Bite ‘n’ Write

We at MFB were very happy to hear of a food bloggers conference here in Birmingham, Bite ‘N’ Write, organised by one of our members – Annie Ko. We had managed to get a few of our lovely bloggers to go along and here is a quick overview of the day from Louise of Comida y Vida. 

An event for food bloggers right on my doorstop, a chance to learn to some information and get tips to improve my blog, and an opportunity to meet some of my fellow bloggers with whom I have tweeted with for a long time … well I couldn’t resist.

I booked the ticket for Bite ‘n’ Write so long ago, that by the time November 19th arrived I was too excited for words, if a little nervous at leaving Baby G with Daddy for the longest time yet …. 14 hours!!

So bright and breezy I jumped on a train to Birmingham and once in the lobby of New Street searched out a few of my fellow attendee’s. How to spot a blogger in a busy public place is perhaps a discussion for another day but I wouldn’t recommend walking up to a stranger and asking them if they are a blogger …. you will most certainly get a strange look!

Once the troops had gathered, including the my fellow MFB members Jules of Butcher, Baker, Julia of Wannabefoodie and Kath the Ordinary Cook, together with the very lovely Choclette of Chocolate Log Blog and Charlotte of Go Free foods, we set off for the venue. The event was held in the Old Library room at the Custard Factory.

I won’t go into detail regarding all the workshops that were held during the day as many other blogs have put it far better than I could including Louise at the Vegetarian Experience. I haven’t any decent photo’s to share with you either as was too busy taking in all the information, but here’s my highlights:

* The photography workshop by Craig Fraser of Frasershot was the best start to the day. An interesting look into how professional food photography is carried out and some simple tips to create stunning pictures at home. Who knew silver card and a tampon could be such useful tools?

* Judith Lewis of Mostly about Chocolate and SEO specialist gave an insight into optimising your blog which I found interesting but which was a tad too technical or not of interest for some of my fellow attendee’s.

* The tasting by Artisan du Chocolat was a particular high, a chocolate high that is! We got to learn all about chocolate and taste a wide range of their products. I particularly liked the mint one and the Masala Chai. I loved the look of the O’s too.

* Jeanne of Cook Sister gave a really interesting talk about writing and how to make your blog attractive to readers with tips on the design and content of the blog.

So those were my highlights, but for a fair review I must mention my disappointment with some aspects of the day. The main issue for me was the the lack of time and setting to mingle with the other food bloggers. Whilst I got to know the people on my table it was difficult to find time to meet everyone else. Also the venue was not the greatest with a serious heating problem leaving me drinking cups of coffee just to stop from turning blue, and the meaty non-indian lunch was a bit of a let-down.

I applaud Annie Ko for having the intrepidity to get up and organise something like this event, especially after such a short time blogging, and considering it was her first event it was good. However, there are many things to be improved upon and I would hope that these are put into place to make sure this can become an annual event.

I finished off the day with a get together with some of my tweeties for some delicious food and wine at Jamie’s Italian.

By Louise of Comida y Vida on behalf of MFB.

MFB get baking at Loaf Online

Last Saturday, several friends and members of Midlands Food Bloggers gathered together at Loaf HQ for a cookery course on how to bake bread. The course leader, Tom Baker is owner of Loaf, a social enterprise with the aim to “promote real food and healthy living in Birmingham, and build community through food”. For more details, please visit www.loafonline.co.uk

The day started early over freshly brewed tea, coffee and freshly baked bread and Tom explained to us what we would be doing for the day- it sounded quite daunting- a white loaf, wholemeal loaf, fougasse, pizza, ciabatta and brioche! We were all quite excited at the prospect of learning how to bake these breads, and that some of the loaves, and the pizza would be baked outside, in the clay oven. The clay oven was lit before we arrived and the smell coming from the garden was amazing.

