Welcoming 30A Eats as a SoWal Partner

[kurt]

We're thrilled to have Susan Benton of 30A Eats as a SoWal contributor and partner. Anyone who has been on our site lately, or on facebook, has noticed that Susan has been a whirlwind of activity.


The local cuisine scene is so active we needed someone who could help us keep up with news and features, and Susan is such a delight to work with. Someone who really appreciates how blessed we are with so many fine restaurants and chefs along our beautiful beaches.


Since enrolling her daughter at the University of Alabama, and because her son is now a Senior at SoWal High, she has more time to devote to her intense passion - food and dining. She recently celebrated the launch of her awesome blog - 30AEATS.





While Susan will cover any food-related story, anytime, and anywhere - her focus will be on the local scene. Look for all kinds of good stuff from Susan coming up on SoWal.com. Welcome aboard Susan!





http://www.sowal.com/bb/member.php/19445-Susan-Benton


http://www.sowal.com/users/susan-benton

[Beach Runner]

Great idea, Kurt. I used to have an Atlanta restaurant guide that came up first in Google when you typed in Atlanta restaurant reviews. People loved it because they knew I was just a private individual with no ties to any restaurant. But then when we built in SoWal, I was dining there much, much more often than in Atlanta. So I dropped the website.

Kurt, great service to those who live in or visit SoWal. Can't wait to read your blog, Susan.

[30A Eats]

Thank you for the warm welcome Kurt and Beach Runner! I look forward to providing information on our local dining scene, introducing guest chefs and farmers, and sharing my latest travel stories with SoWal readers!

[Jim Tucker]

I love food.

[Beach Runner]

Hey, 30AEATS, I'd be honored for you to take over my "Restaurant Closures" posts. It just seems like the logical transition.

[Allifunn]

Welcome Susan!!

[Teresa]

We love food around here and we love food blogs & stories! We are excited to have Susan Benton | 30A Eats contributing to the SoWal.com community.

[kurt]

Good stuff!

http://30aeats.com/virtual-potluck/v...k-and-30aeats/

In August, 2011, Morrow books sent out a message that they were looking for bloggers to help promote Emeril Lagasse’s upcoming cookbook. Over 100 bloggers responded; 20 were chosen – including me. After the event, 12 of us decided to keep working together on similar projects, and to support and promote each other in fun and interesting ways that our readers would enjoy.


Out of that, Virtual Potluck was born.

The concept is that we occasionally work together – with or without sponsoring companies – to post about a specific theme on a particular day. It’s not a progressive dinner party or a planned menu – we each bring to the table what we’re good at, within the parameters of the theme. A true potluck of posts.


And then, like party guests everywhere, we talk about the party in anticipation of what will be there (on Twitter, Facebook, or wherever we happen to hang out) and then we talk about it while the event is running. Then, of course, we help clean up the mess, pack up the leftovers, and chitchat about it afterward.


Companies benefit by working with us as a group because they get one person to talk to rather than a dozen individual bloggers. And when the posts go live, they’ve got a lot of bloggers talking about their products all at once.
This approach benefits our readers because we’re giving them good content, introducing them to our fellow bloggers and possibly hosting some fun giveaways. Since we’re picking and choosing the companies we want to work with, you can be rest assured we’re not doing this just for the swag. We like the companies we’re working with, and we like the products we’re writing about, and if a few bloggers aren’t interested in a particular company or product, they’re not obligated to participate.


Since these events are sporadic and probably of short duration – as little as just one post – we won’t be annoying our followers with too many tweets about the same thing. We want these potlucks to be fun – and special – for us, and for our readers.

One great thing about our group is that we’ve all got different tastes, different focuses, different connections, and different talents. If you visit each blog during an event (and I highly recommend that you do), you won’t see the same recipes or the same photos or the same ideas over and over. We complement each other, we don’t copy each other. Even when our themes are somewhat restrictive or we’re all using the same ingredients, we’ll bring different things to the table.


