Wholesome Cook
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(CLOSED) Wholesome Cook turns 1: celebrating with a Mont Blanc + a giveaway!

Don’t you just love the look of the Mont Blanc cake from Becasse Bakery? My celebration cake could not be anything other than this. With a chewy macaron biscuit base topped with a dollop of chantilly cream, covered in luscious and velvety chestnut and cream puree… I am planning to reverse engineer this little beauty in the coming weeks – teasing you with this gorgeous picture and description would just be plain mean. If you’ve ever tried the Becasse Bakery’s Mont Blanc, you will know why I just cannot wait…

30 days/ 36 posts/ 4 comments

When I started blogging a year ago, I wasn’t sure what to expect. During my first month I posted 36 recipes, eight of them for beetroot dishes – don’t ask me why, received four comments from strangers including from John@heneedsfood – I was starstruck for a week, and averaged eight hits a day.

I wasn’t sure if this was good or bad, but I was excited and happy to be doing what I loved: cooking, eating and sharing. Even though some of my earlier photos were not entirely up to my current standards, especially when it came to photography – if I could help, entertain or inspire one person, it was a good start. Somehow, and somewhat surprisingly, it didn’t take long for my audience to grow beyond easily recognizable names of friends and family.

365 days/ 187 posts/ 1,204 comments

Fast-forward to today, my daily average for August has improved over 100-fold. I know, numbers are not always what blogging is about, but it’s definitely a testament to one’s work.

The single fact that you are out there reading my posts, trying my recipes and sharing the food that I created with your friends and family inspires me the most. It inspires me to keep going, to get more adventurous, to create recipes that are easily accessible to even the most novice of cooks. It inspired me to create my Restaurant Inspired section where I attempt to reverse engineer dishes I had tried at Sydney’s prime dining spots.  Interestingly, the first dish in that category was from Etch (Becasse’s sister venture).

It inspired me to recreate the best Homemade Peking duck I’ve had in my life. The next morning I woke up to an Inbox of 80+ emails containing comments, likes and new subscriber alerts. I had been freshly pressed!!!  I was shocked, happy, humbled and proud at the same time. What an amazing experience, and one that has helped me connect and now keep in regular touch with so many of you.

A word of thanks

I can safely say that my decision to continue writing for Wholesome Cook has been one of the more rewarding experiences. I’ve made new friends and inspired non-cooks to cook. I’ve been inspired and humbled by others, their creativity and passion for food. I have discovered new flavours, cuisines and experimented in the kitchen beyond what I would have done if it wasn’t for Wholesome Cook.

Thank you so much for your continued support and feedback. Thank you for coming back, for reading, commenting and keeping in touch.

Thank you also to Mr Chipconnoisseur (and his lunchbox) for being my fairest although sometimes my harshest food critics, thank you too for your patience and for putting up with eating your dinner cold sometimes. It means a lot.

My plans over the next 12 months…

I will continue working on recipes for the blog, no doubt about that. I am also planning to dedicate more time to wholesome product reviews, as well as showcasing a variety of cookbooks, magazines and products that focus on healthy habits or support communities in need. I am keen to continue working on my relationships with a handful of brands I wholeheartedly support, as well as learning about others that share similar values.

There will be giveaways too. And more Restuarant Inspired, beginning with Rockpool Bar and Grill’s minute steaks.

This has been in the making for some time… *drum roll* I am holding my first cooking class on Saturday!

I am also currently talking to a few different publications and companies about recipe development opportunities which I hope will come to fruition in the coming months.

Giveaway – my gift to you (now closed)

To help celebrate Wholesome Cook’s 1st birthday, I am giving away a 12-month subscription to the Australian Healthy Food Guide magazine! It’s a great resource for creating quick nutritious meals and keeping up with good food news and trends. The giveaway is open to anyone, including folks overseas, because I’d love to hear from you. Good luck!

To enter: Leave a comment below telling me what you enjoy most about Wholesome Cook or what recipes / product features you’d like to see more of.

Bonus entries: 1) Like the Australian Healthy Food Guide on Facebook or 2) Retweet this post.

Entries close by midnight AEST 18 August. Winner will be announced on 20 August on this blog and contacted by email.

