I loved this interview with Ruth Bruten, creator of beautiful food blog Gourmet Girlfriend. Her description of food and sharing it with family as a token of love everyday is a beautiful way to look at such a simple thing as dinner.

Her passion comes through in her words and makes me want to stop what I am doing and cook something. I think she is on a winner saying she believes in a “slow childhood”.  We should all take a minute to breathe.

Ruth describes herself as a lover of life, mumma of five, wifey to one, drinker of coffee, cooker of goodness, wearer of clogs, taker of photographs, writer of words. What an energy buzz!

Did I mention she LOVES her eggs? Naturally, in the household of le Gourmet Girlfriend, it’s always an eggs-perience!

What is Gourmet Girlfriend? What’s the philosophy behind it?

Gourmet Girlfriend is a blog I created to share my passion for cooking & sharing food. I believe passionately about cooking food using fresh food raised ethically.  I am an advocate of slow childhood as much as I am about slow food.

I want people to understand that they too can cook good food for their family & that it doesn’t have to be hard, indeed it can be an integral and fun part of your family. I want people to understand where their food comes from & how important it is for their children to understand that too. More than that I want people to understand the importance of sharing. Food is about sharing love. And love is the single most important thing in life.  Providing a gourmet meal to your family is not what matters- love is.  I hope that people that read my blog, while gaining an understanding of cooking quality food also realise that it is A-OK to serve weet-bix too. What matters most is the sharing of the dinner table.  Lots of family magic happens at the dinner table.

So no matter what is served, we light the candles, choose some dinner music and stop our days to be with each other.

How did it all get started?

I had a couple of friends who spurred me on to create something more public with my food knowledge. I never imagined it would turn into such an important and joyful part of my life.

Gourmet Girlfriend's joyful cooking for all to see on Instagram [slideshow gallery_id="10"]

What does a typical day look like?

I get up very early before the rest of the house to exercise. Then I make myself breakfast- usually always some sort of egg creation. My breakfasts are usually always posted on my Instagram with the hashtag #ggbreakfast. I LOVE making myself a nice brekky. It is my gift to me. That is very important as the rest of my day is spent doing things for others.

Then the action for the rest of my crew starts. I make lunches while my 5 kids get themselves organized for school. Once they are at school it is time to do my housey organisey stuff- that takes a lot of time- in fact it is never really finished.  I spend some time online reading my faves & organising my own publications.

Pretty soon school pick up comes around & I spend the rest of the day in the kitchen!

What was the hardest part about being a mum blogger?

Blogging the way I do is very time consuming.  I always write a musing at the beginning of my posts- be it something about my own family or something that I have been thinking about. Then there is a recipe, which I have to cook & photograph (all photographs on my blog are my own) and then write.  I always include a song choice too. Music is as important to me as food and my blog is ALL about sharing both of these things.

Once I accepted that it was ok NOT to blog every day as lots of other bloggers do, it took the pressure off.
I try to post once a week but if I can’t for some reason that is OK.   My readers understand my life is VERY busy!

 What were the highlights in 2012?

Being nominated as one of the TOP 50 Kidpsot bloggers.

Being nominated two years in a row for the Sydney Writers’ Centre BEST AUSTRALIAN BLOG awards.

Taking on my first paid work as a direct result of my blog.

What’s next for you?

I would LOVE to get a book published and to use the voice I have created via my blog to help more people realise the benefits of cooking & sharing real food with their family.

You’ll find Gourmet Girlfriend here:

Blog: http://gourmetgirl-friend.blogspot.com.au/
Facebook: GourmetGirlfriend
Twitter: @ruthbruten
Instagram: gourmetgirlfriend
Email: [email protected]