Our most recent find is Wandering Helene, an American wandering and documenting her travels in Europe, with special focus on ancient castles and local dishes. “I didn’t travel or move abroad to start a travel blog,” admitted Helene on her website, “it was just always a passion of mine that was just part of my life and now I document it for everyone to see. I want to share all of the bits of travel and living in a new culture attempting to navigate the written and unwritten social rules.”

Currently based in Slovenia, her posts also dive into Slovenian culture. “Did you know that Idrijski Žlikrofi is the first Slovenian dish to be awarded protected geographical status in 2010?” she writes in a recent post. “Slovenia has since protected 14 wines and 16 products through the EU program. Products that qualify will be designated with a label and this is to ensure the authenticity. All products with the label are made specifically to the guidelines; including which ingredients, where they come from, and how it is prepared.”

Another Instagram post shows Helene enjoying a meal with a view of Logar Valley, which she describes as one of Slovenia’s best kept secrets. If you’re planning a European road trip in the distant future, make sure you follow her for some inspiration:

The post Wandering Helene is Your Guide to Slovenian Food appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.

A self-taught cook with no formal culinary training, she tests most of her recipes at least once, but by no means claims to be a culinary genius (describing her approach as “just tons of mess-ups in the kitchen”).

Her delightful blog, How Sweet Eats, is an extension of Merchant’s passion to create recipes. According to Merchant, she makes upwards of six recipes per day that get eaten either that day or later in the week. Other times, her recipes get made for parties or entertaining.

“One of my main points is to not be afraid to make things your own,” she remarked once in an interview with Bakepedia. “Like with the crisps. I knew that my readers love crisps, and I started thinking about how I could make one that was just a bit different, but still easy and accessible. My desserts aren’t as precise as many [dessert recipes], and a lot of them allow you to swap things in and out…it’s all about trial and error; that’s how I learned to bake. So don’t be afraid!”

According to Merchant, she’s much more of a cook than a baker because of her intrinsic (and relatable) hate of following instructions of any kind. Her platform offers anything from healthy recipes to comfort food and indulgent desserts to cocktails and mocktails.

For more delicious recipes and rambles, you’re invited to purchase her best-selling cookbooks, Seriously Delish, and The Pretty Dish, (both bestsellers), visit her blog or follow her on Instagram.

The post Jessica Merchant Is Our Kind of Food Blogger appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.

According to Ostrom, her romance with food began in college. “I cooked a lot with my roommates in college, and then when Bjork and I got married, bought a house, and got ‘real jobs’—cooking regularly started to become a normal part of my life,” she recalled in an interview with the Mediakix blog. “I loved having someone to cook for and always loved trying new recipes.”

With passion the main ingredient to her success, Ostrom shares fresh, flavorful, and (mostly) healthy recipes she loves to make and actually eats in her every day life. “If I wouldn’t eat it in real life, I won’t put in on the blog,” she writes on her website.

She explains that her goal is to inspire others with food that is both approachable AND exciting, whether you’re cooking for yourself, your family, your roommates, or your friends: “I want you to be so excited about these recipes that you eagerly await 5pm when you can go home from work and start cooking.”

“Instagram stories have been huge for us,” she added in the interview, talking about her road to success. “It’s amazing to me that we can just be in our house in our pajamas and doing some random video posts that will be viewed by more than 50,000 people. If I were to go in front of 50,000 people in real life, it would feel so intimidating. But I can talk to that many people from my pajamas, on my couch, without showering, and not feel nervous about it at all. It’s a very strange and powerful concept for Instagram influencers to be taking advantage of in terms of having a really engaging way to connect with their followers.”

Her down-to-earth approach to both cooking and blogging will have you inspired.

The post So You Wanna Become a Food Blogger: Follow Lindsay Ostrom First appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.

Hong Kong-based foodie Nicole Fung is here to show you the ropes. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Fung is the co-founder of the online platform That Food Cray !!!, created with her husband Eugene Kan.

“Living in Hong Kong is completely different than having a vacation in Hong Kong,” she remarked once in an interview with Exceptional Alien. “There was definitely an adjustment phase. I had to get used to the language and cultural differences (I can speak Cantonese, but not well), less space, faster pace, and how transient the city is. It took about a year to get used to and meet friends, but I love it.”