We’ve had a lot of fun brainstorming this new group and arranging our potlucks. We hope you’ll like the results.

The Virtual Bloggers are:
Donna Currie at Cookistry
Heather Scholten at Farmgirl Gourmet
Jay Ducote at Bite and Booze
Marnely Rodriguez at Cooking with Books
Matt Weber at Thyme in Our Kitchen
Milisa Armstrong at Miss in the Kitchen
Rachel Gurk at Not Rachael Ray
Shelby Kinnaird at Diabetic Foodie
Susan Benton at 30A Eats
Tara Evans at Tara the Foodie
Theresa Greco at FoodHunter’s Guide to Cuisine
Vanessa Anthony at Groovy Foody
_______________________________________________
Food Companies! Would you like to work with Virtual Potluck for your next promotion? Any food-related companies, cooking gadget manufacturers, PR companies, and other parties interested in working with us as a group may contact any one of us for details. I can be contacted by email at info@30aeats.com.

[Jerry Lewis]

Welcome Susan! Let's dig in! What do you like to cook most? What is your favorite restaurant of all time, living or dead? Who is your favorite chef? What is your favorite low-brow food?

[30A Eats]

Good Morning, and Thank you for the Wonderful Welcome!
My daughter is home from college, so my house is a whirlwind of activity right now!
Some of the Top food bloggers in the nation are in Virtual Potluck. I suggest that you might follow them on facebook and/or twitter so that you have a variety of ideas and recipes! Many write for other blogs like BlogHer, SeriousEats, and Foodista, also good to follow. Please follow me at www.30AEATS.com, 30A EATS/Facebook, and @fromagechick on twitter.
Beach Runner, thank you. Please feel free to email me at info@30aeats.com so we may discuss this idea further.
Jerry, I love food, and I have so many favorite meals! It is hard to choose. I love the Po-Boys at Parkway Bakery and Deli in New Orleans, but I also adore the fine-dining Restaurant August and Chef John Besh. I have followed Chef John Folse for over 20 years, and recommended his Cajun Encyclopedia. My passion is also travel, so I have eaten at some amazing restaurants and met many talented chefs. I would probably have the herb-crusted rack of lamb at La Bastide de Capelongue in Bonnieux France as my last meal, and could die peacefully in the beautiful surroundings of Provence. Chef Edouard Loubet is incredible. Many talented chefs are here in the Panhandle, but get looked over each year by James Beard, South-East. We are the proverbial red-headed step child. Two chefs off the top of my head that I would nominate, are John Jacob of Vintij Wine Boutique, and David Cunningham of V Seagrove. David trained a chef or two at Commander's, that recently went on to be nominated. JJ, well, is just talented... period. I may get raked over the coals, but I also enjoy fois gras. One of the best dishes I had recently was by Chef John Sallman at BeachWalk Cafe at the Henderson Beach Inn. It was a poached egg on a lobe, and WOW it was good! I posted the pictures on flickr. A young, vibrant, cutting-edge chef, I really enjoy Sallmans creativity and humor in his food. Low-Brow....hmmmm....have to give that some thought. I will eat just about anything once. Except, a Filipino dish called Balut. I lived there as a child, and the experience opened my eyes to enjoying food of many cultures at a young age. My daughter just told me that my low-brow would be fried chicken livers from the Chevron Gas Station on 393 (The Caf). I get them made to order!
Merry Christmas to you all!

[Teresa]

30A EATS - hahahaha, love your low brow. I go for the fried chicken gizzards at The Caf!

[Maries Bistro]

We enjoyed being a part of Sowal, now we have one more reason to celebrate.
Wish you the best & Thanks for the constructive support, we'll work Harder

[30A Eats]

Ah...Teresa's a gizzard gal!
I look forward to dining more often at Marie's Bistro in the New Year!

[Beach Runner]

Bump. Jerry Lewis, if you happen to read this thread, please go to the Pick'ems thread and post your tie-breaker.