In Praise of Smitten Kitchen

Smitten Kitchen, a home-cooking blog, presents itself as a fun conversation about a serious topic: nurturing those you love with food. Along the way, readers learn how to become better cooks, though it hardly feels like a lesson. Writer Deb Perelman discusses food as if you are standing next to her in a tiny Manhattan kitchen, learning to poach the perfect egg, turn anything into a fritter, or mix up some simple syrup for a summer cocktail. Furthering the accessibility of her brand, Deb shares bits and pieces of her personal life – from announcing a pregnancy to a book deal, her readers have become the biggest cheerleaders for her personal and professional personas.

Smitten Kitchen achieves this approachable-yet-educational brand by:

-       Taking exceptional food photographs (food porn!) and sharing all of them – not just the ones featured in blog posts – with readers via links to flickr

-       Sharing personal moments – new babies, vacations, dinner parties, family recipes and controversy - as if readers are close & trusted friends

-       The content is high-quality. The recipes work. They are delicious. And, because Deb has personally tried and tested and tasted and adjusted and taken careful notes along the way, she can present us with versions of very fancy recipes that are suited to a home cook. So yes, you can make Potatoes Anna, or Lasagne Bolognese, the writer’s personal “Mount Everest” of recipes.

-       She is vulnerable and therefore real. See “Mount Everest” – she admits when a recipe challenges her, and she doesn’t sound superior. Instead, she has a positive, can-do writing style which makes her readers believe they can do it too. 

*very pretty image above borrowed from Smitten Kitchen