With more than 90k followers on Instagram, Fung has long outgrown her humble beginnings. Her platform allows her to share content that revolves around food, travel, and lifestyle, with a special focus on Hong Kong cuisine.

“Hong Kong is a major travel hub,” explained Fung. “Living in Hong Kong has made travel so much more accessible. I can fly to places like Tokyo, Bangkok, Bali, Shanghai, and Taipei fairly easily and it’s extremely affordable!” 

Recent posts include quarantining at the Ritz Carlton in Hong Kong, where she enjoyed a huge breakfast. “I wish we could quarantine there until COVID goes away,” Fung captioned the Instagram photo. Don’t we all…

The post Dine In Hong Kong with Nicole Fung appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.

“The reason I, and so many others, love travel so much is because it is surely the best way to smash through pre-conceptions and break down cultural barriers,” she explained in a recent interview with Mother Tongue.

“When we are once again able to move freely post COVID-19, I hope people will see what a gift we’d been taking for granted travel really is. I hope we will approach travel with the ambition to immerse ourselves in new cultures so that we can acknowledge, celebrate, embrace and learn from our cultural differences, rather than persecute them.

“I’m so thankful for the places that have been able to reopen with all the necessary social distancing measures in place, and appreciate the huge amount of planning and hard work that’s gone into that,” she added in a recent Instagram post.

“Remember, the big chains will be better equipped to make it through the other side of these strange times. The small places are fighting every day to stay afloat, and it’s us—their customers—that can throw them the lifeline they need by giving them our business.”

Her Instagram page is a breath of fresh air these days. Follow her travels, as she tastes the many flavors available in the culinary world.

The post Looking For Your Next Food and Travel Blogger? Look No Further! appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.

Now with thousands of online followers, her brand—Dom N’ The City—is making a splash. With special emphasis on businesses from marginalized communities, Tubbs is ahead of the curve when it comes to food trends and always has a place in mind that will match any scene you’re in the mood for.

In alignment with her favorite quote by John Mason, “You were born an original, don’t die a copy,” she looks for restaurants that set themselves apart by offering unique and review-worthy experiences.  

Her website also offers recipes and at-home content, in light of the pandemic. A recent blog post explains how to make your grocery store run count. “When COVID happened, we were limited to the things we could do and places we could go to, and one of those places we could go to was the grocery store,” writes Tubbs.

“All these years of strategic grocery shopping finally came in handy,” she adds, sharing her favorite grocery store locations in New York City and other tips you can use regardless of where you live.

“You need to be strategic about your grocery list and have a plan,” stresses Tubbs. “I make my list the day before I go grocery shopping to take inventory of what I need, what is low, and what am I making for dinner for the next week or two. Doing this will eliminate extra trips.”

Follow her social media pages for other tips and recommendations.

The post You Don’t Have to Be a New Yorker to Follow Dom N’ The City appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.

As we slowly test the waters, we look forward to sharing with you the best of what New York cuisine has to offer.

Today, we want to introduce you to Alexa Matthews—a born and raised New Yorker, a professional eater, and the founder of Eating NYC.

“My account is all about showing you the latest and greatest in New York—it’s my duty to be your loyal, trustworthy guide,” writes Matthews. “A lot of my followers are young women in New York, and I’m posting my pictures through a young, female lens. Integrity is really important—I go to restaurants of interest because I want to keep my finger on the pulse, which often means paying for the food, and if I like it, I tell my followers about it.”

Listed as one of the top 30 people in food by AdWeek in 2016 and featured by CNNMoney, Wall Street Journal, and Cosmopolitan, Matthews has amassed over the years some 320,000 followers on social media.

“I fell in love with the industry and got a bit more experience in restaurant and chef marketing and PR roles before making the exciting decision a year ago to go full-time with Eating NYC. And it’s been great!” she exclaims.

As restaurants across the city are forging ahead with reopening plans, we’re here to take note of Matthews’ recommendations and reviews.

The post Support NYC Eateries with the Help of Alexa Matthews appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.

