Super Blogger Sunday: Srivalli of Cooking 4 all seasons

This week's featured super blogger is Srivalli from Cooking 4 all seasons. Hardly anyone in the blogging circuit might be unaware of her blog and her melas. The MEC events for Microwave cooking, a contributor to Beyond curries, various Melas, the Indian cooking challenge, two other blogs - she has her hands full and yet manages to efficiently provide time for each of them..

EC: Tell us something about yourself

Srivalli: I got hooked on the idea of a blog after seeing my friend's personal blog. I created first my personal blog, Journey Called Life, wanting to update my daily journals. I have always been interested in cooking and have many cookbooks, paper clippings. So creating a cooking blog was only natural. I started blogging "Cooking for all Seasons" from May 2007, that makes it about 2 years 6 months. For about a year and half, I was posting daily in C4AS. But with my kids growing up and the work on two more blogs, I try doing atleast two - three posts per week.

One day when my elder twin saw his brother's picture on my profile. he asked me where his picture was. So that actually led to creating a new blog "Spice your Life" so that I can upload his picture. With the new blog I thought I could expand the topics, so Spice your Life, has every element that is meant to spice one's life! I even got my dad to write and educate on Diabetes and I try thinking further on parenting, Indian culture and traditions etc.

Journey Called Life is purely a personal blog about my paintings, poems and writings, which are my other hobbies.

Yes there was a time when I used to cook specially for blog and blog events. These days I try but mostly can't.

EC: Who and what inspired you to start food blogging ?? Which blogs inspire you ??


Srivalli: I wanted to write a cookbook, but with everything I had already on my plate, venturing into it then, was not possible. So I thought I would record my recipes online.

EC: How do you think blogging has changed your perspective and exposure ?

Srivalli: In a way, starting with blogging on food, has helped me know how much more work is involved in creating a cookbook. Blogging experience has given me the confidence and audience for my cookbook.

EC: How do you manage balancing your job, family and blogging ?

Srivalli: I think it all depends on how much we want to do something. I mostly blog during nights when my family sleeps. The days I don't post, I get my content ready with pictures. So sometimes I schedule posts when I know I won't be able to do right then.

EC: Your melas are very popular..tell us something about it.

Srivalli: Thank you! I started with Dosa Mela, because I love dosas and am always on the look out of new ones. I was surprised to see so many dosa lovers. And they wanted more such melas! so the series continued..

I was enjoying the fact that I was able to annotate each entry, which my readers liked too. I tried doing that for the next 4 - 5 melas, but with 350 entries, though I read each one of them, writing something about it was too exhausting.

Then I wanted to do something different. So I created a program to link the pictures directly in a collage. In the melas collages, you can directly click on the picture to the blog.

EC: You have been affected by plagiarism..How do you think we can fight and deal with it ??


Srivalli: Plagiarism is horrible. When it happens online and is hosted on the free services, you can file complaints with the service provider, who will take down the site. But with print media lifting your content, you are so helpless to do anything. We need to have stronger cyber laws in India.

Naturally fellow blogger's help and spreading the word helps.

EC: Can you give some tips for new bloggers to make their blogs popular ?? How do you stay in contact with your readers ?

Srivalli: As the cliché goes, "Content is the King". I strongly believe in that. Decide what you want to share and how private you want to keep things. Remember you are publishing to the whole world to see. So take responsibility on what you say on your blog. It might be your own space, still credibility and accountability is more important.

Writing may not be everybody's forte. But checking for grammar and typos are least anybody can do. Try to write what you want in simple language.

Give content that is well received. Like documenting your family treasures will surely get everybody sit back to read and in due course of time, you will get lot of interactions. Be part of the community. Have an interactive post. When readers see that they are asked something, they will surely respond.

Though I do have lot of email contacts, I now have most of them on Facebook, Twitter. But one should again know what is important.

EC: Your favorite vegetarian recipe

Srivalli: I love all the ones that I posted..but the simplest one would be this complete meal!