Jackie Gordon, the singing chef, opened the morning with advice on becoming a “powerful connector.” Noting that the best way to grab anyone’s attention is by realizing that most people are far more interested in themselves than they are in anything else, Gordon spoke about how to frame your words in a way that keeps the focus on the other person.
“It’s more important to be interested than interesting,” explained Gordon. “People want to know ‘What’s in it for me? What can your product do for me?’”
Gordon also touched upon the importance of being a good listener and an effective public speaker, making each of us stand up, introduce ourselves and give a concise pitch about ourselves. Armed with a bell for those who went overtime, Gordon illustrated the limited window of opportunity that exists before your listener tunes out and the importance of using those precious few seconds wisely.
PR specialist Trina Kaye and food writer and media chef George Geary tackled the subject of marketing your brand to the media. Kaye noted the importance of standing out from the crowd, sharing pictures of cookbook covers that actually sold, despite, or perhaps because of, their bizarre names including Man Meets Stove, White Trash Cooking and The Snacking Dead, adorned with a photograph of a slab of ribs impaled on a cutting board with a large kitchen knife. Geary, an author of nine cookbooks who has appeared on all the major networks gave a fascinating look at properly preparing for a television appearance, including the importance of arriving early and bringing food to keep the crew happy. Geary also admitted to using curdled milk on television on at least one occasion, noting that when cooking on camera, visuals are actually more important than taste. (According to Geary, if the camera cuts away immediately after a TV show host tastes something, it generally means the food was awful and the host needs to spit it out ASAP.)
While I envisioned most bloggers as being squirreled away in dark corners of their homes, typing away till all hours of the night, many have loftier aspirations. Former film producer Chef Avi Levy of Avi’s Kosher Kitchen gave further tips on being camera ready including dressing simply to make the food really stand out, practicing your lines and the importance of bringing every single item because the studio won’t have bowls, mixing spoons or tablecloths.
The last presenter of the day was social media expert Stephanie Abrams who stressed the importance of using photographs to pique interest on social media, linking back to your site and using hashtags. Describing the advantages of different social media platforms, Abrams suggested a great networking tip: following your competitor’s followers in the hopes that you can spark interest in your brand.
All in all, it was informative, even for someone who isn’t a food blogger, and I left the conference with a few extra tricks up my sleeve and hopefully not a few extra inches on my waist after the yummy lunch and snacks that were everywhere. The sleek coffeemaker donated by Cuisinart that I won for tweeting about the conference? That was just icing on the cake, which seems awfully fitting for a day spent delving into a very interesting aspect of the ever-growing kosher food business.
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As Purim is right around the corner we asked Melinda Strauss of Kitchen Tested to share a favorite recipe. This braided bread is one she has used in mishloach manot.
Ingredients
1 box challah bread mix (she used Tribes-A-Dozen Voila! Wholey Wheat)
1 packet yeast (might be enclosed in the box)
½ cup + 3 tbsp warm water (110-115 degrees F)
2 eggs
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp honey
2-3 tbsp olive oil
¼ cup zahtar
flour for work surface
Directions
Follow the simple directions on the back of the mix box for the dough. Place the bread mix in the bowl of a stand mixer. Make a well in the center of the mix, pour in the yeast and stir with a bit of the mix.
Add the warm water and let stand for 5 minutes, until it bubbles.
Add 1 egg, 1 egg yolk (setting the egg white aside for later), oil and honey and with the hook attachment, mix the dough on medium-low speed for 10 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. The dough is elastic, smooth and sticky.
Spray a large bowl with vegetable spray then transfer the dough to the bowl, turn it once and place it in a warm, draft-free area to rise for 45 minutes.
Lightly dust your work surface with flour then place the dough on the flour. Don’t worry if your dough doesn’t double in size. As long as it has risen a little bit, it will bake perfectly.
Flour a rolling pin and roll out the dough to around 12″ by 24″. Drizzle the dough with the olive oil then brush it all over the dough. Sprinkle the zahtar over the olive oil and rub it in all the way to the edges of the dough.
Roll the dough lengthwise into a log. Slice the dough every 2 inches so each braid is around the same size.
Take a piece of the sliced dough and flatten it out a bit with your hand, just to give it some extra size. Using a sharp knife, slice the dough in half. Then slice each piece, keeping the top in tact. Turn the two halves of each piece outwards so the layers of zahtar are showing then cross the halves over each other to make a twist.
Place the braids in the mini paper baking pans, brush with egg white and set aside in a warm, draft-free place to rise for another 45 minutes.
Place on a cookie sheet and into a 350°F oven for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are browning and the house smells like delicious homemade challah.
Removed the bread from the oven and transfer the pans to a wire rack to cool.