But what does a food blogger do in the age of Coronavirus? In a recent blog post, Salmon shares her experience. “Back in the day, reviewing restaurants was easy,” she reflects. “We would drive to the location, be seated, take pictures, tip, and toodles—go home. Those were the days where we could invite a friend to come along as our plus one and linger in a restaurant for more hours than necessary. They were great, right?”

“If that feels like it was ages ago, remember it’s only August and those good ol days happened in February,” she adds, jokingly. “What changed five months ago has only led us to days where there’s no end in sight for the pandemic and we may be diving further into it. I would love to say that I’m comfortable dining out in Los Angeles like it was first quarter 2020, but I’m not. I follow the news too closely and I work in a hospital, neither of those are quelling any fear about being in public. The challenge is that I still want to review restaurants because it makes me happy. At a point, I realized that I missed photographing food and being in the creative culinary space. While COVID isn’t changing just yet, how I’m reviewing restaurant has.”

One huge change is where she actually eats – taking her work home rather than sharing her restaurant experience. “If you caught that I didn’t mention eating in the restaurant, you would be right!” writes Salmon. “I suggested that you photograph the plated food, box it up, tip, and that was it. Yep, after you tip you bounce with your food, head home, and eat it there.” Her candid, down-to-earth approach when it comes to reviewing food, is a breath of fresh air for those of us looking for a silver lining in the pandemic.

Her reviews often include photos of the restaurant’s interior, along with a detailed description of her dining experience. You’d want to check her out:

The post What Do Restaurant Lovers Do In the Age of Covid-19? appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.

“I didn’t want to just write a cookbook about Swedish food,” explained Khoo in an interview with Khoollect, “but a book that is deeply practical and would solve any or all cookery ‘problems'”. Among the problems her book tackles are: what to cook if you’ve only got 30 minutes to spare; or if you’ve got a vegetarian/carnivore/gluten intolerant guest joining the dinner table; or if you want to make something, light or rich or really indulgent.

“I basically thought of different scenarios that occur in everyday life and packed the book with distinctly Swedish recipes that could answer those calls (and more),” says Khoo, “and that also have a very strong personal connection to my life.”

Sampling Sweden’s best-loved ingredients, her recipes include sticky jammy raspberry and rye cookies and a speedy sailor’s stew— dishes that explore the nation’s simple and balanced approach to cooking with a fresh perspective. “I always take my time to explain why and how each recipe came about,” says Khoo, “the context of a recipe is very important for me, otherwise it could be any cookbook.”

Khoo’s sixth book, The Little Swedish Kitchen, published in the UK by Penguin Randomhouse, includes over 100 beautiful, fuss-free recipes. Follow her social media pages for more.

The post Rachel Khoo Wants to Introduce You to “The Little Swedish Kitchen” appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.

Now with her own cookbook and over 125,000 devoted fans on Instagram, Lee’s blog has outgrown it’s humble beginnings. Born in Taiwan, raised in Vancouver, and slow-aged in New York, and now based in Hong Kong, her recipes include a healthy dose of humor. “For those who are in their mid-30’s sliding towards the big 4, spoiler alert, it’s all downhill from there,” she writes in a recent post, where she shares a photo of spinach pasta. “Nowadays pasta is just a Trojan horse for daily vegetable intake, the ratio of which has gone from 7:3 to 5:5, and something tells me that eventually a plate of spinach garnished with a couple strands of spaghetti is all but inevitable in the very near future. Don’t worry, it won’t be long now.”

Another post includes a tasty looking chicken burger. “Too long has this noble bird been ignored in the race to find an alternative for ground beef in the wake of its impact on global warming,” Lee notes. “And I would just like to say that before you turn to meats grown in a petri-dish, this bird has a secret weapon to be unleashed.”

According to Lee, her recipes are written intuitively, just like the way she cooks. She also admits that before her blog she never used to measure anything during cooking, nor has she ever precisely followed a recipe successfully. But she trusts that you follow her instructions!

Purchase her cookbook here and follow her buzzing Instagram page for more.

The post The Wonderfully Intuitive Cooking of Mandy Lee appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.