The course was very hands on, and Tom explained not just the ingredients, but why we use them, in what quantities, why temperature was important, why accurate weighing was key- and some great kneading techniques. We were provided with the recipes, but also with a better understanding of how the bread making process works, and this information will definitely help bake quality bread time and time again. During the day, Tom answered the many questions we had about baking and gave us tips and ideas on how to improve our loaves- my personal favourite is using a scraper to keep the dough together and to get it off the work surface, something I have always struggled with.

The results were amazing! The pizzas we made for lunch were the nicest I’ve ever tasted, probably helped by the clay oven.

We all went home with a sizeable amount of breads that we had baked and I decided to have a go at baking some the following day, not quite believing I could repeat the results. Tom’s basis behind the day was teaching us to make consistently good bread- and he succeeded. By Sunday evening I had created a fluffy white loaf with an amazing crust and a fluffy, if a bit too stretched focaccia (Tom tweeted me later to advise me to use a smaller tray next time) and brioche rolls.

Written by Lisa of Mmmidlands on behalf of MFB.

Bite ‘n’ Write

There was a whisper on twitter of a food bloggers conference based in the Midlands. Surely that can’t be right we thought, these things always happen in London. Fortunately for us we were proved wrong ……. how exciting!!

Derezzed Media are behind Bite’N’ Write, the food bloggers conference which is for all foodies, whether you are a budding food blogger or have a well established blog with lots of followers.

The day will aim to provide food bloggers with an opportunity to meet others, learn new skills and share experiences. there will be useful workshops with tips on food photography, blog promotion, writing skills and a wordpress demo.

The conference is taking place in Birmingham in the newly designed arts and media quarter, at the Custard Factory on Saturday 19th November 2011. The outline of the day is as follows:

 10:00 – 10:40am: Registration, Tea & Coffee

10:40 – 11:00am: Welcome speech

11:00 – 12am: Food Photography workshop by Craig Fraser from FraserShot

12:00 – 1:00: Hot Buffet Lunch

1:15- 1:45pm: Promoting your blog using Social Media

1:50 – 2:20pm: Finding your blogging voice by Jeanne Horak from Cooksister

2:00 – 2:45pm: Cooking demo (speaker TBC)

2:45 – 3:00pm: Tea & Coffee, mingle time

3:00 – 3:30pm: Recipe Developing by Charlotte Pike from GoFreeCakes

3:35-4:15pm: Wordpress workshop by James Bolton from Derezzed Media

4:15 – 4:45pm: Video Blogging

4:45pm – 5:00pm: Thank you speech

5:00 – 6:00pm: Drinks

*subject to changes

Tickets are available now here and if you move quickly you may get your hands on the last of the early bird tickets.

For all Midlands Food Bloggers members we have been lucky enough to secure a 20% discount off the regular ticket price. To get your discount please email for the special discount code.

The event is also a perfect opportunity for any local food businesses to connect with a wealth of foodies. There are a variety of sponsorship packages available from as little as £100 for inclusion in the programme to around £300 for a stall to showcase your products or services. For any local businesses interested in sponsoring the event please email here.

Prepped Cookbook Launch

One of our member’s, Vanessa Kimbell has just written and released her first cookbook. She left her job in IT in May 2010 and decided to follow her dream to write a cookbook designed for time short foodies.  Vanessa persuaded her local newspaper in Northampton to take her on as a food writer, she set up a blog to chart her book writing progress and used social networking to promote, ask for recipe testers and bring her book to the world!

‘Prepped!: Gorgeous Food without the Slog – a Multi-tasking Masterpiece for Time-short Foodies’ was released at the end of May 2011. MFB members were highly involved in recipe testing for the book before it was published.  Julia of A Wannabe Foodie tested Chocolate Cookies, Lemon Polenta Savoury Muffins and Lemon Pork Risotto.  Jules of Butcher, Baker tested Chocolate Beef and Rhubarb Tart.  I tested the Eccles Cakes recipe as well.

As we were recipe testers, we were invited to the cookbook launch in Northampton. Jules was unable to attend but Julia and I attended and had the picture with Vanessa taken above. At the launch, there was lots of chatting about blogging and cake. We were able to meet many bloggers from around the country including Ruth from The Pink Whisk. We had a fantastic time.  Vanessa is going to start writing ‘Prepped 2′ soon and we here at MFB wish her lots of luck for the future and hope we can help with the recipe testing for the second book too!