Many happy returns, Wholesome Cook!

Now, I’m off to eat my cake! Yes, for breakfast…

53 comments

Sneh | Cook Republic August 11, 2011 at 7:40 am

Congratulations Martyna!! Happy 1st Blogiversary to you and your lovely blog. What an amazing journey you have had :-). 8 beetroot dishes?? really? how cool! That Peking duck post was amazing, I don’t even know how you did it, but you rocked it! Love your blog, love your attitude, love the conversation that goes on here and on twitter! Wish you the very best :-)

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Sneh | Cook Republic August 11, 2011 at 7:40 am

Oh and Good Luck with the cooking class .. you will rock that too!

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Wholesome Cook August 11, 2011 at 12:59 pm

Thank you thank you thank you! Likewise love your blog and attitude and conversation :-)

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Rufus' Food and Spirits Guide August 11, 2011 at 7:45 am

Being American, I don’t think I qualify for the giveaway. But I wanted to say kudos and tell you what I enjoy about your site. I like getting peeks at Australian culture, but mainly I come for the recipes. Your photography and lay out are clean too. I enjoy the variety too.

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Wholesome Cook August 11, 2011 at 8:01 am

Thanks Greg and Katherine!!! And yes, you do qualify :-) Good luck!

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Kelsey (Happyolks) August 11, 2011 at 7:50 am

Congrats on a great year! Your story resonates quite a bit, it’s fun to hear another similar evolution – as it were. I love that you’re setting intentions for the year ahead, as well. That’s something I’ve been journaling about lately and would like to explore further. So glad to finally find your site. It’s amazing how many great resources there are out on the web that you have no idea about until you arrive by happenstance. Twitter does work for some things, time to time ;)

Cheers :)

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Wholesome Cook August 11, 2011 at 1:02 pm

Hey Kelsey, thanks for commenting – I look forward to reading about your plans and adventures too! And just as you said, we would have probably never found out about each other if it wasn’t for social media… So here’s a cheers to that too!

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muppy August 11, 2011 at 7:52 am

Yay! how exciting that you are running a cooking class :) and i’d love to see more wholesome product reviews.

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Wholesome Cook August 11, 2011 at 1:46 pm

You’ve got it! I have a nice little list of products I want to talk about from curry pastes through crockery! Coming soon…

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Wendy @ obesebaby August 11, 2011 at 8:07 am

Happy birthday to the blog ! Great effort & looking forward to see ur recipe on publication, you had several asian inspired recipes like the roast duck and thai pad see awu, i really enjoyed it as I love Asian food & grew up with it, that would be what I would like to see more in your future upcoming project :)

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Wholesome Cook August 11, 2011 at 1:48 pm

Hi Wendy, agree with your point to feature a bunch more Asian recipes – they are known for their use of fresh ingredients, right up my alley!

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Yasmeen @ Wandering Spice August 11, 2011 at 9:09 am

Congrats Martyna! You’ve done a beautiful job over the last year, and created a space that I (and many others of course) love to visit for inspiration and your “voice.” I have always appreciated your advocacy for fresh, healthful foods, and beyond that, your efforts in showing people that they can eat WELL (and be full and happy) without added preservatives/fats/salts that hurt us inside and out.

I look forward to seeing what’s to come from you in the next 12 months. Plus… good luck with the classes! I’m sure they’ll be absolutely fantastic.

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Wholesome Cook August 11, 2011 at 1:49 pm

Thanks Yasmeen, great to hear you’ve been enjoying my musings and recipes.

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lateraleating August 11, 2011 at 9:52 am

Congrats, you’ve done an amazing job in just 1 year. I try to eat healthy food and love how the design and photography in your blog lift up dishes that sometimes are not that “photogenic”. All the best in your cooking classes!

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Wholesome Cook August 11, 2011 at 10:14 am

Thanks Gaby – now I’ve been following you and I’m thinking I need to get a few more workouts in. Perhaps try yoga… You too have inspired me!

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chocolatesuze August 11, 2011 at 10:54 am

Happy blogiversay mate!

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Sherilyn @ Wholepromise August 11, 2011 at 12:52 pm

Congratulations Martyna. It was wonderful reading about your success. Looking forward to many more wonderful meals, photos and good reads.