Our most recent find is Wandering Helene, an American wandering and documenting her travels in Europe, with special focus on ancient castles and local dishes. “I didn’t travel or move abroad to start a travel blog,” admitted Helene on her website, “it was just always a passion of mine that was just part of my life and now I document it for everyone to see. I want to share all of the bits of travel and living in a new culture attempting to navigate the written and unwritten social rules.”

Currently based in Slovenia, her posts also dive into Slovenian culture. “Did you know that Idrijski Žlikrofi is the first Slovenian dish to be awarded protected geographical status in 2010?” she writes in a recent post. “Slovenia has since protected 14 wines and 16 products through the EU program. Products that qualify will be designated with a label and this is to ensure the authenticity. All products with the label are made specifically to the guidelines; including which ingredients, where they come from, and how it is prepared.”

Another Instagram post shows Helene enjoying a meal with a view of Logar Valley, which she describes as one of Slovenia’s best kept secrets. If you’re planning a European road trip in the distant future, make sure you follow her for some inspiration:

The post Wandering Helene is Your Guide to Slovenian Food appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.

A self-taught cook with no formal culinary training, she tests most of her recipes at least once, but by no means claims to be a culinary genius (describing her approach as “just tons of mess-ups in the kitchen”).

Her delightful blog, How Sweet Eats, is an extension of Merchant’s passion to create recipes. According to Merchant, she makes upwards of six recipes per day that get eaten either that day or later in the week. Other times, her recipes get made for parties or entertaining.

“One of my main points is to not be afraid to make things your own,” she remarked once in an interview with Bakepedia. “Like with the crisps. I knew that my readers love crisps, and I started thinking about how I could make one that was just a bit different, but still easy and accessible. My desserts aren’t as precise as many [dessert recipes], and a lot of them allow you to swap things in and out…it’s all about trial and error; that’s how I learned to bake. So don’t be afraid!”

According to Merchant, she’s much more of a cook than a baker because of her intrinsic (and relatable) hate of following instructions of any kind. Her platform offers anything from healthy recipes to comfort food and indulgent desserts to cocktails and mocktails.

For more delicious recipes and rambles, you’re invited to purchase her best-selling cookbooks, Seriously Delish, and The Pretty Dish, (both bestsellers), visit her blog or follow her on Instagram.

The post Jessica Merchant Is Our Kind of Food Blogger appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.

According to Ostrom, her romance with food began in college. “I cooked a lot with my roommates in college, and then when Bjork and I got married, bought a house, and got ‘real jobs’—cooking regularly started to become a normal part of my life,” she recalled in an interview with the Mediakix blog. “I loved having someone to cook for and always loved trying new recipes.”

With passion the main ingredient to her success, Ostrom shares fresh, flavorful, and (mostly) healthy recipes she loves to make and actually eats in her every day life. “If I wouldn’t eat it in real life, I won’t put in on the blog,” she writes on her website.

She explains that her goal is to inspire others with food that is both approachable AND exciting, whether you’re cooking for yourself, your family, your roommates, or your friends: “I want you to be so excited about these recipes that you eagerly await 5pm when you can go home from work and start cooking.”

“Instagram stories have been huge for us,” she added in the interview, talking about her road to success. “It’s amazing to me that we can just be in our house in our pajamas and doing some random video posts that will be viewed by more than 50,000 people. If I were to go in front of 50,000 people in real life, it would feel so intimidating. But I can talk to that many people from my pajamas, on my couch, without showering, and not feel nervous about it at all. It’s a very strange and powerful concept for Instagram influencers to be taking advantage of in terms of having a really engaging way to connect with their followers.”

Her down-to-earth approach to both cooking and blogging will have you inspired.

The post So You Wanna Become a Food Blogger: Follow Lindsay Ostrom First appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.

Hong Kong-based foodie Nicole Fung is here to show you the ropes. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Fung is the co-founder of the online platform That Food Cray !!!, created with her husband Eugene Kan.

“Living in Hong Kong is completely different than having a vacation in Hong Kong,” she remarked once in an interview with Exceptional Alien. “There was definitely an adjustment phase. I had to get used to the language and cultural differences (I can speak Cantonese, but not well), less space, faster pace, and how transient the city is. It took about a year to get used to and meet friends, but I love it.”

