“Cookery is as old as the world, but it must also remain, always, as modern as fashion.”

–  Phileas Gilbert (1857-1942) 

The web is full of fine food blogs and one which really stands apart for its brilliance and uniqueness is LFFL…

Hosted by Cita de la Fressange, it is a destination for food lovers and fashionistas. From A-Z,there is almost everything you need to know about food . Featuring food from around the globe , she has got lip-smacking dishes displayed in a most delicious way.

In addition, The fashion page carries the latest in clothes and accessories for men, women and children. The author’s blogs on life are inspiring and spoken from the heart.

“I believe life is too short not to have fun and make the most of every day—doing what you love and always experiencing something new.  It’s better than being a couch-potato-hermit your entire life and letting life pass you by.”

sums up the mood of this interesting blog. It could be easily voted as the ‘Most Promising New Blog’ (it is just a year old and has seen remarkable success)

Design/Layout:

The design is very subtle and pleasing to the eye. the posts have been well classified and can be easily accessed through the side bar, making navigation very easy. Every post is accompanied with a photograph making it all the more inviting. The color scheme is pink and white. While pink represents friendship. affection, inner peace and approachability, color white reflects openness and creativity. But when combined they are associated with femininity which could sometimes appear partial to the female visitors. But on the whole , an efficient and attractive layout.

Content:

This blog is clearly authored by an expert who knows what she is talking about. The posts are written well and updated with a frequent regularity. The cute little messages on the side bar and the ‘Take-away life lessons’ at the end of each post are inspirational texts for which the visitors will return to the blog over and over again. Needless to say, the content is original and creative.

Writing style:

The writing style is very lucid and reflects the author’s joie de vivre. Every post is a little story put up with ebullience. A special mention to the About me page, where the author effectively puts across the purpose of her blog in an inimitably effervescent style. And she has managed to keep the enthusiasm through every post of hers. It is clear, she loves this blog.

I got in touch with the author Cita de la Fressange and asked her a few questions and received interesting answers in response:

1) Food, Health,Nutrition,Fashion, you name it, you have it all on your blog. What is that one subject you have not touched so far and would like to talk about soon ?

Cita: Maybe relationships.  I’ve read countless blogs where people appear so upset or depressed over a relationship like it is the end of the world for them.  They’re trying to hang on to something that they should let go of so they can find their happiness.  And a lot of these people are teenagers who haven’t really experienced all life has to offer yet.  I’ve also known of people 50, 60, and 70 years old doing the same thing—staying with someone because of children, money, because they don’t think they can find someone else, or because they’ve already put in so much time with that person—or some other unreasonable reason.  You should never let someone have that much control over you, your emotions, or your happiness especially when you are clearly not 100% happy with that person.  You only have one life to live and this is your only chance to be happy while you can

2) Your blog is full of life and positive vibes. How do you manage to drive the daily blues away ?

Cita: I just try to find anything that day that brings a smile to my face.  There’s always something to be grateful for that makes me smile.  Whether it is something big or something small.  It could be something as simple as living to see another day or discovering a softer roll of toilet paper.  Lol!  Yay for me!!

3) Who according to you is the best chef in the world?

Cita: That’s a tough question because so many chefs are good at what they do.  So far, the “celebrity” chefs have all been pretty much equal in my eyes.  But I definitely love the chefs at the Houston’s chain of restaurants and The Capital Grille chain of restaurants.  I’ve been lucky enough to experience both of these places on several occasions and have always eaten absolutely amazing tasting food no matter how many different things I pick from their menus.  I’ve been impressed by everything they could possibly serve.

4) What is your favorite hang out to eat at?

Cita: Oh, man.  I’m such a foodie that I have so many “favorite” hangout spots.  But I seem to love little hometown diners.  There are a couple of hometown diners that I frequent regularly—as in every day and sometimes twice a day.  Nothing beats a diner that delivers good home cookin’.  I don’t go nearly as much as I used to though because I try to cook more at home now and it saves me money, too.

5) What would be your favorite cuisine?