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john@heneedsfood August 11, 2011 at 1:00 pm

I just cleared my throat to begin belting out a Happy Blogversary number. Congrats!

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Wholesome Cook August 11, 2011 at 1:52 pm

And he’s back! *faints*

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Marianna Koulias (@mimisamba) August 11, 2011 at 2:36 pm

Congratulations on your blogversary….there are two things I love about your blog: your photos have great perspective, colour and styling which I think brings everything to life really well; secondly – your recipes are great!

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Wholesome Cook August 11, 2011 at 6:06 pm

Thanks Marianna! Comments like these make me smile.

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Miss Piggy August 11, 2011 at 4:00 pm

Wow, the Mont Blanc cake looks like the perfect way to celebrate your blog birthday! I’m one of the newbie/tragic cooks that you’ve inspired. I like that you put some really easy recipes up on your blog for non-cooks like me…your photos are always stunning too! Keep cooking & blogging!

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Wholesome Cook August 11, 2011 at 6:08 pm

Thanks Mel! I’d like to think that even the more complicated recipes are written in a simple to follow way… but having said that I do get a lot of satisfaction from making the most simple recipes for newbies. :-)

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Yiota August 11, 2011 at 7:17 pm

I did love the DDDUCK recipe!!! very well explained! I do have it printed next to my fridge, one day i will give it ago!
Thank you again Martyna,
Xxx

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Phuoc'n Delicious August 11, 2011 at 8:42 pm

Happy bloggerversary and all the best for the future. Looking forward to reading about how your cooking classes go :)

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preparingtofly August 12, 2011 at 1:00 am

congrats!

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What's for tea tonight dear? August 12, 2011 at 3:39 am

Happy Birthday! I know how it feels when your baby reaches this first milestone as my blog turned 1 last month. Being in the Northern Hemisphere I celebrated with a summer pudding .

Anyway congratulations and keep up the good work!

Philip.

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mademoiselle délicieuse August 12, 2011 at 9:19 am

Happy 1st blog birthday! It’s always wonderful coming across people like yourself who obviously enjoy what they’re doing. And in a world of mundane things, beautiful food always helps to bring a ray or two of sunshine =)

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Laura August 13, 2011 at 1:26 am

I like the wide range of vegetarian recipes that they have on their website!

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Laura August 13, 2011 at 1:29 am

I liked them on Facebook.

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Julianne August 13, 2011 at 9:18 am

I like all of the 5 ingredient of less recipes that you have on your site.

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mitinita August 14, 2011 at 8:10 am

Happy bloggingversery! Isn’t blogging great? I’m a year old too these days and even though I’m not that much on top or anywhere,I made so many friends,advanced so much in my cooking. I’d love to see a tutorial on food photography and tips on how to the photos accepted (it’s getting frustrating now:))))though I can tell already what is each site looking for in a photo).

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Natalie Hudson August 14, 2011 at 8:22 am

Its the real deal!
I love this site because it comes from the heart not the pocket as there are so many other sites doing it for the money. Your recipes are great for the whole family easy instructions, beautiful pictures, yummy recipes so much better than a boring recipe book. Ive only been viewing your site for 6months but in this time i can see you grow your recipes are getting more daring and your pictures are stunning most cooks have someone taking there photos you are doing them on your own and they are ony getting better. I cant wait to see what you come up with next. Thankyou for making our family dinner table a pleasure each time when we use your recipes.

Kind regards,
Natalie Hudson

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Wholesome Cook August 14, 2011 at 1:31 pm

Oh Natalie, thank you so much for your kind words! I’m so happy to hear you and your family have been enjoying the recipes :-) more to come, including allergy friendly additive free product reviews that have been requested… Thanks for coming back!

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3 ingredient (instant) chocolate banana ice cream « Wholesome Cook August 14, 2011 at 9:52 am

[…] and don’t foregt to enter my 12 month magazine subscription giveaway – open to entries […]

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Erin August 14, 2011 at 11:32 am

I’m a new follower so I don’t know much about your blog, but I do see you have many vegetarian and allergy-friendly posts which is great!! I’m lactose-intolerant so vegan dishes are also something I keep an eye out for!