With more than 90k followers on Instagram, Fung has long outgrown her humble beginnings. Her platform allows her to share content that revolves around food, travel, and lifestyle, with a special focus on Hong Kong cuisine.

“Hong Kong is a major travel hub,” explained Fung. “Living in Hong Kong has made travel so much more accessible. I can fly to places like Tokyo, Bangkok, Bali, Shanghai, and Taipei fairly easily and it’s extremely affordable!” 

Recent posts include quarantining at the Ritz Carlton in Hong Kong, where she enjoyed a huge breakfast. “I wish we could quarantine there until COVID goes away,” Fung captioned the Instagram photo. Don’t we all…

The post Dine In Hong Kong with Nicole Fung appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.

“The reason I, and so many others, love travel so much is because it is surely the best way to smash through pre-conceptions and break down cultural barriers,” she explained in a recent interview with Mother Tongue.

“When we are once again able to move freely post COVID-19, I hope people will see what a gift we’d been taking for granted travel really is. I hope we will approach travel with the ambition to immerse ourselves in new cultures so that we can acknowledge, celebrate, embrace and learn from our cultural differences, rather than persecute them.

“I’m so thankful for the places that have been able to reopen with all the necessary social distancing measures in place, and appreciate the huge amount of planning and hard work that’s gone into that,” she added in a recent Instagram post.

“Remember, the big chains will be better equipped to make it through the other side of these strange times. The small places are fighting every day to stay afloat, and it’s us—their customers—that can throw them the lifeline they need by giving them our business.”

Her Instagram page is a breath of fresh air these days. Follow her travels, as she tastes the many flavors available in the culinary world.

The post Looking For Your Next Food and Travel Blogger? Look No Further! appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.

Now with thousands of online followers, her brand—Dom N’ The City—is making a splash. With special emphasis on businesses from marginalized communities, Tubbs is ahead of the curve when it comes to food trends and always has a place in mind that will match any scene you’re in the mood for.

In alignment with her favorite quote by John Mason, “You were born an original, don’t die a copy,” she looks for restaurants that set themselves apart by offering unique and review-worthy experiences.  

Her website also offers recipes and at-home content, in light of the pandemic. A recent blog post explains how to make your grocery store run count. “When COVID happened, we were limited to the things we could do and places we could go to, and one of those places we could go to was the grocery store,” writes Tubbs.

“All these years of strategic grocery shopping finally came in handy,” she adds, sharing her favorite grocery store locations in New York City and other tips you can use regardless of where you live.

“You need to be strategic about your grocery list and have a plan,” stresses Tubbs. “I make my list the day before I go grocery shopping to take inventory of what I need, what is low, and what am I making for dinner for the next week or two. Doing this will eliminate extra trips.”

Follow her social media pages for other tips and recommendations.

The post You Don’t Have to Be a New Yorker to Follow Dom N’ The City appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.

As we slowly test the waters, we look forward to sharing with you the best of what New York cuisine has to offer.

Today, we want to introduce you to Alexa Matthews—a born and raised New Yorker, a professional eater, and the founder of Eating NYC.

“My account is all about showing you the latest and greatest in New York—it’s my duty to be your loyal, trustworthy guide,” writes Matthews. “A lot of my followers are young women in New York, and I’m posting my pictures through a young, female lens. Integrity is really important—I go to restaurants of interest because I want to keep my finger on the pulse, which often means paying for the food, and if I like it, I tell my followers about it.”

Listed as one of the top 30 people in food by AdWeek in 2016 and featured by CNNMoney, Wall Street Journal, and Cosmopolitan, Matthews has amassed over the years some 320,000 followers on social media.

“I fell in love with the industry and got a bit more experience in restaurant and chef marketing and PR roles before making the exciting decision a year ago to go full-time with Eating NYC. And it’s been great!” she exclaims.

As restaurants across the city are forging ahead with reopening plans, we’re here to take note of Matthews’ recommendations and reviews.

The post Support NYC Eateries with the Help of Alexa Matthews appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.

