Last night I was at the Guild of Food Writers Awards 2009 party at the Old Hall, London.
My blog was shortlisted for the New Media award, and I took my mum (see pic, above) along to give me support.
OK, my blog did not win. Tim Haward of the Guardian/ Observer Word of Mouth blog pipped both me and the lovely Helen Yuet Ling Pang of the World Foodie Guide to the (blog) post.
However, the judges said nice things about Real Food Lover such as: “Quirky”, “informative” and “Winkler’s writing rules should be required reading for aspiring writers online or in print”, and ditto in The Guardian.
One of the judges, Rupert Parker, gave me some good advice, saying I should update more often. Like daily. Will give it a go. Viz.
Emma Sturgess and Diane Hendry were also winners and that meant a lot to me because I had voted for them when I was on two previous judging panels.
Being a participant – rather than an observer – took the event to another level. I was high.
And snapped away.
Here is the lovely Jane Baxter and Guy Watson happy with their award (and not knowing they are about to receive another). I love their Riverford Farm Cook Book – and I have mentioned it a few times here at this blog.
Jane said there was no danger of this going to her head. “As I was coming up the steps of the Old Hall, I got a call from my six-year-old: ‘Mum, where is my bicycle pump?”
Here is Mark Hix who is not only a winner but thouroughly helpful. When I told him my niece was a fan, he said: “Can she cook?” and said she could contact him (yippee).
Here is Jay Rayner who was warm and funny. And below is Heston Blumenthal.
As my mum said: “You were up there with the big boys.”
In fact Heston was dead impressed by my mum. She was talking about her parents (circa 1930s) who used to analyse every dish at every meal – an enduring family trait. Heston admired my mum’s energy and told her:
“I want what you’ve got.”
O it was fun. And being shortlisted is a goddamn-fine accolade. Nichola Fletcher told me her publishers put it on her book cover.
So in the words of the song: “They can’t take that away from me.”
Oh no – they can’t take that away from meeeeeeee.
Real Food Lover 