Hobbies are important to have. Taking time doing things you love will make you a happier person in your career and relationships.
One of my hobbies is eating. Luckily, my husband Ralph Beier’s hobby is cooking (when not on the golf course). So we’ve combined our two food passions to create Cookin’ with gas: a food recipe blog!
Ralph has dedicated many years in various sales positions and has travelled throughout the world. During these travels, Ralph had the privilege of being introduced to a broad range of culinary delights. After these trips, he would try to replicate what he ate. I was eager to try anything he made.
Over the years, Ralph’s passion for cooking continued to evolve, and he rarely uses a recipe (unlike me). But he also loves to make meals for family and friends – slaving away over a hot stove all day or preparing a charcoal grill is pure enjoyment for him.
This passion of his is what sparked the idea for us to create a food recipe blog, as a way to share his recipes and cooking methods with others. While he cooks, I write as he explains what he’s doing, and we both take pictures and videos along the way.
Owning a much smaller fridge after we moved to Germany 14 years ago changed the amount of food we buy (enough for a few days), from where (mostly our local farmer’s market and a weekly bio delivery), and we aim to eat seasonally.
For us, great food is not just enjoyed on the week-end – every meal is equally important. We eat meat and fish, but typically have vegetarian meals a few times a week and enjoy vegan dishes, too. What you won’t find much of on our blog are dessert recipes. The burning question we have after every meal is…what are we making next?
We chose WordPress as the platform for Cookin’ with gas as I’ve used this for another personal blog and website, and many of my clients use it as well. Even though I’m familiar with the platform, I was faced with new challenges in creating the appearance and pages for a recipe-style blog and spent many late nights on the online chat with WordPress support.
What I found especially challenging was finding suitable photos to use as the header and logo, as graphic design is not my specialty. I ended up creating a logo using a basic design program and planned to use more professional services later.
After sharing our blog on Facebook, I received an email from my friend Banie Stafford. He surprised me with a logo design he made for the blog, and it was exactly how I had envisioned it! His incredibly kind gesture brought me to tears. Banie is the owner of B Creative, a marketing and branding agency and for many years I’ve had the pleasure of working with Banie for our joint client ROTOCON. I can’t wait to meet Banie in person one day and share a braaibroodjie.
“Now we’re cookin’ with gas!” is what Ralph blurts out when what he’s making is coming together fabulously. When I hear him say it, I know what I’m soon to eat will be delish.
You can check out Cookin’ with gas here: https://wearecookinwithgas.com/ We’re also on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook (links on bottom of blog homepage).
“Food brings people together on many different levels. It’s nourishment of the soul and body; it’s truly love.” – Giada De Laurentiis
hrothcommunications.com 