But what does a food blogger do in the age of Coronavirus? In a recent blog post, Salmon shares her experience. “Back in the day, reviewing restaurants was easy,” she reflects. “We would drive to the location, be seated, take pictures, tip, and toodles—go home. Those were the days where we could invite a friend to come along as our plus one and linger in a restaurant for more hours than necessary. They were great, right?”

“If that feels like it was ages ago, remember it’s only August and those good ol days happened in February,” she adds, jokingly. “What changed five months ago has only led us to days where there’s no end in sight for the pandemic and we may be diving further into it. I would love to say that I’m comfortable dining out in Los Angeles like it was first quarter 2020, but I’m not. I follow the news too closely and I work in a hospital, neither of those are quelling any fear about being in public. The challenge is that I still want to review restaurants because it makes me happy. At a point, I realized that I missed photographing food and being in the creative culinary space. While COVID isn’t changing just yet, how I’m reviewing restaurant has.”

One huge change is where she actually eats – taking her work home rather than sharing her restaurant experience. “If you caught that I didn’t mention eating in the restaurant, you would be right!” writes Salmon. “I suggested that you photograph the plated food, box it up, tip, and that was it. Yep, after you tip you bounce with your food, head home, and eat it there.” Her candid, down-to-earth approach when it comes to reviewing food, is a breath of fresh air for those of us looking for a silver lining in the pandemic.

Her reviews often include photos of the restaurant’s interior, along with a detailed description of her dining experience. You’d want to check her out:

The post What Do Restaurant Lovers Do In the Age of Covid-19? appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.

“I didn’t want to just write a cookbook about Swedish food,” explained Khoo in an interview with Khoollect, “but a book that is deeply practical and would solve any or all cookery ‘problems'”. Among the problems her book tackles are: what to cook if you’ve only got 30 minutes to spare; or if you’ve got a vegetarian/carnivore/gluten intolerant guest joining the dinner table; or if you want to make something, light or rich or really indulgent.

“I basically thought of different scenarios that occur in everyday life and packed the book with distinctly Swedish recipes that could answer those calls (and more),” says Khoo, “and that also have a very strong personal connection to my life.”

Sampling Sweden’s best-loved ingredients, her recipes include sticky jammy raspberry and rye cookies and a speedy sailor’s stew— dishes that explore the nation’s simple and balanced approach to cooking with a fresh perspective. “I always take my time to explain why and how each recipe came about,” says Khoo, “the context of a recipe is very important for me, otherwise it could be any cookbook.”

Khoo’s sixth book, The Little Swedish Kitchen, published in the UK by Penguin Randomhouse, includes over 100 beautiful, fuss-free recipes. Follow her social media pages for more.

The post Rachel Khoo Wants to Introduce You to “The Little Swedish Kitchen” appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.

Now with her own cookbook and over 125,000 devoted fans on Instagram, Lee’s blog has outgrown it’s humble beginnings. Born in Taiwan, raised in Vancouver, and slow-aged in New York, and now based in Hong Kong, her recipes include a healthy dose of humor. “For those who are in their mid-30’s sliding towards the big 4, spoiler alert, it’s all downhill from there,” she writes in a recent post, where she shares a photo of spinach pasta. “Nowadays pasta is just a Trojan horse for daily vegetable intake, the ratio of which has gone from 7:3 to 5:5, and something tells me that eventually a plate of spinach garnished with a couple strands of spaghetti is all but inevitable in the very near future. Don’t worry, it won’t be long now.”

Another post includes a tasty looking chicken burger. “Too long has this noble bird been ignored in the race to find an alternative for ground beef in the wake of its impact on global warming,” Lee notes. “And I would just like to say that before you turn to meats grown in a petri-dish, this bird has a secret weapon to be unleashed.”

According to Lee, her recipes are written intuitively, just like the way she cooks. She also admits that before her blog she never used to measure anything during cooking, nor has she ever precisely followed a recipe successfully. But she trusts that you follow her instructions!

Purchase her cookbook here and follow her buzzing Instagram page for more.

The post The Wonderfully Intuitive Cooking of Mandy Lee appeared first on thedancingcucumber.com.