By Jo of Jo’s Kitchen on behalf of MFB

MFB Meet up at 99 Station Street and Staffordshire Fine Foods

Last weekend we had our most recent Midlands Food Bloggers (MFB) meet up. We were a group of 10 that met up including the organiser of this particular event Louise of Comida y Vida and her other half Owen, creator of MFB Jo of Jo’s Kitchen, Becky from Girl Interrupted Eating,  Julia of A WannabeFoodie, Jules of The Butcher, The Baker and Georgina of Culinary Travels. We were joined by some foodie friends  including Gavin from To Bizzy 2 Bake and James and Kate from Eat the Midlands and Gourmet Life.



The venue for our meet up was a perfect fit with what we at MFB are most interested in – seasonal and local food! 99 Station St in Burton-on-Trent is an award winning Modern British restaurant that sources as much as possible from local suppliers. When we contacted owners Ross & Susan Boardman about hosting a MFB meet they were more than happy to allow a “bounty of bloggers” to descend upon them and also offered some extra special treats.




We sampled their 3 course lunch menu for a bargain price of £10.95. All the dishes are based on local and seasonal ingredients as was explained by the Head Chef, Daniel Pilkington, who explained that wherever possible they made the products in-house including  homemade sausages, ice-cream and pies.

After lunch we journeyed to just outside of Burton-On-Trent to the home of Susan and Ross and the HQ of Staffordshire Fine Foods (SFF). Launched earlier this year to satisfy customers who dined at 99 Station Street and wanted to get their hands on some of the menu favourites, SFF sells sausages, pies and smoked products online here or in specialist retailers like Brown and Green.



During the afternoon we spent a fabulous couple of hours with Ross, lapping up his knowledge and enthusiasm on curing, smoking and foraging.

We sampled all manner of smoked ingredients including peanuts, salmon, venison and pigeon breast. Then we had a stroll into the local woods to learn about foraging and picked some nettles and wild garlic and then headed back to the house to make a lovely fresh broth with some chicken stock that had been flavoured with some of the new air-dried Chorizo that Ross is trialling.

It is with a massive thank you to Ross, Susan and the staff of 99 Station Street and Staffordshire Fine Foods that the meet up was enjoyed by all. You can read more here.

• Louise at Comida Y Vida writes her thoughts on the visit here
• Becky of Girl Interrupted Eating was inspired to create a Summer Caldo Verde
• Jo of Jo’s Kitchen sums up her views here
• Ross of Staffordshire Fine Foods lets us know what hosting an MFB meet up is like on his News page

It was such a fantastic day we can’t wait for the next one.

If you’re a local food business in the Midlands and would like to host a MFB meet up then please drop us an email, as we’re always on the look out for interesting places to visit.

 If you’re a blogger that wants to come along to the next meet up then contact us to be included on our mailing list.

Written by Louise of Comida y Vida on behalf of MFB

Midlands Foodie Events – June 2011

Here is a round up of the foodie events happening in the Midlands during June. If we have missed any out, please email us at midsfoodbloggers@hotmail.co.uk and we will add it to the list.

Saturday 4th June

Midlands Food Bloggers Meet Up at 99 Station Street, Burton Upon Trent. A great afternoon is planned, spending time with other fellow Food Bloggers over a spot of lunch then some fun with smoking, curing, brining and foraging. Details here.

Big Green Food Weekend, Northfield Eco Centre, 53 Church Road, Northfield, Birmingham, B31 2LB 11am-4pm , Join Midlands foodies including Loaf and Barrow Boy as they share The Big Lunch and enjoy a local food Market.

Wednesday 15th June to Sunday 19th June

BBC Summer Good Food Show, NEC, Birmingham – the return of the annual summer show to the region. Top chefs doing demonstrations, lots of great producers exhibiting and also entrance to BBC Gardeners World Show. We’ll be there … will you?

