

I am totally overwhelmed with how amazing this is because there were so many other awesome food blogs nominated (please check them all out here)! Plus, being up on stage with all of the other winners was totally cool (& you can - and should - check out all of their blogs).

Photo by Steve Ruark, courtesy of Baltimore Sun

Not to mention, I got to wear a moustache with the lovely @lizrawr.

Photo by Steve Ruark, courtesy of Baltimore Sun

With that, I want to thank all of you who read my blog regularly, those that drop in every once in awhile, and everyone who voted for this blog! I look forward to posting more recipes that I really hope you dig.

Thank you again; you guys are all the best!

Ann Marie

The Mobbies

The Mobbies are annual Baltimore Sun-promoted social media and blogging awards. This year, I am so excited to be nominated for three categories (this blog has been nominated for two!). Each person out there (you don't have to live in Baltimore) can vote once per day between now and November 9th to choose your favorite blogger out there. Here's what I've been nominated for:

Best Food Blog -- Let's Give Peas a Chance
Best New Blog -- Let's Give Peas a Chance
Best Personal Twitter -- @annmariebrok

Click on the image above or follow this link and vote today!

Please feel free to vote for me in any or all of these categories; it'd be much appreciated!

Ann Marie

Updates & a mush-stache

Thanks for sticking with me! I'm five months and 21 posts into this blog so far. I'm pretty pumped about the upcoming warm weather and what that means for my cooking. I'm actually planning to post a delicious summer-y recipe today (I hope you enjoy it!). Continue to feel free to leave me suggestions, comments, and questions on the blog. You can also find me on Twitter and on my About page.

I take portobello mushrooms very seriously.

Something new that I am going to start incorporating into my posts is a drink that would pair well with the recipe (this will probably be either beer, wine, or cocktails, but may also be non-alcoholic). Keep an eye out for this!

Remember, I am always open to having a guest blogger, so if you have an awesome recipe that you're dying to share, send me a note and I'd be more happy to hand over my platform for you!

Thanks again for following along and happy cooking!

Ann Marie

Checking In!

My favorite apron & me!

So I wanted to thank all of the readers of this blog so far! I'm excited that a few folks have checked in and I’ve even heard rumours of some people using my recipes. So exciting!

I did want to mention that I will start adding a few more things to the blog now such as prep/cook times to the recipe posts as well as posts that are a little more expository. So keep an eye out for some fun foodie commentary.

Also, keep in mind that I am always welcome to hosting guest bloggers, so if you have a food blog or if you love to cook (or even if you have that one awesome recipe that you totally win at), let me know!

Thanks again & I look forward to many more cooking adventures!