Cita: My favorite cuisines are probably Soul Food, American, Italian, Spanish, Mexican, Japanese, and Chinese.  Clearly there’s not just one.

6) If you were a sweet/dessert which one would you be?

Cita: If I were a sweet/dessert, I’d definitely be a butterscotch apple crisp first and foremost!  If butterscotch apple crisp did not exist, then I’d be an excellent coconut cream pie or a fabulous chocolate cake.

7) You have about 160 odd posts on food, which dish did you really enjoy cooking?

Cita: I probably most enjoy making macaroni & cheese because I can never seem to get enough of it.  I really like making rice pudding, too, because I can never get enough of smelling a fresh vanilla bean wafting throughout the kitchen as it’s cooking and I love the anticipation of being able to eat the rice pudding soon–it’s so delicious!  And I always love making butterscotch apple crisp because it’s the best dessert ever in life.

 8) Besides Colin Cowie, who would be your Fashion icon?

Cita: My fashion icons for women are definitely Victoria Beckham, Olivia Palermo, Miroslava Duma, Caroline Sieber, and Kate Middleton among others; and David Beckham & Johannes Huebl for men’s style.  They all dress so well whether they are dressed up or casually dressed.  There are so many other fashion icons I like as well, but these stand out in my head at the moment.

9) According to you, what are the dressing essentials that every man and woman must have in their wardrobe ?

Cita: Women should have a fabulous black dress; a pencil skirt; a pants suit; a classic white button-up shirt; great-fitting jeans; great shoes (heels and flats); knee-high high-heeled boots; a bra that actually fits well; a great bag; a trench coat; a well-fitted short black leather jacket; a classic man’s watch; a fabulous pair of sunglasses; and accessories.

10) Who is the major influence in your life ?

Cita: The major influences in my life are my family first and then my true friends.  I have to say “true” friends because I’ve had fake friends, friends turned to enemies, friends that have used me, friends that never “grew up”, friends that never wanted to do anything with themselves, and friends I’ve had to let go for one reason or another because they were not good for my life after a certain point.  Other than that, I’d have to say an influence would maybe be Colin Cowie because he’s such a put-together and well-organized individual in all aspects of his life which I just love about him.  I vividly remember being that way as young as 11 years old.

11)Your Take Away Life Lessons are my favorite. Is it a challenge to constantly innovate ?

Cita: I’m glad you like my life lessons no matter how serious or silly they can be.  Yes, sometimes it can be a challenge for me to constantly innovate.  I figure I could probably fix that somewhat if I get out of the house more often and do more things and go more places.  Ideas are all over the place and I absolutely love learning new things all the time.

12) How does it feel being nominated for so many awards ?

Cita: Being nominated for so many awards is nice.  I’m glad so many people thought to choose my blog for their nomination list.  But because I know this is more of a chain letter type thing, I usually don’t follow the rules or nominate anyone myself because there’s all these instructions and a lot of work involved and I’m already busy enough as it is.  But I don’t want people to think I don’t appreciate it, so therefore I created an Awards page specifically for my nominations.  This way I can show my appreciation and at the same time it only takes me just a minute or two to put each one of them up as I get them.  It’s a win-win situation.

13) One all time fashion tip ?

Cita: My fashion tip would be to always be yourself; never compromise who you are with your style; and don’t be afraid to have fun with fashion, experiment with it, and actually put some thought into your outfit while using accessories to give your outfit a boost.

14) One year and a hugely successful blog with 1600 odd followers… Where do yourselves going from here ?

Cita: The 1600+ followers on my blog are not really that many in comparison to some other blogs out there, but it’s clearly a lot more than I had 6 months ago and I appreciate each and every one of them.  From here, I see myself continuing to blog as long as it holds my interest.  I really want to delve more into the fashion part of my blog as it’s already clear on my blog how much I love food.  I got into blogging to give myself something fun to do as a hobby.  I will continue to blog as long as I can or until I decide I don’t want to do it anymore—but I can’t see that happening anytime soon.

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Picture courtesy: LFFL