Saturday 18th June

24 Carrots Farmers Market, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham. One of the fabulous farmers markets in Birmingham showcasing local producers. See here for details of our visit to a previous one.

Brown and Green, Trentham Shopping Village, Stoke-On-Trent. Big Cheese Day arrives in store including making cheese, expert cutting of a whole parmesan and lots of cheese tastings. For more information regarding the store see here.

Thursday 23rd June

Summer Strawberry Tasting, Peopleton, Worcestershire. Celebrating the strawberry with both traditional and unusual ways of serving them,  £5.00 for members of Slow Food Worcestershire, £7.50 for non members. 

Wednesday 29th June to Saturday 10th July

Nottingham Food and Drink Festival, Nottingham. A 12 day celebration of the food and drink on offer in the City with events at special venues across the city and between 30th June and 3rd July there will be a Food and Drink market in the Old Square with over 70 stalls.

The next MFB meet up

It has been a while since the last one but the Midlands Food Bloggers (MFB) are planning another meet up for fellow Midlands foodies. So hopefully you are free on Saturday 4th June 2011.

We have opted to head to the north of the region for the next meet and would love for as many people as possible to join us. The venue is

99 Station Street
Burton upon Trent
Staffordshire
DE14 1BT



An award winning restaurant – This family run venue opened to critical acclaim in May 2008 and has not sat still since. The seasonally accurate menu is built around great ingredients sourced from enthusiastic local suppliers.

The proposed plan for the meet is lunch at 99 Station Street, sampling some lovely local food, followed by hopefully a peek at their smoking and curing processes for producing their own sausages and other lovely products which are sold through Staffordshire Fine Foods. No doubt there will be lots of conversation about food and blogging too!

View Larger Map




We understand this may be a bit far for some people as the Midlands does cover a huge area, but if you let us know you are eager to attend a meet up we’ll try to plan for the next one to be a bit closer to you – SHOUT UP though or else we won’t know you’re interested

If you could reply and confirm your attendance by Friday 13th May so we can arrange for a table to be reserved.

Thanks and hope to see you there
Louise of Comida y Vida on behalf of MFB.

What have you missed …..?

The Midlands Food Bloggers has been active for some time now, but with this new community blog and a few events and things in the planning stages, we hope the group will grow in members and provide a hub for the food bloggers of the Midlands.

So what have you missed so far? Well here’s a look at what we’ve been up to.

Way back in March 2010 we had our first meet up. Jo of Jo’s Kitchen organised a visit to Loaf, the home of Tom Baker and headquarters of Loaf Cookery School offering classes in forgotten skills like breadmaking, butchery and foraging, and a Community Bakery, providing artisan rye and sourdough breads to locals that commit to buy. During the day we met Wendy from Peter’s Yard, had a go at making handmade pizzas in Tom’s wood buring oven, chatted about food (of course!) and induldged in a selection of cake we had all prepared.

To read more about it from some of the attendees visit the following links: Jo from Jo’s Kitchen, Louise from Comida y Vida and Charlene from No Love Sincerer.

The next meet up was at Urban Coffee Co in Birmingham, where we met up with a couple of local businesses: Gavin from To Bizzy to Bake, a local cake baker and supplier to Urban Coffee Co amongst other ; and Brian from 24 Carrots, which is a farmers market in the Jewellery Quarter. The order of the afternoon was coffee and cake and a general chit chat about blogging and the Midlands Food scene.

It was here we decided to plan a Midlands Food Bloggers (MFB) visit to the next monthly Farmers market at 24 Carrots. So on a cold but sunny morning Jo and Louise spent an enjoyable morning meeting various Midlands food producers. You can read all about it here and here.

If any of these things sound like something you might be interested in coming to, pop back soon for details of our next meet-up. Alternatively email midsfoodbloggers@hotmail.co.uk to add yourself to the mailing list and keep updated with all our news.

By Louise of Comida y Vida on behalf of MFB.