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Wholesome Cook August 14, 2011 at 1:24 pm

Hi Erin, welcome – I always try to suggest dairy free substitutes where possible so that people like yourself can benefit from the simplicity of the recipes and goodness of the results.

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Erin August 14, 2011 at 11:32 am

I liked Australian Healthy Food Guide on fb (erin d)

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Liz@LastChanceTraining August 14, 2011 at 7:52 pm

I just discovered your blog tonight and I love the simplicity of your recipes and they’re pretty healthy too! And you’re an Aussie – nice to see some more of us healthy living types where I can readily buy the ingredients!

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Wholesome Cook August 16, 2011 at 5:47 pm

Oh hi Liz, thanks for stopping by and for your kind comment. I do agree it’s always easier to be able to understand the recipe and ingredients within it, and obtain them with ease at your local shops. I hope you’ll be back.
Martyna

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Sara @ Belly Rumbles August 15, 2011 at 12:22 am

Happy 1st bloggiversary!!!

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Emily August 15, 2011 at 10:13 am

I’m a new follower, and I love this so far! I’m very new to “grown-up” cooking, and your blog will be such a great tool!

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Wholesome Cook August 16, 2011 at 5:48 pm

Thanks Emily, indeed my recipes are quite simple, even for novice cooks so I hope you’ll find something useful in the collection. Happy cooking!

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Danielle Lorkin August 16, 2011 at 9:46 pm

It is quite hard to find good Australian healthy food blogs – but yours definately qualifies! Great recipes that are straight forward but still have a healthy ‘cutting edge’ you don’t find in mainstream recipes and I love the tease of ‘cooking now/coming soon’ – you have been teasing me with the easy chocolate fondant for some time now :) A nutritional breakdown of recipes would be great as that is something I never have time to do but love to know, congrats on the anniversary

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Wholesome Cook August 16, 2011 at 10:18 pm

Hi Danielle, thanks for the comment. I agree that a nutritional breakdown would be useful, definitely something I can look at going forward. And yes, I need to post that chocolate fondant recipe… It’s been way too long!

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Nadia August 17, 2011 at 2:21 pm

Happy Blogiversary to you! And Proost to many future blogging years! Your recipes look fabulously delicious! I’ll be sure to check out the cooking classes too!

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Jasmine1485 August 17, 2011 at 11:38 pm

I’m a bit biased, being Coeliac myself, but I’m always happy to see gluten free recipes, even if they are dishes that just happen not to have glutenny foods in them (rather than using special kinds of flour etc). Maybe just tags saying ‘Vegetarian’, ‘gluten free’, ‘dairy free’ would be good :)

Oh, by the way, that Mont Blanc cake looks wonderful! Wish I could take a bite out of it right now.

I’m a fan of Australian Healthy Food Guide on Facebook (Kate Ryan)

I tweeted about it here: http://twitter.com/#!/NTFancy/status/103822953745096704

kate1485 at hotmail.com

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Heidi August 18, 2011 at 12:08 am

The thing I enjoy the most is how they take such mouth watering pictures of the dishes. I always like to visualize a dish before I create it, so that helps me a lot!

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Courtney Desormeaux August 18, 2011 at 1:24 am

Great site! Really like the variety of recipes and would love to read lots more reviews!!

[email protected]

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Courtney Desormeaux August 18, 2011 at 1:26 am Reply
Carolyn Brown August 18, 2011 at 3:07 pm

Hi! I just met you on the weekend at the book swap (those muffins were amazing by the way) and thought I would check out your blog. I’m impressed! You have a great range of recipes here and more than a few I’d like to try. I also like how you post really simple recipe ideas – like puff pastry and chocolate! I like your creativity :-) I’m a follower of the wholefood philosophy and will be checking back on your blog more often now. Nice work! :-)

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Chanel August 19, 2011 at 2:06 pm

Congratulations on 1 year anniversary! Your blog is very inspiring and I love your recipes and photography :D

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Poached Autumn Fruits with Chestnut Cream « Wholesome Cook May 11, 2012 at 12:31 pm

[…] the best part, but then I remembered the amazing combination of chestnuts and fresh cream from the Mont Blanc and it all made much better sense. The fruits, pears and plums were luscious and the tartness of […]

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